baal-ha-bos

Noun

balebos (plural balebatim)

1. (Judaism) Master of the house, head of the household, host.
2. (Judaism) House owner, homeowner.
3. (Judaism, broadly) Boss, person in charge (of anything).
4. (Judaism) Important man, bourgeoisie.
   • An annual custom that lasted for many years involved a celebration of the eight days of Chanukah for all of the balebatim. Every evening was hosted by a different balebos and there was a lavish feast.2008, Joseph Margoshes, “Reb Vovtshi's Kloyz”, in A World Apart: A Memoir of Jewish Life in Nineteenth Century Galicia, →ISBN, page 51
5. (Judaism) Layman, congregant, non-clergy.
   • The rabbi, whom I met and then overheard at a kiddush after shul, was going over his sermon with some of the balebatim, […].1996, Jonathan Boyarin, “My Trip to Israel, Continued”, in Palestine and Jewish History: Criticism at the Borders of Ethnography, →ISBN, page 153