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The term rabbi in medieval usage was actually an honorary title and denoted generally a scholar proficient in Jewish law, and not necessarily a community functionary. However, virtually every community in medieval Iberia of any size had at least one official rabbi, whose duties were to oversee the conformity to Jewish law, both “religious” and civil, and usually to head the court (bet din) of three to adjudicate cases. Some Jewish scholars attained such high level of proficiency in the Talmud and Jewish law that they became national and even international authorities, to whom other rabbis and communities turned to render decisions or explain problems too complex for them to resolve. The decisions (responsa; she’elot u-teshuvot) of these scholars serve as an important historical source. Outstanding rabbis, particularly in the earlier periods (tenth and eleventh centuries) even took upon themselves the authority to enact new decrees or set aside earlier ones. (Maimonides, who was not a rabbi but a universally recognized legal authority, sometimes acted in bold and audacious ways in this regard; as did Joseph ibn Megash and others.)