Yeshiva - Types of Yeshivot

Types of Yeshivot

1. Yeshiva ketana ("junior yeshiva") - Many yeshivot ketanot in Israel and some in the Diaspora do not have a secular course of studies and all students learn Judaic Torah studies full-time.
2. Yeshiva High School - Also called Mesivta or Mechina or Yeshiva Ketana, combines the intensive Jewish religious education with a secular high school education. The dual curriculum was pioneered by the Manhattan Talmudical Academy of Yeshiva University (now known as Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy) in 1916.
3. Mechina - For Israeli high-school graduates who wish to study for one year before entering the army.
4. Beth Medrash - For high school graduates, and is attended from one year to many years, dependent on the career plans and affiliation of the student.
5. Yeshivat Hesder - Yeshiva that has an arrangement with the Israel Defence Forces by which the students enlist together in the same unit and, as much as is possible serve in the same unit in the army. Over a period of about 5 years there will be a period of service starting in the second year of about 16 months. There are different variations. The rest of the time will be spent in compulsory study in the yeshiva.
6. Kollel - Yeshiva for married men. The kollel idea, though having its intellectual roots traced to the Torah, is a relatively modern innovation of 19th century Europe. Often, a kollel will be in the same location as the yeshiva.
7. Baal teshuva yeshivot catering to the needs of the newly Orthodox.

Traditionally, religious girls' schools are not called "yeshiva." The Beis Yaakov system was started in 1918 under the guidance of Sarah Schenirer. This system provided girls with a Torah education, using a curriculum that skewed more toward practical halakha and the study of Tanakh, rather than Talmud. Beis Yaakovs are strictly Haredi schools. Non-Haredi girls' schools' curricula often includes the study of Mishna and sometimes Talmud. They are also sometimes called "yeshiva" (e.g., Prospect Park Yeshiva). Post-high schools for women are generally called "seminary" or "midrasha".