yeshiva
Americannoun
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an Orthodox Jewish school for the religious and secular education of children of elementary school age.
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an Orthodox Jewish school of higher instruction in Jewish learning, chiefly for students preparing to enter the rabbinate.
noun
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a traditional Jewish school devoted chiefly to the study of rabbinic literature and the Talmud
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a school run by Orthodox Jews for children of primary school age, providing both religious and secular instruction
Etymology
Origin of yeshiva
1925–30; < Hebrew (post-Biblical) yəshībhāh literally, a sitting
Explanation
A yeshiva is a Jewish school or college where students study religious texts. It used to be that only boys attended yeshivas, but today many of them are co-educational. Yeshivas have existed in various forms for thousands of years and are very important to Judaism. Yeshiva students study the Talmud and the Torah, as well as other religious books, and often take additional nonreligious classes. The scholarship at these schools varies between Orthodox and non-Orthodox branches, as well as between age groups. The word yeshiva comes from the Hebrew yesibah, "academy," or literally "a sitting."
Vocabulary lists containing yeshiva
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr. Brander is president and rosh yeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Nudelman and her colleagues reported the incident to the head of the yeshiva, who vowed to take action.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
But the changes blowing through Israel have not yet breached the walls of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva - or Jewish seminary - in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
Three families live in tarpaulin-covered shelters full of bunk beds for some 50 young men, who study in a yeshiva that is a shabby prefab structure surrounded by abandoned toys, building materials and garbage.
From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2024
The yeshiva team was very quiet and the rabbi had begun to chew his lip.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
