Yeshiva

"[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 Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, Sura and Pumbedita, which were known as shte ha-yeshivot (the two colleges).

The Mishnah tractate Megillah contains 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.

In the 19th century, 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 (the Jewish Enlightenment), and other 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.

Some variety developed within Lithuanian yeshivas to methods of studying Talmud and mussar, for example whether the emphasis would be placed on beki'ut (breadth) or iyyun (depth).

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.

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 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.

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 many Conservative rabbis.

Hebrew Union College (HUC), affiliated with Reform Judaism, was founded in 1875 under the leadership of Isaac Mayer Wise in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In Europe, Reform Judaism trains rabbis at Leo Baeck College in London, UK and Abraham Geiger Kolleg in Potsdam, Germany.

Boys and girls here attend separate schools, and proceed to higher Torah study, in a yeshiva or seminary, respectively, starting anywhere between the ages of 13 and 18; see Chinuch Atzmai and Bais Yaakov.

(Students generally prepare for the Semikha test of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel; until his recent passing (2020) commonly for that of the posek R. Zalman Nechemia Goldberg.)

Semikha is usually through RIETS, although many Modern Orthodox Rabbis study through Hesder, or other Yeshivot in Israel such as Yeshivat HaMivtar, Mizrachi's Musmachim program,[24] and Machon Ariel.

[26] Dayanim also train through Kollel Eretz Hemda[27] and Machon Ariel; while Mizrachi's post-semikha Manhigut Toranit program[28] focuses on leadership and scholarship, with the advanced semikha of "Rav Ir".

There are numerous Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools, typically offering a beit midrash / metivta program in parallel with the standard curriculum, (often) structured such that students are able to join the first shiur in an Israeli yeshiva.

The curriculum is thus also focused on classical Jewish subjects – e.g. Talmud, Tanakh, Midrash, halacha, and Philosophy – but differs from Orthodox yeshivot in that the subject-weights are more even (correspondingly, Talmud and halacha are less emphasized), and the approach entails an openness to modern scholarship; the curriculum also emphasizes "the other functions of a modern rabbi such as preaching, counseling, and pastoral work".

In a typical Orthodox yeshiva, the main emphasis is on Talmud study and analysis, or Gemara - an often intensive "dialectic give and take" (Aramaic: shakla v'tarya) where the cases brought in the underlying Mishnah are analyzed, thereby explicating all inherent teachings and insights.

The first is iyyun, or in-depth study (variants described below), often confined to selected legally focused tractates with an emphasis on analytical skills and close reference to the classical commentators.

There are two main schools of rishonim, from France and from Spain, who will hold different interpretations and understandings of the Talmud; the acharonim collate and clarify these opinions, and constitute, then, a further layer of analysis.

Beginning students are encouraged to also work through the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, so as to survey all areas of applicable halacha and to consolidate their prior, high school, Torah knowledge; this is also often the practice outside of Chabad.

More advanced students, additionally and similarly, review the Mishneh Torah through its daily study cycle (this is often outside of any seder), here including halachot relating to, for example, the Temple.

The focus is on in-depth,[53] source-based[29] study of those areas where (community) Rabbis will typically be asked "shaylas", i.e. halachic questions: the testing[52][54][55][56] invariably covers Kashrut (referred to as "Issur v'Heter"), usually Shabbat, often Niddah, sometimes Avelut (mourning) and/or marriage.

This study, typically of two to four year's duration, encompasses a detailed analysis of the halakha in the Arba'ah Turim and Bet Yosef, through its final presentation in the Shulchan Aruch, with its major commentaries (especially "Shakh" and "Taz"), complemented by a survey of key She'elot u-Teshuvot (responsa), recent and historical.

The analysis, in turn, is built on a detailed knowledge [57] of all relevant Talmudic sugyas, which are studied accordingly within the schedule, [43][44] emphasizing the legal commentaries mentioned.

Other works of mussar literature studied include: As above, these sessions focus the student on self-understanding and introspection, internalizing the spiritual aims of Judaism, and developing the character-traits, or middos, appropriately.

Kabbalistic sources are brought in halachik works such as Kaf Hachaim and Ben Ish Hai – and are then studied indirectly also; see Sephardic law and customs § Lurianic Kabbalah.

These works (Kuzari, Moreh Nevukhim, Sefer ha-Ikkarim, Emunot ve-Deot, Derech Hashem, Nefesh Ha-Chaim, Kad ha-Kemach and others) in turn draw on Talmudic-Aggadah / Midrash, and on Tanach (see below).

Some Haredi and Hasidic yeshivas also include formal study of Hashkafa, especially at ba'al teshuva focused institutions; many Semikha programs likewise, particularly those with an outreach, or kiruv, component.

The Rosh Yeshiva delivers a weekly shiur on the parashah, exploring a particular question or theme, with a related ethical or hashkafic teaching; this is often open to the public.