I’ve said this before, but I’ll mention it again. Whenever someone calls me “Rabbi,” I object. If someone sends mail to my house addressed to “Rabbi…” it doesn’t get opened.
I believe that a person who does not have semicha should not be addressed as Rabbi. If you give the honorific to people who did not earn it, then the title becomes meaningless.
That being said, I do recognize that there are some people who should be called Rabbi, even without semicha, ex-officio. A prime example of that would be a grade or high school rebbe who should be addressed by his pupils as “Rabbi…” even if he doesn’t have formal semicha.
The Wolf