What is a Yeshiva?

 

What is actually a Yeshiva?

 

When asking a Jew in Israel or a Jew in the United States of America,

you can aspect different answers. As for Israeli the concept for a Yeshiva is a place to learn

and students come together on a daily base to become rabbis.

 

In the United States of America Yeshivas are places where not only students learn Thora,

but study other, non Thora related subjects as well.

 

Religious Jewish learning systems can be roughly diverted in 3 different categories:

 

YESHIVA,

the place of an intensive study, full time, to learn the Halakah and rabbinic texts,

as well as to prepare rabbis.

 

BET MIDRASH,

a study center or program where anyone can study rabbinic texts, subjects or biblical studies.

The end result is not to produce rabbis, but to give an opportunity to working people,

or simply, people not in a yeshiva program, to study the Torah.

Not a full time study centre.

 

KOLLEL,

a study program at night for married men who work during the day.

The aim is to give an opportunity to family men to study the Torah together.

 

Remember that these are not hard and fast or final definitions. Each Jewish community has its own institutions that sometimes are separate, and sometimes they merge and blur.

 

What is written above is basically true.

However, sometimes a man in a bet midrash will be ordained as a rabbi.

The place/program is not as important in that regard as the length and quality of education

of the student.

For example, I can study in yeshiva until I am 18, then go off to university,

and later return to study in a bet midrash for 5 years, and then get ordained as a rabbi.

 

Different combinations are possible:

don't get stuck on any 1 definition above being inflexible.

 

Yshivat HaChaverim is sort of a combination of the above,

although it is not a qualified place to ordain men to rabbi.

Copyright 2012 © ישיבת החברים