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
The Devil's Arithmetic
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The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen
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A Light in the Darkness
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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.
When he reached New York, he enrolled in a yeshiva to resume his Talmud studies—as his parents would have desired—but soon left after finding he could no longer accept all of the doctrines.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 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
Most had studied in yeshiva until age 26, which had allowed them military exemptions.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2024
Settlers said that Israeli forces in May tried to stop them from hauling heavy construction equipment to build a new yeshiva.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 13, 2023
He was a great Talmudist, but he had been trained in a European yeshiva, and I didn’t think he would take kindly to the scientific method of studying Talmud.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
Definitions 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.
