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''Mesivta'' (also metivta;
Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
: מתיבתא, "academy") is an
Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...
yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy a ...
secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
for boys. The term is commonly used in the United States to describe a yeshiva that emphasizes
Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
ic studies for boys in grades 9 through 11 or 12; alternately, it refers to the religious studies track in a yeshiva high school that offers both religious and secular studies.Helmreich (2000), p. xii. The comparable term in Israel for the former is ''Yeshiva Ketana'' ( he, ישיבה קטנה, lit. "small yeshiva"), for the latter ''Yeshiva Tichonit'' (ישיבה תיכונית, "yeshiva high-school"). This article focuses on the US; see Chinuch Atzmai and Mamlachti dati for respective discussion of these Israeli institutions. After graduation from a mesivta, students progress to a beth midrash, or undergraduate-level, yeshiva program. In practice, yeshivas that call themselves ''mesivtas'' are usually a combination of ''mesivta'' (high-school) and ''beth medrash'' (post-high-school) programs. Students in the ''beth medrash'' program are often called upon to mentor those in the ''mesivta''.


History


In Talmudic and Geonic eras

The term ''metivta'' first appears in the Talmud, where it refers to a yeshiva of Talmudic sages.
Abba Arika Abba Arikha (175–247 CE; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: ; born: ''Rav Abba bar Aybo'', ), commonly known as Rav (), was a Jewish amora of the 3rd century. He was born and lived in Kafri, Asoristan, in the Sasanian Empire. Abba Arikha establis ...
learned in the ''metivta'' in Sepphoris under Judah the Prince, his son, and grandson. Under the leadership of
Rav ''Rav'' (or ''Rab,'' Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah; a Jewish spiritual guide; or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (1:6) states that: The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi''. (For a more nuan ...
and Samuel of Nehardea, the Talmudic Academy of Sura during the Babylonian Exile was called a ''sidra'', but under Rav Huna, the second dean of the Academy of Sura, the yeshiva began to be called a ''metivta'' and Huna was the first to hold the title of ''resh metivta'' (corresponding to '' rosh yeshiva''). According to Graetz, the ''metivta'' convened in certain months of the year.Graetz (1893), p. 547. ''Metivta'' frameworks continued to operate throughout the era of the Geonim, a period of approximately 1000 years.


Modern-day concept

The dual curriculum high school was pioneered by the Manhattan Talmudical Academy of Yeshiva University (now known as Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy) in 1916; Tachkemoni was active in Poland and then Israel at approximately that time; ALMA was established in Jerusalem in 1936, and "ha-Yishuv" in Tel Aviv in 1937. See . As regards the more intensive Talmudic studies program, Rabbi
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz (1886 – 7 September 1948) was a leader of American Orthodoxy and founder of key institutions such as Torah U'Mesorah, an outreach and educational organization. He is also known for having taken the reins in 1921 and b ...
introduced the concept of a ''mesivta'' for boys aged 14 and older in New York in 1926. Until that time, religious boys attended
Talmud Torah Talmud Torah ( he, תלמוד תורה, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary edu ...
(elementary school) until their bar mitzvah and then went on to public high school and college, where their level of Torah observance and commitment were sorely tested. The only post-bar mitzvah religious education available at the time was at Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchonon's Talmudical Academy (founded 1916), which prepared students for a career in the rabbinate. When Mendlowitz, who had begun teaching at the Yeshiva Torah Vodaas elementary school in 1923, suggested the innovation, he was met with widespread resistance. An editorial in the '' Yiddish Morgen Journal'' stated: With the support of three Torah Vodaas board members –
Binyomin Wilhelm Binyomin Wilhelm (1886–1972) was a founder of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas. Biography Born in Lodz, Poland, Binyomin was the oldest son of a Radoshitzer chassidic family. His mother died when he was eight years old, and he left Europe by himself in 1 ...
, Ben Zion Weberman, and Abraham Lewin – Mendlowitz successfully opened Mesivta Torah Vodaas in its own building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in September 1926. The ''mesivta'' opened with four classes of post-bar mitzvah students and 11 students in the advanced, beth midrash program. The ''mesivta'' went on to graduate generations of students who became Torah scholars and leaders in the American Jewish world. Mendlowitz also influenced the administration at Yeshivas Chaim Berlin to expand beyond eighth grade and open a ''mesivta'' as well. Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin opened in the 1930s. Other mesivtas founded in the 1930s and 1940s were Mesivta Tifereth Jerusalem, Kaminetzer Mesivta of Boro Park, and Rabbi Jacob Joseph School. In the 1950s, the latter four mesivtas had their own basketball league. In 1937 Mendlowitz founded Camp Mesivta, the first yeshiva summer camp in America, in Ferndale, New York. This became the summer camp of choice for thousands of students from other yeshivas and a prototype for yeshiva learning camps in later decades. Mendlowitz instituted the practice of inviting Gedolim to visit the camp for a few days or a few weeks, giving campers the experience of seeing Torah greats in action. The Gedolim who regularly stayed at Camp Mesivta included Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky, Rabbi Shlomo Heiman, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, and Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz. Camp Mesivta operated until the early 1960s; in 1966, it was succeeded by Camp Ohr Shraga-Beis Medrash LeTorah in Greenfield Park, New York, headed by Rabbi
Zelik Epstein Zelik Epstein, also known as Zelig Epstein (full name Aharon Zelig Epstein) (July 10, 1914 – August 3, 2009), was a prominent Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Shaar HaTorah-Grodno, a private Talmudical institution in Kew Gardens ...
and Rabbi
Nesanel Quinn Nesanel Hakohen Quinn (1910 – 7 February 2005) was a Haredi Jewish rabbi and educator. He was connected with Yeshiva Torah Vodaas in Brooklyn, New York, for nearly 80 years, rising to ''menahel'' (director). Biography Quinn's parents, Zal ...
.


Today

Today ''mesivtas'' are located in cities throughout the United States that have a sizable Orthodox Jewish population. Since the 1980s, the number of ''mesivtas'' in the New York/New Jersey area has mushroomed. Whereas before there were at most a handful of schools to choose from, today every city with a religious Jewish population and nearly every
township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...
has a yeshiva high school. Because of the proliferation, ''mesivtas'' have developed reputations that reflect the academic level of their students. There are schools for ''metzuyanim'' (top learners), schools for average students, and schools for students with "serious scholastic and/or ''yirat shamayim'' (religious belief) challenges". Some ''mesivtas'' operate different "tracks" to satisfy a diverse student body. ''Mesivtas'', like yeshivas, do not follow the public education schedule of terms and vacations, but organize the school year according to the
Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel ...
. School is in recess during
Jewish holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainst ...
, and the term ends in the month of Av, the traditional break for yeshivas since the days of the Talmud. There is also a
dress code A dress code is a set of rules, often written, with regard to what clothing groups of people must wear. Dress codes are created out of social perceptions and norms, and vary based on purpose, circumstances, and occasions. Different societies a ...
: whereas in elementary school, boys wear more casual clothes to school, upon entering ''mesivta'', they are expected to dress in dark pants and white shirts.Kamen (1985), p. 86.


See also

* Bais Yaakov * Jewish education * List of mesivtas * List of Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools * Yeshiva Gedolah


References


Sources

*Astor, Yaakov
"Harry Herskowitz: A legend who made a different world and a world of difference"
in ''Daring To Dream: Profiles in the growth of the American Torah community'', Agudath Israel of America, May 2003, pp. 16–45. * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Mesivtas of Greater America Official Website
{{Organized Jewish Life in the United States Aramaic words and phrases Jewish education Jewish educational institutions Orthodox yeshivas Aramaic words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings