Rosh yeshiva (Hebrew: ראש ישיבה) (pl.: Roshei yeshiva, also referred to as "Rosh yeshivas") is a rabbi who is the academic "head", or rosh (ראש), of a yeshiva (ישיבה), a school of higher Talmudic study. He is required to have a vast and penetrating knowledge of the Talmud and most responsa and the ability to "talk in learning", meaning supreme capabilities and knowledge of his material and an ability to analyse and present new perspectives that are called chidushim (novellae) verbally and often in print. Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jewish communities around the world. ... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbÄ«;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbÄ«) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools (and among Sefaradim today) the sages... Yeshiva or yeshivah (Hebrew: ישיבה pl. ... The Talmud (תלמוד) is a record of rabbinic discussions of Jewish law, ethics, customs, legends, and stories, which Jewish tradition considers authoritative. ... Note: This is based on an entry from the 1906 public domain Jewish Encyclopedia The responsa literature, known in Hebrew as Sheelot U-teshuvot (questions and answers), is the body of written decisions and rulings given by rabbis to questions addressed to them. ...

Yeshivas play a central role in the life of Orthodox Judaism so the position of Rosh yeshiva is the critical central pillar of leadership upon which the entire institution and system depends. In Hasidic Judaism the role of Rosh yeshiva is secondary to the Rebbe, who is head of the Hasidic dynasty that controls it. In many Hassidic sects, the Rosh Yeshivah of a school will be the son or son-in-law of the Rebbe, the assumed heir of the Rebbe. Orthodox Judaism is the stream of Judaism which adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmud (The Oral Law) and later codified in the Shulkhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law). It is governed by these works and the Rabbinical commentary... Hasidic Judaism (from the Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות, meaning piety, from the Hebrew root word chesed חסד meaning loving kindness) is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. ... Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is the pronunciation by Ahskenazic Jews of the Hebrew word רבי. Its transliteration should be Rebbi, but the i (eeh sound) is rarely stressed, rendering its pronounciation as the a in America, hence Rebbe. ...

Historically, the yeshivas continue the scholarly traditions of the Biblical Sanhedrin and the Seventy Elders (Shivim Z'kenim), wise men [1] (Exodus 24:1,9; Numbers 11:16,24) wherein were discussed and eloborated the 613 Mitzvot (commandments). This tradition was continued by the sages of the Mishnah and Talmud. In Babylonia the Rosh yeshiva was referred to as the Reish Metivta (or RaM) in Aramaic. For the tractate in the Mishnah, see Sanhedrin (tractate). ... 613 mitzvot (or 613 Commandments. ... The Mishnah (Hebrew משנה, repetition) is a major source of rabbinic Judaisms religious texts. ... The Talmud (תלמוד) is a record of rabbinic discussions of Jewish law, ethics, customs, legends, and stories, which Jewish tradition considers authoritative. ... Aramaic is a Semitic language with a four-thousand year history. ...

Depending on the size of the yeshiva, there may be several Roshei yeshiva, often from one extended family but not always. There are even dynasties of Roshei yeshiva an example of which is the Soloveitchik family to which the greatest yeshivas in Eretz Yirsoel still belong.

The general role of the rosh yeshiva is to oversee the Talmudic studies and practical legal matters. The rosh yeshiva may lecture on a daily or weekly basis to the highest class (shiur). He is also the one to decide whether to grant permission for students (talmidim) to undertake classes for ordination, known as semicha, as rabbis. Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ... Semicha (סמיכה) (meaning leaning [of the hands]) is a Hebrew word referring to what may be roughly translated as the ordination (in Hebrew: semichut סמיכות) of a rabbi within Judaism. ...

The personal and ethical development of the students in the yeshiva is usually covered by a different personality, known as the mashgiach ("supervisor"). This concept, introduced by the Mussar movement in the 19th century, led to perfection of character as one of the aims of attending a yeshiva. Mashgiach ruchani (or Mashgiach, (Hebrew: Spiritual supervisor/guide) is a title that usually refers to a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students lives. ... The Hebrew term mussar, while literally derived from a word meaning tradition, usually refers to Jewish ethics in general, or (and more commonly) refers to the Jewish ethics education movement that developed in the 19th century Orthodox Jewish European community, particularly in Lithuania. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Famous roshei yeshiva were Rabbis Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, Moshe Feinstein, and Isaac Hutner. Famous mashgichim include Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler. Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (also known as Reb Hirsch Leib Berlin, 1817- 10 August 1893) was a rosh yeshiva (dean of a yeshiva) and author if several works of rabbinic literature in Lithuania. ... Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986) was an Orthodox Rabbi who was world renowned for his expertise in halakha (Jewish Law) and was the de facto supreme rabbinic authority for the Orthodox Jewry of North America. ... Rabbi Yitzchok (Isaac) Hutner (1906 - 1980) was born in Warsaw, Poland, to a family with both Ger hasidim and mitnagdim in their origins. ... Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler ([ [ 1892]]-[[30 diciembre ] ] [ [ 1953 ] ]) era un influyente [ [ juda�smo ortodoxo|Jud�o ortodoxo ] ] [ [ rabbi ] ], [ [ erudito de Talmud]]ic, y fil�sofo jud�o del vig�simo siglo. ...

Prior to the Holocaust most of the large yeshivas were based in Eastern Europe. Many Roshei yeshiva were trained by graduates of the Volozhin yeshiva, headed by its Rosh yeshiva Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, (1749 - 1821). It was known as the "Mother of Yeshivas" because so many of its alumni established yeshivas of their own over time. Rabbi Chaim was the chief disciple of the famed Elijah of Vilna (1720 - 1797) known as the "Vilna Gaon" (the "Genius from Vilna"). Selection at the Auschwitz camp in 1944, where the Nazis chose whom to kill immediately and whom to use as slave labor or for medical experimentation. ... Current division of Europe into five (or more) regions: one definition of Eastern Europe is marked in orange Eastern Europe as a region has several alternative definitions, whereby it can denote: the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Central Europe and Russia. ... The Volozhin Yeshiva, also known as the Eitz Chaim yeshiva, was a yeshiva situated in Volozhin, present-day Belarus in the 19th century. ... Valozhyn (Belarusian: Вало́жын; Russian: Воло́жин) is a town in the Minsk voblast of Belarus, 75 km northwest of Minsk. ... Events While in debtors prison, John Cleland writes Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure). ... The coronation banquet for George IV 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Elijah ben Solomon, the Vilna Gaon Elijah (Eliyahu) ben Solomon Kremer (born April 23, 1720, Vilna, Lithuania; died there October 9, 1797). ... // Events January 6 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings February 11 - Sweden and Prussia sign the (2nd Treaty of Stockholm) declaring peace. ... 1797 (MDCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Presently the majority of the world's yeshivas and their Roshei yeshiva are located in the United States and the State of Israel.

Famous Rosh Yeshivas

(In alphabetical order:)

• Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin
• Moshe Mordechai Epstein
• Moshe Feinstein
• Yitzchok Hutner
• Aharon Kotler
• Dovid Leibowitz
• Henoch Leibowitz
• Aharon Lichtenstein
• Isser Zalman Meltzer
• Yechezkel Sarna
• Shimon Shkop
• Chaim Shmuelevitz
• Joseph Soloveitchik
• Chaim Volozhin

Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (also known as Reb Hirsch Leib Berlin, 1817- 10 August 1893) was a rosh yeshiva (dean of a yeshiva) and author if several works of rabbinic literature in Lithuania. ... Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein is a Talmudist and the Rosh Yeshiva of the Slabodka Yeshiva. ... Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986) was an Orthodox Rabbi who was world renowned for his expertise in halakha (Jewish Law) and was the de facto supreme rabbinic authority for the Orthodox Jewry of North America. ... Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner the Rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin at a special Purim celebration in his yeshiva. ... Aharon (or Ahroyn, Aaron, Aron) Kotler (1890s - 1962) was a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania, and later the United States of America. ... Dovid Leibowitz (1889-1941) was a leading rabbi and disciple of prewar Europes Slabodka Yeshiva in Lithuania who went on to found the Rabbinical Seminary of America as its first Rosh yeshiva (dean) in Brooklyn, New York. ... Henoch Leibowitz (full name: Alter Chanoch Henoch Leibowitz), is an Orthodox Judaism rabbi who as rosh yeshiva (dean), heads the Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim: Rabbinical Seminary of America founded by his father Rabbi Dovid Leibowitz in 1933. ... Aharon Lichtenstein (born 1933) is a noted Orthodox Jewish Rabbi. ... Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer (1870 - 1954) was a famous Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva. ... R Yechezkel Sarna Rabbi Yechezkel Sarna (1890 - 1969) was the successor to Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the Alter of Slabodka, as the spiritual mentor of the Yeshiva. ... The famous scholar Rabbi Shimon Shkop (1860-1940) was born in Tortz and died in Grodno. ... Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz (1902–1978) was a Rosh Yeshiva of the Mirrer Yeshiva for more than 40 years, in Poland, Shanghai and Jerusalem. ... Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik of Yeshiva University. ... Chaim Volozhin (or Chaim Volozhiner or Chaim of Volozhin) (1749-1821) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, Talmudist, and ethicist. ...

Current Rosh Yeshivas

• Mir Yeshiva - Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel
• Sh'or Yoshuv - Rabbi Naftali Jaeger
• Ponevezh Yeshiva - Rabbis Beryl Povarsky and Gershon Edeleshtein
• Passaic Yeshiva - Rabbi Meir Stern
• Yeshiva Torah Vodaas - Rabbi Yisroel Belsky
• Beth Medrash Govoha (Lakewood) - Rabbis Aryeh Malkiel Kotler, Yeruchem Olshin, Dovid Shustal and Yisroel Neuman
• Telshe Yeshiva - Rabbis Chaim Stein and Aizik Ausband
• Philadelphia Yeshiva - Rabbis Shmuel Kamenetsky and Elya Svei
• Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin - Rabbis Aharon Schechter and Yonason David
• Yeshiva Ner Yisrael: Ner Israel Rabbinical College - Rabbi Aharon Feldman