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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The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen
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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.
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
A few weeks later, when the nuns returned to the same spot, they were approached by students from the same yeshiva.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
He recalls how his father was lauded when he handed over the key of the intact historic yeshiva after Israel captured East Jerusalem.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
Yair Margolis, an army reservist who was called up from his yeshiva studies last year to fight in Gaza, said during a recent break from battle that the war had a clear spiritual dimension.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
The Samson Raphael Hirsch Seminary and College was the only yeshiva in the United States that offered a secular college education.
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.
