yeshiva
American Heritage Dictionary:
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ye·shi·va
or ye·shi·vah (yə-shē'və) 
n. Judaism
n. Judaism
- An institute of learning where students study sacred texts, primarily the Talmud.
- An elementary or secondary school with a curriculum that includes religion and culture as well as general education.
[Hebrew yəšîbâ, from yāšab, to sit.]
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
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yeshiva
Academy of higher Talmudic learning. Through its biblical and legal exegesis and application of scripture, the yeshiva has defined and regulated Judaism for centuries. Traditionally, it is the setting for the training and ordination of rabbis. Following the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, a series of yeshivas were set up around the Levant to codify and explain centuries of Jewish scholarship. In medieval times, yeshivas flourished in Europe wherever there were large populations of Jews. The first yeshiva in the U.S., Etz ayyim (1886), later became Yeshiva University (1945).
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Encyclopedia of Judaism:
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Yeshivah
(pl. yeshivot). An institution dedicated to advanced rabbinic study. Its curriculum consists almost entirely of the study of texts, chiefly those of the Talmud. Traditionally, Rabbis have pursued their studies in a yeshivah, but yeshivot are not institutions for professional training.
Yeshivot are related to the Academies of Erets Israel and Babylonia that flourished from at least the third century CE until about the middle of the 11th century. These academies, also known as yeshivot, served not only as teaching institutions but also as rabbinic courts and centers for the dissemination of rabbinic Responsa, whereas the later yeshivot served primarily as institutions of learning. Changing conditions in Iraq together with the growth of Jewish communities outside of Babylonia led to the decline of the Babylonian academies and a corresponding rise in the importance of other yeshivot. None of these, however, ever gained the centralized authority and influence of the Babylonian institutions.
In the tenth century, a yeshivah existed in Jerusalem. This was apparently the last remnant of the great academies of Erets Israel and was probably transferred to Jerusalem from Tiberias. The Jerusalem yeshivah was moved to Damascus after 1071; other important centers of learning existed in Damascus and Aleppo until the end of the 12th century.
A legend that appears in Abraham Ibn Daud's Sefer ha-Kabbalah (mid-12th cent.) tells of four scholars on their way to study in Babylonia around the year 990 whose ship was seized by pirates. One of the scholars was never heard from again, but the three others were sold as slaves, each in a different port, one in North Africa, one in Egypt, and one in Spain; all three succeeded in establishing yeshivot which became famous. This story reflects the fact that from the tenth century on, yeshivot could be found in most Jewish communities as well as the continuity between these and the Babylonian academies.
Yeshivot existed in North Africa from the eighth century; the first great one, believed to be founded by Hushiel ben Elḥanan, was the Kairouan Academy. It reached its peak in the tenth century, and with its decline in the 11th century the yeshivot of Fez in Morocco and Tlemcen in Algeria became the leading institutions of the region. An important yeshivah existed also in Fostat (near modern Cairo).
One of the first important yeshivot to appear in Spain was located in Cordoba, founded by Moses ben Ḥanokh in the tenth century. The yeshivah of Lucena, which counted among its students Judah Halevi, and the Barcelona yeshivah were among the earliest rabbinical academies in the country. Numerous yeshivot existed in Spain up to the time of the expulsion in 1492, and many of the important Spanish scholars, e.g., Naḥmanides and Solomon ben Abraham Adret, headed their own yeshivot.
A great intellectual contribution was made by the Ashkenazi yeshivot of northern Europe, these institutions being largely responsible for such major authorities as Gershom Ben Judah (Me'or ha-Golah; early 11th cent.), Rashi (late 11th cent.), and the Tosafists (see Tosafot). The Ashkenazi yeshivah bore little rssemblance to the great academies of old. The function of the rabbinic courts was practically nonexistent. The yeshivot were small, with usually fewer than 100 students, who often lived together with the head of the institution and studied in a room in his home. The scholar who headed the yeshivah was responsible for the financial needs of the institution, with some support from the local community. Students from wealthy families were expected to pay for their upkeep. Those attending such yeshivot were generally accomplished scholars who had previously studied privately. Moses Ben Jacob of Coucy noted that the students of the French yeshivot were so dedicated to their studies that they often slept in their clothes. In the yeshivot of northern France there existed a system somewhat akin to the granting of degrees, with the title of ḥaver (fellow) as the first recognition of accomplishment and the title morenu (our teacher) signifying real command of the field studied and qualification to head one's own school. The golden era of French yeshivot ended with the expulsion of the Jews from France in 1306.
By the middle of the 16th century, a new type of institution, the yeshivat ha-kahal (community yeshivah) appeared. Detailed regulations for these communal yeshivot were promulgated by the general councils of entire areas. In Italy and Germany, scholars studied together with small numbers of students in small synagogues. This kind of establishment was known as a klaus in German. Communities were expected to maintain these yeshivot, and the students had their meals at private homes on a rotating basis. Studies centered around discussion and disputation; as a result, the chief literary product of these institutions were glosses and commentaries. The main center of yeshivot moved to Eastern Europe, especially Poland, in the 16th century. A significant intellectual development was a method of study known as Pilpul. It involved dialectic reasoning based on minute distinctions and differentiations, which took primarily the form of oral discussion, so that very little written material remains.
The yeshivot of the Ashkenazi centers experienced a decline in the 17th and 18th centuries due to a number of factors. In Polish regions, the Cossack rebellion of 1648 destroyed many communities along with their yeshivot. For some time, the system of yeshivot in these areas was not revived, apparently as a result of economic hardship and perhaps also to the spread of ḥasidism, which had a somewhat different approach to learning. Not until the early 19th century was there a significant revival (and reformation) of the yeshivah system.
The modern era in the development of the yeshivah began in 1802 with the opening of the Volozhin yeshivah in White Russia, founded by Ḥayyim of Volozhin, a leading disciple of Elijah Ben Solomon, the Gaon of Vilna. This followed the Vilna Gaon's method of study, which downplayed pilpul. As the school expanded, it constructed its own building---the first structure in modern times to be built solely tp house a yeshivah. Its golden period was under Naphtali Tsevi Judah Berlin (from 1854), when over 400 pupils were attracted to the school from all over the greater Russian area. Other noted yeshivot flourished at Mir in White Russia; at Slobodka and Kovno (Kaunas), which became a center of the Musar Movement, with a daily half-hour session devoted to the study of ethical texts, a revolutionary innovation in a world concentrating solely on the Talmud; and at Telz, Lithuania. These and many other yeshivot attracted thousands of students, some of whom became rabbis and teachers, others regarding their studies as a form of higher education before moving on to employment in the workaday world. In Ḥasidic Poland, most yeshivot were associated with particular Ḥasidic courts, with only their Ḥasidim studying there. The biggest and most important yeshivah in Hungary was the Yeshivat Ḥatam Sofer in Pressburg (Bratislava), founded in 1806 by R. Moses Before World War II, the development of yeshivot in North America had not been very successful, apart from Yeshiva University, which grew from a merger in the late 19th century of Yeshivat Ets Ḥayyim and Yeshivat Isaac Elhanan. Since the war, those founded include the Rabbi Aaron Kotler Institute for Advanced Studies in Lakewood, New Jersey, Torah Vo-Da'as in New York, and Ner Israel in Baltimore. Although none of these institutions permits secular studies as part of the curriculum, many of their students pursue university studies alongside their yeshivah studies. By far, the leading center of yeshivot today is the State of Israel. Already in the 16th century, yeshivot again flourished in the country, the new impetus being provided largely by Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 who settled in the Holy Land. Some 18 yeshivot existed in Safed, which was perhaps the most important center of Jewish learning of that period. There were also important Sephardi and Ashkenazi yeshivot in Jerusalem. From the end of the 16th century on, however, there was a serious decline until the 18th century. In 1840, the Ets Ḥayyim Yeshivah was established in Jerusalem, the first Ashkenazi yeshivah in the country, founded on a Volozhin-type model. Other early examples of this type followed. The growth of the Jewish community after World War I brought about a concomitant growth of yeshivot. A real turning point was reached, however, when, in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust, numerous outstanding Torah scholars found their way to the Holy Land, staffing existing institutions, founding new ones, and re-establishing some of the great yeshivot of pre-war Europe. It has been estimated that there are more full-time yeshivah students in Israel today than there were in pre-war Europe. The willingness of the State of Israel to defer the army service of anyone studying full time in a yeshivah has permitted the yeshivot to develop rapidly. In the year 2001 nearly 60,000 men, about half of them Among the yeshivot catering to older students in Israel, three main categories can be distinguished: the "Lithuanian yeshivot," continuing the model created at Volozhin, where Talmud is studied to the exclusion of almost every other subject; the Ḥasidic yeshivot; and the Zionist yeshivot, best known of which is the Merkaz ha-Rav in Jerusalem founded by Rabbi A.I.
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A school in which the Talmud, Jewish legal codes, and rabbinic literature and commentaries are the primary subjects of study.
Although semikha (rabbinic ordination) may be an outcome of yeshiva study, yeshivas are institutions intended for all Jewish males who wish to advance their study of Judaism. Originally, it was the local place to sit and study texts. Yeshivas became places where scholars gathered, where each famous and learned teacher attracted his own students. In eighteenth-century Lithuania, where the modern form was developed, yeshivas drew students from a variety of European localities and provided the students with a formal curriculum, a place to stay, and often a stipend as well.
Yeshiva education consists of endless hours of vocal and intensive review of texts with fellow students (khavruseh). Usually once a day, after posting a bibliography and a series of textual glosses that students must explore in advance, a teacher will give a shiur (lesson in Talmud). Some modern yeshivas include secular studies as well (they are often called day schools in North America and yeshivot tikhoniyot in Israel).
In Israel, yeshivas are numerous; some embrace the ideals of religious Zionism, and some deny them. The former encompass hesder yeshivas, whose students combine military service with study; the latter have students who are exempted from military service. Among the most prominent of the former are the Etzion Yeshiva, Merkaz ha-Rav Kook, and Kerem b'Yavneh. Among the latter are the Ponovez Yeshiva, in B'nei B'rak, and the Mir Yeshiva, in Jerusalem. The greatest growth has been in yeshivas connected with Sephardim.
Bibliography
Helmreich, William B. The World of the Yeshiva: An IntimatePortrait of Orthodox Jewry, augmented edition. Hoboken, NJ: Ktav, 2000.
— SAMUEL C. HEILMAN
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categories related to 'yeshiva'
- Schools and Classes - yeshiva: school for Talmudic study; Orthodox Jewish school for religious and secular studies
- Judaism - yeshiva: all-day school of religious and secular learning
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Yeshiva
This article is about the Jewish educational system. For the private university, see Yeshiva University.
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Yeshiva (Hebrew: ישיבה, lit. "sitting"; pl. ישיבות, yeshivot) is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim (lectures or classes) and in study pairs called chavrutas (Aramaic for "friendship"[1] or "companionship"[2]). Chavruta-style learning is one of the unique features of the yeshiva.
In the United States and Israel, the different levels of yeshiva education have different names. In the United States, elementary-school students are enrolled in a yeshiva, post-bar mitzvah-age students learn in a mesivta, and undergraduate-level students learn in a beis medrash or yeshiva gedola (Hebrew: ישיבה גדולה, lit. "large yeshiva"). In Israel, elementary-school students are enrolled in a Talmud Torah or cheder, post-bar mitzvah-age students learn in a yeshiva ketana (Hebrew: ישיבה קטנה, lit. "small yeshiva"), and high-school-age students learn in a yeshiva gedola.[3][4] A kollel is a yeshiva for married men which pays stipends to its students.
Until the late 20th century, yeshivas were attended by males only. Many Modern Orthodox yeshivas have opened since then for girls and women.
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Etymology
Alternate spellings and names include yeshivah (English pronunciation: /jəˈʃiːvə/; Hebrew: ישיבה, "sitting" (noun); metivta and mesivta (Aramaic: מתיבתא methivta); Beth midrash, Talmudical Academy, Rabbinical Academy; and Rabbinical School. The word yeshiva, lit. "sitting", is applied to the activity of learning in class, and hence to a learning "session."[5]
The transference in meaning of the term from the learning session to the institution itself appears to have occurred by the time of the great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, Sura and Pumbedita, which were known as shte ha-yeshivot, "the two colleges."
History
Origins
The Mishnah tractate Megillah mentions the law that a town can only be called a "city" if it supports ten men (batlanim) to make up the required quorum for communal prayers. Likewise, every beth din ("rabbinical court") was attended by a number of pupils up to three times the size of the court (Mishnah, tractate Sanhedrin). These might be indications of the historicity of the classical yeshiva. As indicated by the Talmud[6], adults generally took off two months a year, Elul and Adar, the months preceding the pilgrimage festivals of Sukkot and Pesach, called Yarchei Kalla (Aramaic for "Months of Kallah") to study. The rest of the year they worked, adults would work.
Geonic Period
The Geonic period is named after the Gaon, the title bestowed on the heads of the three yeshivas in existence from the third to the thirteenth century. The Geonim acted as the principals of their individual yeshivot, and as spiritual leaders and high judges for the wider communities tied to them. All official business of the yeshiva was conducted in the name of its Gaon, and all correspondence to or from the yeshiva was addressed directly to the Gaon.
Throughout the Geonic Period there were three yeshivot. These were named for the cities in which they were located: Jerusalem, Sura, and Pumbedita; the yeshiva of Jerusalem would later relocate to Cairo, and the yeshivot of Sura and Pumbedita to Baghdad, but retain their original names. Each Jewish community would associate itself with one of the three yeshivot; Jews living around the Mediterranean typically followed the yeshiva in Jerusalem, while those living in the Arabian Peninsula and modern-day Iraq and Iran typically followed one of the two yeshivot in Baghdad. There was however, no requirement for this, and each community could choose to associate with any of the yeshivot.
The yeshiva served as the highest educational institution for the Rabbis of this period. In addition to this, the yeshiva wielded immense power as the principal body for interpreting Jewish religious law. In this regard, the Gaon of a yeshiva was seen as the highest judge on all matters of Jewish law. Each yeshiva ruled differently on matters of ritual and law, these divisions were accepted by the other yeshivot, and all three were considered equally orthodox. The yeshiva also served as an administrative authority; in conjunction with local communities, the yeshiva would appoint members to serve as the head of local congregations. These would serve as a go-between for the local congregation, and the larger yeshiva it was attached to. These local leaders would submit questions to the yeshiva to obtain final rulings on issues of dogma, ritual, or law. Each congregation was expected to follow only one yeshiva to prevent conflict with different rulings issued by different yeshivot.
The yeshivot were financially supported through a number of means. First, there were fixed, but voluntary, yearly contributions made to the yeshivas, these were collected and handled by the local leaders appointed by the yeshiva. Private gifts from individuals were also common and could consist of money or goods. Private donations were also regularly submitted on holidays. Finally, fines were assigned for the maintenance of the yeshivas.
The yeshiva of Jerusalem was finally forced into exile in Cairo in 1127, and eventually dispersed entirely. Likewise, the yeshivot of Sura and Pumbedita were dispersed following the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. After the yeshiva were scattered, education in Jewish religious studies became the responsibility of individual synagogues. No organization ever came to replace the three great yeshivot of Jerusalem, Sura and Pumbedita.[7]
Post-Geonic Period to 19th Century
Traditionally, every town rabbi had the right to maintain a number of full-time or part-time pupils in the town's beth midrash (study hall, usually adjacent to the synagogue). Their cost of living was covered by community taxation. After a number of years, these young people would either take up a vacant rabbinical position elsewhere (after obtaining semicha, rabbinical ordination) or join the workforce.
Lithuanian yeshivas
Organised Torah study was revolutionised by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin, a disciple of the Vilna Gaon (an influential 18th century leader of Judaism). In his view, the traditional arrangement did not cater for those who were looking for more intensive study.
With the support of his teacher, Rabbi Volozhin gathered a large number of interested students and started a yeshiva in the (now Belarusian) town of Volozhin. Although the Volozhin yeshiva was closed some 60 years later in response to demands by the Russian government, a number of yeshivot opened in other towns and cities, most notably Slabodka, Ponevezh, Mir, Brisk, and Telz. Many prominent contemporary yeshivot in the United States and Israel are continuations of these institutions and often bear the same name.
In the 19th century, Rabbi Israel Salanter initiated the Mussar movement in non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jewry, which sought to encourage yeshiva students and the wider community to spend regular times devoted to the study of Jewish ethical works. Concerned by the new social and religious changes of the Haskalah (secularising movement), and emerging political ideologies such as Zionism, that often opposed traditional Judaism, the masters of Mussar saw a need to augment Talmudic study with more personal works. These comprised earlier classic Jewish ethical texts (mussar literature), as well as a new literature for the movement. By focusing the student on self understanding and introspection, often with profound psychological insight, the spiritual aims of Judaism could be internalised. After early opposition, the Lithuanian yeshivah world saw the need for this new component in their curriculum, and set aside times for individual mussar study and mussar talks ("mussar shmues"). A spiritual mentor (mashgiach ruchani) encouraged the personal development of each student. To some degree also, this Lithuanian movement arose in response, and as an alternative, to the separate mystical study of the Hasidic Judaism world. Hasidism began previously, in the 18th Century, within traditional Jewish life in the Ukraine, and spread to Hungary, Poland and Russia. As the 19th Century brought upheavals and threats to traditional Judaism, the Mussar teachers saw the benefit of the new spiritual focus in Hasidism, and developed their alternative ethical approach to spirituality.
Some variety developed within Lithuanian yeshivas to methods of studying Talmud and mussar, for example the contrast between breadth (beki'ut) and depth ('iyyun), or the place given to pilpul (the type of casuistic argumentation popular from the 16th to 18th centuries). The new analytical approach of the Brisker method, developed by Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk, has become widely popular, though there are other approaches such as those of Mir, Chofetz Chaim, and Telz. In mussar different schools developed, such as Slabodka and Novhardok, though today a decline in devoted spiritual self-development from its earlier intensity has to some extent levelled out the differences.
Hasidic yeshivas
With the success of the yeshiva institution in Lithuanian Jewry, the Hasidic world developed their own yeshivas, in their areas of Eastern Europe. These comprised the traditional Jewish focus on Talmudic literature that is central to Rabbinic Judaism, augmented by study of Hasidic philosophy (Hasidism). Examples of these Hasidic yeshivas are the Chabad Lubavitch yeshiva system of Tomchei Temimim, founded by Sholom Dovber Schneersohn in Russia in 1897, and the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva established in Poland in 1930 by Meir Shapiro, who is renowned in both Hasidic and Lithuanian Jewish circles for initiating the Daf Yomi daily cycle of Talmud study.
In many Hasidic yeshivas, study of Hasidic texts is a secondary activity, similar to the additional mussar curriculum in Lithuanian yeshivas. These paths see Hasidism as a means to the end of inspiring emotional devekut (spiritual attachment to God) and mystical enthusiasm. In this context, the personal pilgrimage of a Hasid to his Rebbe is a central feature of spiritual life, in order to awaken spiritual fervour. Often, such paths will reserve the Shabbat in the yeshiva for the sweeter teachings of the classic texts of Hasidism. In contrast, Chabad and Breslov, in their different ways, place daily study of their dynasties' Hasidic texts in central focus. Illustrative of this is Sholom Dovber Schneersohn's wish in establishing the Chabad yeshiva system, that the students should spend a part of the daily curriculum learning Chabad Hasidic texts "with pilpul". Pilpul is the in-depth analytical investigation of a topic, traditionally reserved for the profound nuances of Talmudic study. The idea to learn Hasidic mystical texts with similar logical profundity, derives from the unique approach in the works of the Rebbes of Chabad, initiated by its founder Schneur Zalman of Liadi, to systematically investigate and articulate the "Torah of the Baal Shem Tov" in intellectual forms. Further illustrative of this is the differentiation in Chabad thought (such as the "Tract on Ecstasy" by Dovber Schneuri) between general Hasidism's emphasis on emotional enthusiasm and the Chabad ideal of intellectually reserved ecstasy. In the Breslov movement, in contrast, the daily study of works from the imaginative, creative radicalism of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov awakens the necessary soulfulness with which to approach other Jewish study and observance.
Sephardi yeshivas
Although the yeshiva as an institution is in some ways a continuation of the Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, large scale educational institutions of this kind were not characteristic of the North African and Middle Eastern Sephardi Jewish world in pre-modern times: education typically took place in a more informal setting in the synagogue or in the entourage of a famous rabbi. In medieval Spain and immediately following the expulsion in 1492 there were some schools which combined Jewish studies with sciences such as logic and astronomy, similar to the contemporary Islamic madrasas. In 19th-century Jerusalem a college was typically an endowment for supporting ten adult scholars rather than an educational institution in the modern sense; towards the end of the century a school for orphans was founded providing for some rabbinic studies.[8] Early educational institutions on the European model were Beth Zilkha founded in 1870s Iraq and Porat Yosef Yeshiva founded in Jerusalem in 1914. Also notable is the Bet El yeshiva founded in 1737 in Jerusalem for advanced Kabbalistic studies. Later Sephardic yeshivot are usually on the model either of Porat Yosef or of the Ashkenazi institutions.
The Sephardic world has traditionally placed the study of esoteric Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah) in a more mainstream position that in the European Ashkenazi world. This difference of emphasis arose in reaction to the historical events of the Sabbatean heresy in the 17th Century, that suppressed widespead study of Kabbalah in Europe in favour of the strength of Rabbinic Talmudic study. In Eastern European Lithuanian life, Kabbalah was reserved for an intellectual elite, while the mystical revival of Hasidism articulated Kabbalistic theology through Hasidic thought. These factors did not affect the Sephardi Jewish world, which retained a wider connection to Kabbalah in its traditionally observant communities. With the establishment of Sephardi yeshivas in Israel, after the immigration of the Arabic Jewish communities there, some Sephardi yeshivas incorporated study of more accessible Kabbalistic texts into their curriculum. Nonetheless, the European prescriptions to reserve advanced Kabbalistic study to mature and elite students also influence the choice of texts in such yeshivas.
Conservative movement yeshivas
In 1854, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau was founded. It was headed by Zecharias Frankel, and was eventually viewed as the first yeshiva associated with Conservative Judaism. In subsequent years, Conservative Judaism established a number of other institutions of higher learning (such as the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City) that emulate the style of traditional yeshivas in significant ways. However, many do not officially refer to themselves as "yeshivas" (one exception is the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem), and all are open to both women and men, who study in the same classrooms and follow the same curriculum. Students may study part-time, as in a kollel, or full-time, and they may study lishmah (for the sake of studying itself) or towards earning rabbinic ordination.
Nondenominational or mixed yeshivas
Non-denominational yeshivas and kollels with connections to Conservative Judaism include Yeshivat Hadar in New York, the leaders of whom include Rabbinical Assembly members Eli Kaunfer and Shai Held. The rabbinical school of the Academy for Jewish Religion in California (AJR-CA) is led by Conservative rabbi Mel Gottlieb. The faculty of the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York and of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in Newton Centre, Massachusetts also includes a large number of Conservative rabbis.
The Canadian Yeshiva & Rabbinical School is a yeshiva dedicated to the reestablishment of what it describes as "Classic Judaism". This school, scheduled to accept its first students in September 2012, is led by its Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Roy Tanenbaum, and its Chancellor, Rabbi Daniel Sperber. Rabbi Tanenbaum is a member of the Conservative rabbinate and Rabbi Sperber is associated with Modern Orthodoxy. However, the school affiliates with neither movement.[9]
Reform and Reconstructionist seminaries
Hebrew Union College (HUC), affiliated with Reform Judaism, was founded in 1875 under the leadership of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise in Cincinnati, Ohio. HUC later opened additional locations in New York, Los Angeles, and Jerusalem. It is a rabbinical seminary or college mostly geared for the training of rabbis and clergy specifically. Similarly, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College of Reconstructionist Judaism, founded in Pennsylvania in 1968, functions to train its future clergy. Some Reform and Reconstructionist teachers also teach at non-denominational seminaries like the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York, the Academy for Jewish Religion in California, and the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College. None of these institutions describes itself as a "yeshiva".
Contemporary Orthodox yeshivas
See: List of yeshivas
Types of yeshivot
- Yeshiva ketana ("junior yeshiva") - Many yeshivot ketanot in Israel and some in the Diaspora do not have a secular course of studies and all students learn Judaic Torah studies full time.
- Yeshiva High School - Also called Mesivta or Mechina or Yeshiva Ketana, combines the intensive Jewish religious education with a secular high school education. The dual curriculum was pioneered by the Manhattan Talmudical Academy of Yeshiva University (now known as Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy) in 1916.
- Mechina - For Israeli high-school graduates who wish to study for one year before entering the army.
- Beth Medrash - For high school graduates, and is attended from one year to many years, dependent on the career plans and affiliation of the student.
- Yeshivat Hesder - Yeshiva that has an arrangement with the Israel Defence Forces by which the students enlist together in the same unit and, as much as is possible serve in the same unit in the army. Over a period of about 5 years there will be a period of service starting in the second year of about 16 months. There are different variations. The rest of the time will be spent in compulsory study in the yeshiva.
- Kollel - Yeshiva for married men. The kollel idea, though having its intellectual roots traced to the Torah, is a relatively modern innovation of 19th century Europe. Often, a kollel will be in the same location as the yeshiva.
- Baal teshuva yeshivot catering to the needs of the newly Orthodox.
Traditionally, religious girls' schools are not called "yeshiva." The Beis Yaakov system was started in 1918 under the guidance of Sarah Schenirer. This system provided girls with a Torah education, using a curriculum that skewed more toward practical halakha and the study of Tanakh, rather than Talmud. Beis Yaakovs are strictly Haredi schools. Non-Haredi girls' schools' curricula often includes the study of Mishna and sometimes Talmud. They are also sometimes called "yeshiva" (e.g., Prospect Park Yeshiva). Post-high schools for women are generally called "seminary" or "midrasha".
Curriculum
Learning at an Orthodox yeshiva includes Torah study; the study of Rabbinic literature, especially the Talmud (Rabbinic Judaism's central work); and the study of Responsa for Jewish observance, and alternatively ethical (Musar) or mystical (Hasidic philosophy) texts. In some institutions, classical Jewish philosophy (Hakira) texts or Kabbalah are studied, or the works of individual thinkers (such as Abraham Isaac Kook).
Non-Orthodox institutions offer a synthesis of traditional and critical methods, allowing Jewish texts and tradition to encounter social change and modern scholarship. The curriculum focuses on classical Jewish subjects, including Talmud, Tanakh, Midrash, Halacha, and Philosophy, with an openness to modern scholarship.
Chavruta-style learning
Main article: Chavruta
Yeshiva students prepare for and review the shiur with their chavruta during a study session known as a seder.[2] In contrast to conventional classroom learning, in which a teacher lectures to the student and the student repeats the information back in tests, chavruta-style learning challenges the student to analyze and explain the material, point out the errors in his partner's reasoning, and question and sharpen each other's ideas, often arriving at entirely new insights of the meaning of the text.[1][10] A chavruta helps a student keep his mind focused on the learning, sharpen his reasoning powers, develop his thoughts into words, organize his thoughts into logical arguments, and understand another person's viewpoint.[11]
Chavruta-style learning tends to be loud and animated, as the study partners read the Talmudic text and the commentaries aloud to each other and then analyze, question, debate, and even argue their points of view to arrive at an understanding of the text. In the heat of discussion, they may even wave their hands, pound the table, or shout at each other.[12] Depending on the size of the yeshiva, dozens or even hundreds of pairs of chavrutas can be heard discussing and debating each other's viewpoints.[13] One of the skills of chavruta-style learning is the ability to block out all other discussions in the study hall and focus on one's chavruta alone.[2]
Academic year
In most yeshivot, the year is divided into three periods (terms) called zmanim. Elul zman starts from the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul and extends until the end of Yom Kippur. This is the shortest (approx. six weeks), but most intense semester as it comes before the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Winter zman starts after Sukkot and lasts until just before Passover, a duration of five months (six in a Jewish leap year). Summer semester starts after Passover and lasts until either the middle of the month of Tammuz or Tisha B'Av, a duration of about three months.
Typical schedule
The following is a typical daily schedule for Beit Midrash students in mainstream Lithuanian yeshivas:[citation needed]
- 7:00 a.m. - Optional seder (study session)
- 7:30 a.m. - Morning prayers
- 8:30 a.m. - Session on study of Jewish law
- 9:00 a.m. - Breakfast
- 9:30 a.m. - Morning Talmud study (first seder)
- 12:30 p.m. - Shiur (lecture) - advanced students sometimes dispense with this lecture
- 1:30 p.m. - Lunch
- 2:45 p.m. - Mincha - afternoon prayers
- 3:00 p.m. - Mussar seder - Jewish ethics
- 3:30 p.m. - Talmud study (second seder)
- 7:00 p.m. - Dinner
- 8:00 p.m. - Night seder - Review of lecture, or study of choice.
- 9:25 p.m. - Mussar seder - Jewish Ethics
- 9:45 p.m. - Maariv - Evening prayers
- 10:00 p.m. - Optional evening seder
This schedule is generally maintained Sunday through Thursday. On Thursday nights there may be an extra long night seder, known as mishmar sometimes lasting beyond 1:00 am, and in some yeshivot even until the following sunrise. On Fridays there is usually at least one seder in the morning, with unstructured learning schedules for the afternoon. Saturdays have a special Shabbat schedule which includes some sedarim but usually no shiur.
Talmud study
In the typical Orthodox yeshiva, the main emphasis is on Talmud study and analysis. Generally, two parallel Talmud streams are covered during a zman (trimester). The first is study in-depth (iyyun), often confined to selected legally focused tractates, with an emphasis on analytical skills and close reference to the classical commentators; the second seeks to cover ground more speedily, to build general knowledge (beki'ut) of the Talmud; see the Talmud in modern-day Judaism.
In the yeshiva system of talmudic study the first area to be mastered are eight mesechtohs (volumes that deal with a given subject which are divided into chapters that deal with sub-topics relating to the general subject) that deal with civil jurisprudence. These are the mesechtohs that are studied in undergraduate yeshivohs. These eight volumes are mastered first because it is with these subjects that a student can best master the technique of proper analysis of the talmud. Only after this technique is mastered is a student ready to go on to other areas of the talmud and develop a scholorship in all areas of the talmud.
Works generally studied to clarify the Talmudic text are the commentary by Rashi and the analyses of the Tosafists and other rishonim (commentators from the 11th to 14th centuries). There are two schools of rishonim, one from France and the other from Spain who will sometimes hold different interpretations and understandings of the talmud. Various other mefarshim (commentators), from later generations are also used. See Talmud#Commentaries.
Jewish law
Generally, a period is devoted to the study of practical halacha (Jewish law). The text most commonly studied in Ashkenazic Yeshivot is the Mishnah Berurah written by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, the Chofetz Chaim. The Mishnah Berurah is a compilation of halachic opinions rendered after the time of the writing of the Shulchan Aruch. In Sephardic Yeshivot, the Shulhan Arukh itself is more commonly studied. The Bet Yosef is also more widely studied in Sepharadic Yeshivot.
Ethics, mysticism and philosophy
The preeminent mussar (ethical) text studied in yeshivot is the Mesillat Yesharim ("Path [of the] Just") by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto. Other works of mussar literature studied include:
- Orchot Tzaddikim ("Paths [of the] Righteous") Its authorship and time of writing is uncertain, but as it quotes Maimonides, it was written some time after his works were disseminated.
- Chovot ha-Levavot, by Bahya ibn Paquda.
- Ma'alot ha-Middot ("Benefit [of good character] traits")
- Mishnat R' Aharon Mussar Lectures on many topics by Rabbi Aharon Kotler.
- Mikhtav me-Eliyahu, the works of Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler.
Hasidic yeshivot study the mystical, spiritual works of Hasidic philosophy (Chassidus). This draws on the earlier esoteric theology of Kabbalah, but articulates it in terms of inner psychological awareness and personal analogies. This makes Jewish mysticism accessible and tangible, so that it inspires emotional dveikus (cleaving to God) and spiritual contribution to daily Jewish life. This serves some similar purposes to mussar, but through different means and with different contributions to intellectual and emotional life. Chabad yeshivot, for example, study the Tanya, the Likutei Torah, and the voluminous works of the Rebbes of Chabad for an hour and a half each morning, before prayers, and an hour and a half in the evening. (See Tomchei Temimim.) Many Yeshivot in Israel belonging to the Religious Zionism study the writings of Rav Kook, who articulated a unique personal blend of mysticism, creative exegesis and philosophy.
Torah and Bible study
Intensive study of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy with the commentary of Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi 1040 - 1105) is stressed and taught in all elementary grades, often with Yiddish translations and more notes in Haredi yeshivas.
The teaching of Tanakh, Hebrew Bible, is usually only done on the high school level, and students read the Weekly Torah portion by themselves (known as the obligation of Shnayim mikra ve-echad targum, "Hebrew Bible twice and Aramaic Targum once"). Exceptions are the five Megilloth and Tehillim. Since their inception, Modern Orthodox yeshivot in Israel, offer courses in many, if not most, of the books of Nevi'im and Ketuvim.
College credit
Some Yeshivas permit students to attend college on a limited basis, and this is facilitated by arrangements for the above study to receive credit towards a degree.[14]
Yeshivish
Yeshivish, also "Frumspeak", is a combination of English, Yiddish and Hebrew used in Orthodox yeshivas in America.[15]
See also
- Center for Jewish History
- Jewish day school
- Mesivta
- Yeshiva Gedolah
- List of yeshivas
- Mashgiach ruchani
- Rosh yeshiva
- Yeshiva University
- Yeshiva University Museum
References
- ^ a b Liebersohn, Aharon (2006). World Wide Agora. p. 155. ISBN 978-965-90756-1-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=8uZvs6_fGeMC&pg=PA155&dq=chavruta#v=onepage&q=chavruta&f=false.
- ^ a b c Forta, Arye (1989). Judaism. Heineman Educational. p. 89. ISBN 0-435-30321-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=NhdoWlrzcg4C&pg=PA89&dq=chavruta#v=onepage&q=chavruta&f=false.
- ^ Berezovsky, Rabbi Sholom Noach (2001). Nesivos Sholom. p. 211. ISBN 1-58330-495-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=1MArvfg24EsC&pg=PA211&dq=yeshiva+ketana&hl=en#v=onepage&q=yeshiva%20ketana&f=false.
- ^ Kramer, Doniel Zvi (1984). The Day Schools and Torah Umesorah: The seeding of traditional Judaism in America. Yeshiva University Press. p. xiv. http://books.google.com/books?id=wCbtAAAAMAAJ&q=what+is+a+mesivta&dq=what+is+a+mesivta&hl=en.
- ^ "Session", in fact, similarly derives from the Latin sedere, "to sit."
- ^ (Where in the Talmud, and in which Talmud (Bavli or Yerushalmi?)
- ^ S. D. Goitein, Ed. Jacob Lassner, A Mediterranean Society An Abridgement in One Volume, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999).
- ^ Elazar, Daniel J.. "Can Sephardic Judaism Be Reconstructed?". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles3/sephardic.htm. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ "About Us". The Canadian Yeshiva and Rabbinical School. http://www.cdnyeshiva.org/contact/. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ "Bringing the People Together". Reb Jeff. 24 February 2011. http://www.rebjeff.com/1/category/singing/1.html. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
- ^ Zobin, Zvi (1996). Breakthrough to Learning Gemora: A concise, analytical guide. Kest-Lebovits. pp. 104–106.
- ^ Neusner, Jacob; Avery-Peck, Alan J. (2001). The Blackwell Reader in Judaism. Blackwell Publishers. p. 422. ISBN 0-631-20738-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=WVvAe_U9stsC&pg=PA422&dq=chavruta#v=onepage&q=chavruta&f=false.
- ^ Finkel, Avraham Yaakov (1999). Ein Yaakov: The ethical and inspirational teachings of the Talmud. Jason Aronson. p. xxix. ISBN 0-7657-6082-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=-20wAAAAYAAJ&q=chavruta&dq=chavruta.
- ^ "Guide To Degree Completion Programs for Yeshiva Students". YeshivaDegree.com. 2011. http://www.YeshivaDegree.com. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
- ^ Philogos (4 March 2011). "How to Understand Yeshivish". The Forward. http://www.forward.com/articles/135621/. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
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Translations:
Top
Yeshiva
Dansk (Danish)
n. - skole for studier af Talmud, jødisk skole
Nederlands (Dutch)
Talmudhogeschool (joods)
Français (French)
n. - école d'études talmudiques, yeshiva, école hébraïque
Deutsch (German)
n. - jüd. Schule
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - εβραϊκή θρησκευτική σχολή
Italiano (Italian)
accademia talmudica
Português (Portuguese)
n. - instituto judaico (m)
Español (Spanish)
n. - escuela rabínica, seminario
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - sl judisk skola
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
正统犹太小学
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 正統猶太小學
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 탈무드 학원, 탈무드의 고도한 연구를 하는 유태교의 대학
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) مدرسه دينيه يهوديه
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