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205-490: In the United States and Israel , different levels of yeshiva education have different names. In the U.S., elementary-school students enroll in a cheder , post- bar mitzvah -age students learn in a mesivta , and undergraduate-level students learn in a beit midrash or yeshiva gedola ( Hebrew : ישיבה גדולה , lit.   'large yeshiva' or 'great yeshiva'). In Israel, elementary-school students enroll in

410-553: A Mesivta or Bais Yaakov ; see Torah Umesorah . Modern Orthodox typically spend a year, often two, post-high school in a yeshiva (sometimes Hesder ) or Midrasha in Israel. Many thereafter, or instead, attend Yeshiva University , undertaking a dual curriculum, combining academic education with Torah study; see Torah Umadda , and S. Daniel Abraham Israel Program . (A percentage stay in Israel, "making Aliyah "; many also go on to higher education in other American colleges.) Semikha

615-603: A Procurator at Caesarea and a Jewish Patriarch. A former leading Pharisee, Yohanan ben Zakkai , was appointed the first Patriarch (the Hebrew word, Nasi , also means prince , or president ), and he reestablished the Sanhedrin at Javneh under Pharisee control. Instead of giving tithes to the priests and sacrificing offerings at the Temple, the rabbis instructed Jews to give money to charities and study in local synagogues , as well as to pay

820-688: A Talmud Torah or cheder , post-bar mitzvah-age students learn in a yeshiva ketana (Hebrew: ישיבה קטנה , lit.   'small yeshiva' or 'minor yeshiva'), and high-school-age students learn in a yeshiva gedola . A kollel is a yeshiva for married men, in which it is common to pay a token stipend to its students. Students of Lithuanian and Hasidic yeshivot gedolot (plural of yeshiva gedola ) usually learn in yeshiva until they get married. Historically, yeshivas were for men only. Today, all non-Orthodox yeshivas are open to women. Although there are separate schools for Orthodox women and girls, ( midrasha or "seminary" ) these do not follow

1025-502: A community kollel . Many Hasidic sects have their own yeshivas, such as Satmar and Bobov , while Chabad operates its Tomchei Temimim nationwide. The first Sephardic yeshiva in the Americas was Yeshivat Mikdash Melech, established in 1972 by Rabbi Haim Benoliel. (In 1988, the yeshiva opened a branch in Israel, Mikdash Melech Jerusalem, to serve English-speaking Sephardic students.) There are over today 600 junior and high schools, typically

1230-633: A lower house based on population; and the Senate , an upper house based on equal representation for each state. Federalism provides substantial autonomy to the 50 states, while American values are based on a democratic political tradition that draws its inspiration from the European Enlightenment movement . One of the world's most developed countries , the United States has had the largest nominal GDP since about 1890 and accounted for over 15% of

1435-647: A messiah . Up until this time, a number of Christians were still part of the Jewish community. However, they did not support or take part in the revolt. Whether because they had no wish to fight, or because they could not support a second messiah in addition to Jesus, or because of their harsh treatment by Bar Kokhba during his brief reign, these Christians also left the Jewish community around this time. This revolt ended in 135 when Bar Kokhba and his army were defeated. The Romans then barred Jews from Jerusalem, until Constantine allowed Jews to enter for one day each year, during

1640-511: A " Special Relationship " with the United Kingdom and strong ties with Canada , Australia , New Zealand , the Philippines , Japan , South Korea , Israel , and several European Union countries ( France , Italy , Germany , Spain , and Poland ). The U.S. works closely with its NATO allies on military and national security issues, and with countries in the Americas through

1845-757: A "yeshiva". World War II and the Holocaust brought the yeshivot of Eastern and Central Europe to an end; although many scholars and rabbinic students who survived the war established yeshivot in Israel as well a number of Western countries. The Yeshiva of Nitra was the last surviving in occupied Europe. Many students and faculty of the Mir Yeshiva were able to escape to Siberia, with the Yeshiva ultimately continuing to operate in Shanghai ; see Yeshivas in World War II . From

2050-661: A Haredi track; there are several colleges of education associated with Hesder and the Midrashot (these often offer specializations in Tanakh and Machshavah – discussed below ). See Religious Zionism § Educational institutions . The first Orthodox yeshiva in the U.S. was Etz Chaim of New York (1886), modeled after Volozhin. It developed into the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (1896; "RIETS") and eventually Yeshiva University in 1945. It

2255-555: A Rabbinic Judge). The certification in question is often conferred by the Rosh Yeshiva. Mercaz Harav , the foundational and leading Religious-Zionist yeshiva was established in 1924 by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook . Many in the Religious Zionist community today attend a Hesder yeshiva (discussed below ) during their national service ; these offer a kollel for Rabbinical students. (Students generally prepare for

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2460-535: A college degree for their yeshiva studies. Yeshiva University in New York provides a year's worth of credit for yeshiva studies. Institutions with similar arrangements in place include Lander College for Men , Yeshivas Ner Yisroel and Hebrew Theological College . As above , some American yeshivot in fact award the degrees Bachelor of Talmudic Law (4 years cumulative study), Master of Rabbinic Studies / Master of Talmudic Law (six years), and (at Ner Yisroel )

2665-572: A decentralized government that operated until 1789. After the British surrender at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 American sovereignty was internationally recognized by the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which the U.S. gained territory stretching west to the Mississippi River, north to present-day Canada, and south to Spanish Florida . The Northwest Ordinance (1787) established the precedent by which

2870-468: A display of Moses' appointing elders as judges to govern with him and judge disputes, imparting to them details and guidance of how to interpret the laws of God while carrying out their duties. The Oral Torah includes rules intended to prevent violations of the laws of the Torah and Talmud, sometimes referred to as "a fence around the Torah" . For example, the written Torah prohibits certain types of travelling on

3075-435: A duration of five months (six in a Jewish leap year ). Summer zman starts after Passover and lasts until Rosh Chodesh Av or Tisha B'Av , a duration of about three months. Yeshiva students prepare for and review the shiur (lecture) with their chavruta during a study session known as a seder . In contrast to conventional classroom learning, in which a teacher lectures to the student, chavruta -style learning requires

3280-407: A few prominent industrialists , largely by their formation of trusts and monopolies to prevent competition. Tycoons led the nation's expansion in the railroad , petroleum , and steel industries. The United States emerged as a pioneer of the automotive industry . These changes were accompanied by significant increases in economic inequality , slum conditions , and social unrest , creating

3485-616: A founding member of the World Bank , Organization of American States , NATO , and the United Nations , as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council . The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776. Stephen Moylan , a Continental Army aide to General George Washington , wrote to Joseph Reed , Washington's aide-de-camp , seeking to go "with full and ample powers from

3690-400: A kollel. (In 2018, there were 133,000 in full-time learning .) Kollel studies usually focus on deep analysis of Talmud, and those Tractates not usually covered in the standard "undergraduate" program; see § Talmud study below. Some Kollels similarly focus on halacha in total, others specifically on those topics required for Semikha (Rabbinic ordination) or Dayanut (qualification as

3895-588: A means to the end of inspiring emotional devekut (spiritual attachment to God) and mystical enthusiasm. In this context, the personal pilgrimage of a Hasid to his Rebbe is a central feature of spiritual life, in order to awaken spiritual fervour. Often, such paths will reserve the Shabbat in the yeshiva for the sweeter teachings of the classic texts of Hasidism. In contrast, Chabad and Breslov , in their different ways, place daily study of their dynasties' Hasidic texts in central focus; see below . Illustrative of this

4100-564: A modified curriculum, generally focusing on leadership and pastoral roles. These are JSLI , RSI , PRS and Ateret Tzvi . The Wolkowisk Mesifta is aimed at community professionals with significant knowledge and experience, and provides a tailored program to each candidate. Hebrew Union College (HUC), affiliated with Reform Judaism , was founded in 1875 under the leadership of Isaac Mayer Wise in Cincinnati, Ohio. HUC later opened additional locations in New York, Los Angeles, and Jerusalem. It

4305-447: A number of means, including fixed voluntary, annual contributions; these contributions being collected and handled by local leaders appointed by the yeshiva. Private gifts and donations from individuals were also common, especially during holidays, consisting of money or goods. The yeshiva of Jerusalem was finally forced into exile in Cairo in 1127, and eventually dispersed entirely. Likewise,

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4510-563: A pair ( zugot ) which led the Sanhedrin . The Hasmonean Kingdom ended in 37 BCE but it is believed that the "two-man rule of the Sanhedrin" lasted until the early part of the 1st century CE during the period of the Roman province of Judea . The last pair, Hillel and Shammai, was the most influential of the Sanhedrin zugot . Both were Pharisees , but the Sadducees were actually the dominant party while

4715-583: A period of heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called the nadir of American race relations . A series of Supreme Court decisions, including Plessy v. Ferguson , emptied the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of their force, allowing Jim Crow laws in the South to remain unchecked, sundown towns in the Midwest, and segregation in communities across the country , which would be reinforced by

4920-488: A prominent leader in the early 1960s. The Great Society plan of President Lyndon Johnson 's administration resulted in groundbreaking and broad-reaching laws, policies and a constitutional amendment to counteract some of the worst effects of lingering institutional racism . The counterculture movement in the U.S. brought significant social changes, including the liberalization of attitudes toward recreational drug use and sexuality . It also encouraged open defiance of

5125-505: A radical repudiation of certain elements of Pharisaism, elements that were basic to Second Temple Judaism . The Pharisees had been partisan. Members of different sects argued with one another over the correctness of their respective interpretations. After the destruction of the Second Temple, these sectarian divisions ended. The term Pharisee was no longer used, perhaps because it was a term more often used by non-Pharisees, but also because

5330-518: A sense of manifest destiny . The Missouri Compromise attempted to balance the desire of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery into new territories with that of southern states to extend it, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It further prohibited slavery in all other lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36°30′ parallel . As Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans,

5535-511: A setback with its being explicitly outlawed in the 80s CE by Domitian as a "Jewish superstition ", while Judaism retained its privileges as long as members paid the Fiscus Judaicus . However, from a historical perspective, persecution of Christians seemed only to increase the number of Christian converts, leading eventually to the adoption of Christianity by the Roman emperor Constantine . On

5740-611: A status solidified after its involvement in World War I . After Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II . Its aftermath left the U.S. and the Soviet Union as the world's two superpowers and led to the Cold War , during which both countries struggled for ideological dominance and international influence . Following the Soviet Union's collapse and

5945-401: A year). Juvenile correctional facilities are operated by local or state governments and serve as longer-term placements for any minor adjudicated as delinquent and ordered by a judge to be confined. As of January 2023, the United States has the sixth-highest per capita incarceration rate in the world—531 people per 100,000 inhabitants—and the largest prison and jail population in

6150-527: Is Sholom Dovber Schneersohn's wish in establishing the Chabad yeshiva system, that the students should spend a part of the daily curriculum learning Chabad Hasidic texts "with pilpul ". The idea to learn Hasidic mystical texts with similar logical profundity, derives from the unique approach in the works of the Rebbes of Chabad, initiated by its founder Schneur Zalman of Liadi , to systematically investigate and articulate

6355-771: Is a rabbinical seminary or college mostly geared for the training of rabbis and clergy specifically. Similarly, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College of Reconstructionist Judaism , founded in Pennsylvania in 1968, functions to train its future clergy. Some Reform and Reconstructionist teachers also teach at the non-denominational seminaries mentioned above. In Europe, Reform Judaism trains rabbis at Leo Baeck College in London, UK and Abraham Geiger Kolleg in Potsdam, Germany. None of these institutions describes itself as

Yeshiva - Misplaced Pages Continue

6560-571: Is attributed to Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai , the founder of the Yeshiva (religious school) in Yavne . Yavneh replaced Jerusalem as the new seat of a reconstituted Sanhedrin, which reestablished its authority and became a means of reuniting Jewry. The destruction of the Second Temple brought about a dramatic change in Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism built upon Jewish tradition while adjusting to new realities. Temple ritual

6765-452: Is available to consult to students on difficult points in their day's Talmudic studies. The rabbi responsible for the Talmudic shiur is known as a maggid shiur . Students are known as talmidim (sing. talmid ). Rav muvhak is sometimes used in reference to one's primary teacher; correspondingly, talmid muvhak may refer to a primary, or outstanding, student. In most yeshivot, the year

6970-571: Is believed to be the first widespread culture in the Americas. Over time, indigenous North American cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, and some, such as the Mississippian culture , developed agriculture , architecture , and complex societies . In the post-archaic period , the Mississippian cultures were located in the midwestern , eastern , and southern regions, and the Algonquian in

7175-584: Is called the Jerusalem Talmud . It was compiled sometime during the 4th century in Palestine. Judaism at this time was divided into antagonistic factions. The main camps were the Pharisees , Saducees , and Zealots , but also included other less influential sects. This led to further unrest, and the 1st century BCE and 1st century CE saw a number of charismatic religious leaders, contributing to what would become

7380-401: Is delivered through a " shiur ", a discursive-lecture with pre-specified sources, or " marei mekomot " (מראה מקומות; "bibliography", lit. "indication of the (textual) locations"); study in general, and particularly the preparation for shiur , takes place in " chavruta " or paired-study. This study is in a common venue called the bet midrash ( Yiddish , "zal" i.e. "hall"). The institution

7585-477: Is divided into three periods (terms) called zmanim (lit. times; sing. zman ). Elul zman starts from the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul and extends until the end of Yom Kippur . The six-weeks-long semester is the shortest yet most intense session, as it comes before the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Winter zman starts after Sukkot and lasts until about two weeks before Passover ,

7790-566: Is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. The theory that the destruction of the Temple and subsequent upheaval led to the committing of Oral Law into writing was first explained in the Epistle of Sherira Gaon and often repeated. The Oral Law was subsequently codified in the Mishnah and Gemarah , and is interpreted in rabbinic literature detailing subsequent rabbinic decisions and writings. Rabbinic Jewish literature

7995-512: Is headed by its rosh yeshiva , while other senior rabbis are referred to as "Ram" ( rosh mesivta or reish metivta ); the mashgiach assumes responsibility for students' spiritual development ( mashpia , in Hasidic yeshivot). A kollel is headed by its rosh kollel , even when it is part of a yeshiva. A sho'el u'meishiv (Hebrew: שואל ומשיב ; lit. transl. ask and he answers; often simply " meishiv ", or alternately " nosay v'notayn ")

8200-661: Is known as Tomchei Temimim . Many prominent contemporary yeshivot in the U.S. and Israel are continuations of European institutions, and often bear the same name. Yeshivot in Israel have operated since Talmudic times, as above ; see Talmudic academies in Eretz Yisrael . More recent examples include the Ari Ashkenazi Synagogue (since the mid-1500s); the Bet El yeshiva (operating since 1737); and Etz Chaim Yeshiva (since 1841). Various yeshivot were established in Israel in

8405-492: Is known as the presidential system , in contrast to the parliamentary system , where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789 Constitution of the United States , especially in the Americas. The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed independently in the 18th century with the Federalist and Anti-Federalist parties. Since then,

Yeshiva - Misplaced Pages Continue

8610-438: Is now the United States experienced conflicts with Native Americans, they also engaged in trade, exchanging European tools for food and animal pelts. Relations ranged from close cooperation to warfare and massacres. The colonial authorities often pursued policies that forced Native Americans to adopt European lifestyles, including conversion to Christianity. Along the eastern seaboard, settlers trafficked African slaves through

8815-836: Is obscure. It may be that it was marginalized by, absorbed into or became Early Christianity (see the Gospel according to the Hebrews ). The Acts of the Apostles at least report how Paul the Apostle preferredly evangelized communities of proselytes and Godfearers , or circles sympathetic to Judaism : the Apostolic Decree allowing converts to forgo circumcision made Christianity a more attractive option for interested pagans than Judaism . See also Circumcision controversy in early Christianity . The attractiveness of Christianity may, however, have suffered

9020-621: Is predicated on the belief that the Written Law cannot be properly understood without recourse to the Oral Law (the Mishnah ). Much rabbinic Jewish literature concerns specifying what behavior is sanctioned by the law; this body of interpretations is called halakha ( the way ). The Talmud contains discussions and opinions regarding details of many oral laws believed to have originally been transmitted to Moses. Some see Exodus 18 and Numbers 11 as

9225-534: Is sanctioned by the law; this body of interpretations is called halakha ( the way ). Originally, Jewish scholarship was oral. Rabbis expounded and debated the law (the written law expressed in the Hebrew Bible) and discussed the Tanakh without the benefit of written works (other than the biblical books themselves), though some may have made private notes ( megillot setarim ), for example of court decisions. This situation changed drastically, however, mainly as

9430-446: Is that the present Mishnah was based on an earlier collection by Rabbi Meir. There are also references to the "Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva", although this may simply mean his teachings in general. It is possible that Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir established the divisions and order of subjects in the Mishnah, but this would make them the authors of a school curriculum rather than of a book. Authorities are divided on whether Judah haNasi recorded

9635-542: Is the federal agency charged with addressing most environmental-related issues . The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act . The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides a way to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service implements and enforces the Act. In 2024, the U.S. ranked 34th among 180 countries in

9840-414: Is the view of Rabbi Meir" represent cases where the author intended to present Rabbi Meir's view as a "minority opinion" not representing the accepted law. Judah haNasi is credited with publishing the Mishnah, although there have been a few edits since his time (for example, those passages that cite him or his grandson, Rabbi Yehuda Nesi'ah ; in addition, the Mishnah at the end of Tractate Sotah refers to

10045-454: Is to be found around the Jewish world, with regional differences; see Category:Orthodox yeshivas in Europe and Category:Orthodox yeshivas by country . This schedule is generally maintained Sunday through Thursday. On Thursday nights, there may be an extra long night seder, known as mishmar sometimes lasting beyond 1:00 am, and in some yeshivot even until the following sunrise. On Fridays, there

10250-416: Is usually at least one seder in the morning, with unstructured learning schedules for the afternoon. Saturdays have a special Shabbat schedule which includes some sedarim but usually no shiur. Yeshiva study is differentiated from, for example university study, by several features, apart from the curriculum. The year is structured into " zmanim "; the day is structured into " seders ". The learning itself

10455-451: Is usually through RIETS, although many Modern Orthodox Rabbis study through Hesder , or other Yeshivot in Israel such as Yeshivat HaMivtar , Mizrachi's Musmachim program, and Machon Ariel. RIETS also houses several post-semikha kollelim, including one focused on Dayanut . Dayanim also train through Kollel Eretz Hemda and Machon Ariel; while Mizrachi's post-semikha Manhigut Toranit program focuses on leadership and scholarship, with

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10660-471: The makshan (questioner) and tartzan (answerer). Another important function of Gemara is to identify the correct biblical basis for a given law presented in the Mishnah and the logical process connecting one with the other: this activity was known as talmud long before the existence of the Talmud as a text. Orthodox Judaism does not accept the scholarly view that Rabbinic Judaism came into being in

10865-515: The Fiscus Iudaicus . In 132, the Emperor Hadrian threatened to rebuild Jerusalem as a pagan city dedicated to Jupiter , called Aelia Capitolina . Some of the leading sages of the Sanhedrin supported a rebellion (and, for a short time, an independent state) led by Simon bar Kozeba (also called Simon bar Kokhba , or "son of a star"); some, such as Rabbi Akiva , believed Bar Kokhba to be

11070-583: The Academy for Jewish Religion in New York and of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in Newton Centre , Massachusetts also includes many Conservative rabbis. See also Institute of Traditional Judaism . More recently, several non-traditional, and nondenominational (also called "transdenominational" or "postdenominational") seminaries have been established. These grant semikha in a shorter time, and with

11275-569: The Allies , helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers . In 1920, a constitutional amendment granted nationwide women's suffrage . During the 1920s and '30s, radio for mass communication and the invention of early television transformed communications nationwide. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression , which President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to with

11480-548: The Atlantic slave trade . The original Thirteen Colonies that would later found the United States were administered as possessions of Great Britain , and had local governments with elections open to most white male property owners . The colonial population grew rapidly, eclipsing Native American populations; by the 1770s, the natural increase of the population was such that only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas. The colonies' distance from Britain allowed for

11685-694: The Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva established in Poland in 1930 by Meir Shapiro , who is renowned in both Hasidic and Lithuanian Jewish circles for initiating the Daf Yomi daily cycle of Talmud study. (For contemporary yeshivas , see, for example, under Satmar , Belz , Bobov , Breslov and Pupa .) In many Hasidic yeshivas , study of Hasidic texts is a secondary activity, similar to the additional mussar curriculum in Lithuanian yeshivas. These paths see Hasidism as

11890-529: The Environmental Performance Index . The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 and has many other environmental commitments. The United States is a federal republic of 50 states and a separate federal capital district, Washington, D.C. It also asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and several uninhabited island possessions . The U.S. is

12095-493: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have national jurisdiction and specialized duties, such as protecting civil rights , national security and enforcing U.S. federal courts ' rulings and federal laws. State courts conduct most civil and criminal trials, and federal courts handle designated crimes and appeals of state court decisions . There is no unified "criminal justice system" in

12300-415: The Great Lakes , Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico . British colonization of the East Coast began with the Virginia Colony (1607) and Plymouth Colony (1620). The Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents for representative self-governance and constitutionalism that would develop throughout the American colonies. While European settlers in what

12505-543: The Great Lakes region and along the Eastern Seaboard , while the Hohokam culture and Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the southwest . Native population estimates of what is now the United States before the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000 to nearly 10 million. Christopher Columbus began exploring the Caribbean for Spain in 1492, leading to Spanish-speaking settlements and missions from Puerto Rico and Florida to New Mexico and California . France established its own settlements along

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12710-446: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City) that emulate the style of traditional yeshivas in significant ways. Many do not officially refer to themselves as "yeshivas" (one exception is the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem), and all are open to both women and men, who study in the same classrooms and follow the same curriculum. Students may study part-time, as in a kollel, or full-time, and they may study lishmah (for

12915-404: The Kairuan yeshiva in Tunisia (Hebrew: ישיבת קאירואן) that was established by Chushiel Ben Elchanan (Hebrew: חושיאל בן אלחנן) in 974. Traditionally, every town rabbi had the right to maintain a number of full or part-time pupils in the town's beth midrash (study hall), which was usually adjacent to the synagogue. Their cost of living was covered by community taxation. After a number of years,

13120-426: The Midwest . At the same time, about one million French Canadians migrated from Quebec to New England . During the Great Migration , millions of African Americans left the rural South for urban areas in the North. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended Reconstruction and white supremacists took local control of Southern politics . African Americans endured

13325-431: The Mishnah of Rabbinic Judaism, including Yochanan ben Zakai and Hanina Ben Dosa . Following the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE and the expulsion of the Jews from the Roman province of Judea , Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifice, and worship was rebuilt around rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities. The destruction of

13530-553: The National Park Service and other agencies. About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally managed, primarily in the Western States . Most of this land is protected , though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for military purposes. Environmental issues in the United States include debates on non-renewable resources and nuclear energy , air and water pollution , biodiversity , logging and deforestation , and climate change . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

13735-437: The New Deal , a series of sweeping programs and public works projects combined with financial reforms and regulations . All were intended to protect against future economic depressions. Initially neutral during World War II , the U.S. began supplying war materiel to the Allies of World War II in March 1941 and entered the war in December after the Empire of Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor . The U.S. developed

13940-402: The New Testament . Of all the major Second Temple sects, only the Pharisees remained. Their vision of Jewish law as a means by which ordinary people could engage with the sacred in their daily lives, provided them with a position from which to respond to all four challenges, in a way meaningful to the vast majority of Jews. Following the destruction of the Temple, Rome governed Judea through

14145-508: The Organization of American States and the United States–Mexico–Canada Free Trade Agreement . In South America, Colombia is traditionally considered to be the closest ally of the United States. The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for Micronesia , the Marshall Islands , and Palau through the Compact of Free Association . It has increasingly conducted strategic cooperation with India , but its ties with China have steadily deteriorated. Since 2014,

14350-539: The Pentium microprocessor in accordance with Moore's law , rechargeable lithium-ion batteries , the first gene therapy trial, and cloning either emerged in the U.S. or were improved upon there. The Human Genome Project was formally launched in 1990, while Nasdaq became the first stock market in the United States to trade online in 1998. In the Gulf War of 1991, an American-led international coalition of states expelled an Iraqi invasion force that had occupied neighboring Kuwait . The September 11 attacks on

14555-613: The Semikha test of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel ; until his recent passing (2020) commonly for that of the posek R. Zalman Nechemia Goldberg .) Training as a Dayan in this community is usually through Machon Ariel ( Machon Harry Fischel ), also founded by Rav Kook, or Kollel Eretz Hemda . Women in this community, as above, study in a Midrasha . High school students study at Mamlachti dati schools, often associated with Bnei Akiva . Bar Ilan University allows students to combine Yeshiva studies with university study; Jerusalem College of Technology similarly, which also offers

14760-576: The Spanish–American War . (The Philippines was granted full independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946, following World War II. Puerto Rico and Guam have remained U.S. territories.) American Samoa was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the Second Samoan Civil War . The U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917. The United States entered World War I alongside

14965-609: The United States ( U.S. ) or America , is a country primarily located in North America . It is a federal union of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the states of Alaska to the northwest and the archipelagic Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean . The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands . The country has

15170-657: The apocalyptic literature of the 2nd to 1st centuries BCE, promising a future "anointed" leader or Messiah to resurrect the Israelite " Kingdom of God ", in place of the foreign rulers of the time. This corresponded with the Maccabean Revolt directed against the Seleucids . Following the fall of the Hasmonean kingdom, it was directed against the Roman administration of Iudaea Province , which, according to Josephus , began with

15375-670: The cotton gin made the institution increasingly profitable for Southern elites . This sectional conflict regarding slavery culminated in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Eleven slave states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America , while the other states remained in the Union . War broke out in April 1861 after the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter . After

15580-514: The end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. emerged as the world's sole superpower , wielding significant geopolitical influence globally . The U.S. national government is a presidential constitutional federal republic and liberal democracy with three separate branches : legislative , executive , and judicial . It has a bicameral national legislature composed of the House of Representatives ,

15785-575: The fall of communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union , which marked the end of the Cold War and left the United States as the world's sole superpower . The 1990s saw the longest recorded economic expansion in American history , a dramatic decline in U.S. crime rates , and advances in technology . Throughout this decade, technological innovations such as the World Wide Web , the evolution of

15990-400: The global economy in 2023. It possesses by far the largest amount of wealth of any country and has the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. The U.S. ranks among the world's highest in economic competitiveness , productivity , innovation , human rights , and higher education . Its hard power and cultural influence have a global reach. The U.S. is

16195-418: The highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. As of February 2024, the total federal government debt was $ 34.4 trillion. Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism ( Hebrew : יהדות רבנית ‎ , romanized :  Yahadut Rabanit ), also called Rabbinism , Rabbinicism , or Rabbanite Judaism , has been an orthodox form of Judaism since the 6th century CE , after

16400-459: The midrashic form, in which halakhic discussion is structured as exegetical commentary on the Pentateuch (Torah). But an alternative form, organized by subject matter instead of by biblical verse, became dominant about the year 200 CE, when Rabbi Judah haNasi redacted the Mishnah ( משנה ). The Oral Law was far from monolithic; rather, it varied among various schools. The most famous two were

16605-427: The rabbis were required to face a new reality, that of Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the location for sacrifice and study) and Judea without autonomy, there was a flurry of legal discourse, and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. The theory that the destruction of the Temple and subsequent upheaval led to

16810-540: The "Torah of the Baal Shem Tov " in intellectual forms. Further illustrative of this is the differentiation in Chabad thought (such as the "Tract on Ecstasy" by Dovber Schneuri ) between general Hasidism's emphasis on emotional enthusiasm and the Chabad ideal of intellectually reserved ecstasy. In the Breslov movement, in contrast, the daily study of works from the imaginative, creative radicalism of Nachman of Breslov awakens

17015-403: The "rigid Lithuanian model" that demanded full-time study; it now offers a Bachelor of Talmudic Law degree which allows students to go on to graduate school . The best known of the numerous Haredi yeshivas are, additional to "Lakewood", Telz, "Rabbinical Seminary of America" , Ner Yisroel , Chaim Berlin, and Hebrew Theological College ; Yeshivish (i.e. satellite) communities often maintain

17220-764: The 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord , igniting the American Revolutionary War . At the Second Continental Congress , the colonies appointed George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army , and created a committee that named Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence . Two days after passing the Lee Resolution to create an independent nation the Declaration

17425-515: The 2010s, political polarization in the country increased between liberal and conservative factions. This polarization was capitalized upon in the January 2021 Capitol attack , when a mob of insurrectionists entered the U.S. Capitol and sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in an attempted self-coup d'état . The United States is the world's third-largest country by total area behind Russia and Canada. The 48 contiguous states and

17630-690: The 3rd century BCE, notably among the Jewish diaspora in Alexandria , culminating in a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint . An important advocate of the symbiosis of Jewish theology and Hellenistic thought is Philo . Hellenistic culture had a profound impact on the customs and practices of Jews, both in Judea and in the diaspora. These inroads into Judaism gave rise to Hellenistic Judaism in

17835-631: The American West have an alpine climate . The climate is arid in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California , and oceanic in coastal Oregon , Washington , and southern Alaska . Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar . Hawaii , the southern tip of Florida and U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific are tropical . States bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of

18040-592: The Central Lubavitcher Yeshiva has over 1000 students. The postwar establishment of Ashkenazi yeshivot and kollelim parallels that in Israel; as does the educational pattern in the American Haredi community , although more obtain a secular education at the college level . Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood , New Jersey with 3,000 students in the early 2000s was founded in 1943 by R. Aaron Kotler on

18245-470: The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The term "United States" and the initialism "U.S.", used as nouns or as adjectives in English, are common short names for the country. The initialism "USA", a noun, is also common. "United States" and "U.S." are the established terms throughout the U.S. federal government , with prescribed rules. In English, the term "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to

18450-662: The District of Columbia occupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km ). The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way to inland forests and rolling hills in the Piedmont plateau region. The Appalachian Mountains and the Adirondack massif separate the East Coast from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest . The Mississippi River System ,

18655-649: The Doctorate in Talmudic Law (10 years). These degrees are nationally accredited by the Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools , and may then grant access to graduate programs such as law school. Non-Orthodox institutions, typically, require that students earn a master's degree , inherent in the Ordination program. The program is then often credit-based , and may require a thesis. For further discussion on

18860-663: The Elder concluded that major military resources needed to be devoted to North America to win the war against France. The British colonies' position as an integral part of the British Empire became more apparent during the war, with British military and civilian officials becoming a more significant presence in American life. Following their victory in the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control over local colonial affairs, resulting in colonial political resistance ; one of

19065-526: The Geonic Period there were three yeshivot, each named for the cities in which they were located: Jerusalem , Sura , and Pumbedita ; the yeshiva of Jerusalem would later relocate to Cairo , and the yeshivot of Sura and Pumbedita to Baghdad , but retain their original names. Each Jewish community would associate itself with one of the three yeshivot; Jews living around the Mediterranean typically followed

19270-664: The January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation , many freed slaves joined the Union army . The war began to turn in the Union's favor following the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg , and the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 after the Union's victory in the Battle of Appomattox Court House . The Reconstruction era followed the war. After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln , Reconstruction Amendments were passed to protect

19475-562: The Jewish diaspora which sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within the culture and language of Hellenism . There was a general deterioration in relations between Hellenized Jews and other Jews, leading the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes to ban certain Jewish religious rites and traditions . Consequently, the Jews who rejected Hellenism revolted against the Greek ruler leading to

19680-632: The Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, these oral laws were recorded by rabbi Judah ha-Nasi ("Judah the Prince") in the Mishnah , redacted c.  200 CE . The Talmud was a compilation of both the Mishnah and the Gemara , rabbinic commentaries redacted over the next three centuries. The Gemara originated in two major centers of Jewish scholarship, Palestine and Babylonia . Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of Talmud were created. The older compilation

19885-448: The Mishnah in writing or established it as an oral text for memorisation. The most important early account of its composition, the Iggeret of Rabbi Sherira Gaon of Sherira Gaon, is ambiguous on the point, although the "Spanish" recension leans to the theory that the Mishnah was written. The Gemara is the part of the Talmud that contains rabbinical commentaries and analysis of the Mishnah. In

20090-400: The Mishnah was assembled spanned about 130 years, and five generations. Most of the Mishnah is related without attribution ( stam ). This usually indicates that many sages taught so, or that Judah haNasi who redacted the Mishnah together with his academy/court ruled so. The halakhic ruling usually follows that view. Sometimes, however, it appears to be the opinion of a single sage, and

20295-661: The Oral Torah, but after the destruction of the Second Temple , it was decided to write it down in the form of the Talmud and other rabbinic texts for the sake of preservation. Rabbinic Judaism contrasts with the Sadducees , Karaite Judaism , and Samaritanism , which do not recognize the Oral Torah as a divine authority nor the rabbinic procedures used to interpret Jewish scripture. Although there are now profound differences among Jewish denominations of Rabbinic Judaism with respect to

20500-583: The Oral Torah. It states that many commandments and stipulations contained in the Written Torah would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep without the Oral Torah to define them. For example, the prohibition to do any "creative work" ( melakha ) on the Sabbath, which is given no definition in the Torah, is given a practical meaning in the Oral Torah, which provides definition of what constitutes melakha . Numerous examples exist of this general prohibitive language in

20705-595: The Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone Caldera , is the continent's largest volcanic feature. In 2021, the United States had 8% of global permanent meadows and pastures and 10% of cropland. With its large size and geographic variety, the United States includes most climate types. East of the 100th meridian , the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south. The western Great Plains are semi-arid . Many mountainous areas of

20910-538: The Romans, and had little credibility (the last Zealots died at Masada in 73). The Sadducees, whose teachings were so closely connected to the Temple cult , disappeared. The Essenes also vanished (or developed into Christians), perhaps because their teachings so diverged from the issues of the times that the destruction of the Second Temple was of no consequence to them; precisely for this reason, they were of little consequence to

21115-410: The Sabbath; consequently, the Oral Torah prohibits walking great distances on the Sabbath to ensure that one does not accidentally engage in a type of travelling prohibited by the written Torah. Similarly, the written Torah prohibits plowing on the Sabbath; the Oral Torah prohibits carrying a stick on the Sabbath to ensure that one does not drag the stick and accidentally engage in prohibited plowing. As

21320-460: The School of Shammai and the School of Hillel . In general, all valid opinions, even the non-normative ones, were recorded in the Talmud. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (c. 200 CE ), the first written compendium of Judaism's Oral Law; and the Gemara (c. 500 CE), a discussion of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on

21525-453: The Second Temple was a profoundly traumatic experience for the Jews, who were now confronted with difficult and far-reaching questions: How people answered these questions depended largely on their position prior to the revolt. But the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans not only put an end to the revolt, it marked the end of an era. Revolutionaries like the Zealots had been crushed by

21730-590: The Tanakh. The rabbis of the Mishnah are known as Tannaim (sing. Tanna תנא). The rabbis of the Gemara are referred to as Amoraim (sing. Amora אמורא). The Mishnah does not claim to be the development of new laws, but merely the collection of existing oral laws, traditions and traditional wisdom. The rabbis who contributed to the Mishnah are known as the Tannaim , of whom approximately 120 are known. The period during which

21935-531: The Temple stood. Since the Sadducees did not survive the First Jewish–Roman War , their version of events has perished. In addition, Hillel's views have been seen as superior to Shammai's by Rabbinic Judaism. The development of an oral tradition of teaching called the tanna would be the means by which the faith of Judaism would sustain the fall of the Second Temple . Jewish messianism has its root in

22140-480: The Torah (such as, "don't steal", without defining what is considered theft, or ownership and property laws), requiring—according to rabbinic thought—a subsequent definition through the Oral Torah. Thus Rabbinic Judaism claims that almost all directives, both positive and negative, in the Torah are non-specific in nature and require the existence of either an Oral Torah or some other method to explain them. Much rabbinic Jewish literature concerns specifying what behavior

22345-625: The U.S. has become a key ally of Ukraine ; it has also provided the country with significant military equipment and other support in response to Russia's 2022 invasion . The president is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces and appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The Department of Defense , which is headquartered at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., administers five of

22550-661: The U.S. territories." Despite disparate systems of confinement, four main institutions dominate: federal prisons , state prisons , local jails, and juvenile correctional facilities . Federal prisons are run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and hold people who have been convicted of federal crimes, including pretrial detainees. State prisons, run by the official department of correction of each state, hold sentenced people serving prison time (usually longer than one year) for felony offenses. Local jails are county or municipal facilities that incarcerate defendants prior to trial; they also hold those serving short sentences (typically under

22755-702: The United States and Israel are continuations of these institutions, and often bear the same name. In the 19th century, Israel Salanter initiated the Mussar movement in non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jewry, which sought to encourage yeshiva students and the wider community to spend regular times devoted to the study of Jewish ethical works. Concerned by the new social and religious changes of the Haskalah (the Jewish Enlightenment ), and other emerging political ideologies (such as Zionism ) that often opposed traditional Judaism,

22960-447: The United States and the peaceful transfer of power . The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States. Lingering issues with Britain remained , leading to the War of 1812 , which was fought to a draw. Spain ceded Florida and its Gulf Coast territory in 1819. In the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand westward , many with

23165-697: The United States entered the Cold War, where geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union led the two countries to dominate world affairs . The U.S. utilized the policy of containment to limit the USSR's sphere of influence, and prevailed in the Space Race , which culminated with the first crewed Moon landing in 1969. Domestically, the U.S. experienced economic growth , urbanization , and population growth following World War II . The civil rights movement emerged, with Martin Luther King Jr. becoming

23370-649: The United States has operated as a de facto two-party system , though the parties in that system have been different at different times. The two main national parties are presently the Democratic and the Republican . The former is perceived as relatively liberal in its political platform while the latter is perceived as relatively conservative . In the American federal system , sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in

23575-572: The United States in 2001 by the pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda led to the war on terror , and subsequent military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq . The cultural impact of the attacks was profound and long-lasting. The U.S. housing bubble culminated in 2007 with the Great Recession , the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression. Coming to a head in

23780-578: The United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the Revolutionary War effort. The first known public usage is an anonymous essay published in the Williamsburg newspaper, The Virginia Gazette , on April 6, 1776. By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence . The Second Continental Congress adopted

23985-434: The United States, despite the usage of "the Americas " as the totality of North and South America. "The States" is an established colloquial shortening of the name, used particularly from abroad; "stateside" is the corresponding adjective or adverb. The first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia across the Bering land bridge about 12,000 years ago; the Clovis culture , which appeared around 11,000 BC,

24190-478: The United States, except Iran , North Korea , and Bhutan . Though Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close unofficial relations. The United States regularly supplies Taiwan with military equipment to deter potential Chinese aggression. Its geopolitical attention also turned to the Indo-Pacific when the United States joined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, India, and Japan. The United States has

24395-509: The United States. The American prison system is largely heterogenous, with thousands of relatively independent systems operating across federal, state, local, and tribal levels. In 2023, "these systems [held] almost 2 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons , civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in

24600-442: The advanced semikha of "Rav Ir" . Communities will often host a Torah MiTzion kollel, where Hesder graduates learn and teach, generally for one year. There are numerous Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools , typically offering a beit midrash / metivta program in parallel with the standard curriculum , (often) structured such that students are able to join the first shiur in an Israeli yeshiva. The US educational pattern

24805-420: The benefit of the new spiritual focus in Hasidism, and developed their alternative ethical approach to spirituality. Some variety developed within Lithuanian yeshivas to methods of studying Talmud and mussar , for example whether the emphasis would be placed on beki'ut (breadth) or iyyun (depth). Pilpul , a type of in-depth analytical and casuistic argumentation popular from the 16th to 18th centuries that

25010-500: The binding force of halakha (Jewish religious law ) and the willingness to challenge preceding interpretations, all identify themselves as coming from the tradition of the Oral Law and the rabbinic method of analysis. In 332 BCE, the Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great . After his demise, and the division of Alexander's empire among his generals, the Seleucid Kingdom was formed. During this time currents of Judaism were influenced by Hellenistic philosophy developed from

25215-399: The choice of texts in such yeshivas. In 1854, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau was founded. It was headed by Zecharias Frankel , and was viewed as the first educational institution associated with "positive-historical Judaism", the predecessor of Conservative Judaism . In subsequent years, Conservative Judaism established a number of other institutions of higher learning (such as

25420-403: The codification of the Babylonian Talmud . Rabbinic Judaism has its roots in the Pharisaic school of Second Temple Judaism and is based on the belief that Moses at Mount Sinai received both the Written Torah ( Torah she-be-Khetav ) and the Oral Torah ( Torah she-be-al Peh ) from God. The Oral Torah, transmitted orally, explains the Written Torah. At first, it was forbidden to write down

25625-407: The committing of Oral Torah into writing was first explained in the Epistle of Sherira Gaon and often repeated. The Oral Torah was subsequently codified in the Mishnah and Gemara , and is interpreted in rabbinic literature detailing subsequent rabbinic decisions and writings. Rabbinic Jewish literature is predicated on the belief that the Torah cannot be properly understood without recourse to

25830-670: The contemporary integration of secular education, see: Jewish education § Secular education emphasis , Mesivta § Modern-day concept and Controversy over secular education in New York Hasidic schools . For historical context see: Moses Sofer § Influence against changes in Judaism ; Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary ; Volozhin yeshiva § History ; Telshe Yeshiva § History ; Vilna Rabbinical School and Teachers' Seminary ; Yitzchok Hutner § Rabbinic and teaching career ; Torah Lehranstalt § History ; Kelm Talmud Torah ; Yitzchak Yaacov Reines § Biography . Torah study at an Orthodox yeshiva comprises

26035-405: The contiguous United States are in the State of California, about 84 miles (135 km) apart. At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali is the highest peak in the country and continent. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands , and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in

26240-493: The country's GDP. The U.S. has 42% of the world's nuclear weapons —the second-largest share after Russia. The United States has the third-largest combined armed forces in the world, behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Indian Armed Forces . The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad, and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries. State defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under

26445-413: The country's territory would expand with the admission of new states , rather than the expansion of existing states. The U.S. Constitution was drafted at the 1787 Constitutional Convention to overcome the limitations of the Articles. It went into effect in 1789, creating a federal republic governed by three separate branches that together ensured a system of checks and balances . George Washington

26650-467: The cultural issues remained unresolved. The main issue separating the Hellenistic and other Jews was the application of biblical laws in a Hellenistic ( melting pot ) culture. Hellenistic Judaism spread to Ptolemaic Egypt from the 3rd century BCE, and became a notable religio licita throughout the Roman Empire , until its decline in the 3rd century concurrent with the rise of Gnosticism and Early Christianity . The decline of Hellenistic Judaism

26855-415: The details and interpretation of the Torah (Written Law), which are called the Oral Torah or Oral Law, were originally an unwritten tradition based upon the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai . All the laws in the Written Torah are recorded only as part of a narrative describing God imparting these laws to Moses and commanding him to transmit them to the Jewish nation. However, as the persecutions of

27060-584: The development of self-governance, and the First Great Awakening , a series of Christian revivals , fueled colonial interest in religious liberty . For a century, the American colonists had been providing their own troops and materiel in conflicts with indigenous peoples allied with Britain's colonial rivals , especially France, and the Americans had begun to develop a sense of self-defense and self-reliance separate from Britain. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) took on new significance for all North American colonists after Parliament under William Pitt

27265-490: The differences. With the success of the yeshiva institution in Lithuanian Jewry, the Hasidic world developed their own yeshivas, in their areas of Eastern Europe. These comprised the traditional Jewish focus on Talmudic literature that is central to Rabbinic Judaism , augmented by study of Hasidic philosophy (Hasidism). Examples of these Hasidic yeshivas are the Chabad Lubavitch yeshiva system of Tomchei Temimim , founded by Sholom Dovber Schneersohn in Russia in 1897, and

27470-414: The dispossession of native inhabitants . As more states were admitted , a North–South division over slavery led to the secession of the Confederate States of America , which fought states remaining in the Union in the 1861–1865 American Civil War . With the victory and preservation of the United States, slavery was abolished nationally . By 1900, the country had established itself as a great power ,

27675-588: The early 20th century: Shaar Hashamayim in 1906, Chabad's Toras Emes in 1911, Hebron Yeshiva in 1924, Sfas Emes in 1925, Lomza in 1926. After (and during) World War II, numerous other Haredi and Hasidic Yeshivot were re-established there by survivors. The Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem – today the largest Yeshiva in the world – was established in 1944, by Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel who had traveled to Palestine to obtain visas for his students; Ponevezh similarly by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman ; and Knesses Chizkiyahu in 1949. The leading Sephardi Yeshiva, Porat Yosef,

27880-407: The environment for labor unions to begin to flourish . This period eventually ended with the advent of the Progressive Era , which was characterized by significant reforms. Pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy ; the islands were annexed in 1898. That same year, Puerto Rico , the Philippines , and Guam were ceded to the U.S. by Spain after the latter's defeat in

28085-414: The federal government often applied policies of Indian removal or assimilation . The Trail of Tears (1830–1850) was a U.S. government policy that forcibly removed and displaced most Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to lands far to the west. These and earlier organized displacements prompted a long series of American Indian Wars west of the Mississippi. The Republic of Texas

28290-434: The first nuclear weapons and used them against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, ending the war. The United States was one of the " Four Policemen " who met to plan the post-war world , alongside the United Kingdom , Soviet Union , and China . The U.S. emerged relatively unscathed from the war, with even greater economic power and international political influence . After World War II,

28495-411: The first settlement of the Thirteen Colonies in Virginia in 1607. Clashes with the British Crown over taxation and political representation sparked the American Revolution , with the Second Continental Congress formally declaring independence on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in the 1775–1783 Revolutionary War , the country continued to expand westward across North America , resulting in

28700-401: The formation of an independent Jewish kingdom, known as the Hasmonean dynasty , which lasted from 165 BCE to 63 BCE. The Hasmonean dynasty eventually disintegrated in a civil war. The people, who did not want to continue to be governed by a Hellenized dynasty, appealed to Rome for intervention, leading to a total Roman conquest and annexation of the country, see Iudaea province . Nevertheless,

28905-430: The formation of the Zealots during the Census of Quirinius of 6 CE, although full scale open revolt did not occur until the First Jewish–Roman War in 66 CE. Historian H. H. Ben-Sasson has proposed that the "Crisis under Caligula " (37–41) was the "first open break" between Rome and the Jews even though tension already existed during the census in 6 CE and under Sejanus (before 31 CE). Rabbinic tradition holds that

29110-440: The head of local congregations. These heads of a congregation served as a link between the congregation and the larger yeshiva it was attached to. These leaders would also submit questions to the yeshiva to obtain final rulings on issues of dogma, ritual, or law. Each congregation was expected to follow only one yeshiva to prevent conflict with different rulings issued by different yeshivot. The yeshivot were financially supported by

29315-421: The holiday of Tisha B'Av . After the suppression of the revolt the vast majority of Jews were sent into exile; shortly thereafter (around 200), Judah haNasi edited together judgments and traditions into an authoritative code, the Mishnah . This marks the transformation of Pharisaic Judaism into Rabbinic Judaism. Although the rabbis traced their origins to the Pharisees, Rabbinic Judaism nevertheless involved

29520-463: The integration of Army National Guard units and personnel into the U.S. Army and (since 1947) the U.S. Air Force. There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to national level in the United States. Law in the United States is mainly enforced by local police departments and sheriff departments in their municipal or county jurisdictions. The state police departments have authority in their respective state , and federal agencies such as

29725-436: The local language. In many American non-Hassidic Yeshivos, the language generally used is English. Students learn with each other in whatever language they are most proficient, with Hasidic students usually learning in Yiddish, Israeli Lithuanian students in Hebrew, and American Lithuanian students in English. Some yeshivas permit students to attend college. Often there are arrangements for the student to receive credit towards

29930-456: The masters of Mussar saw a need to augment Talmudic study with more personal works. These comprised earlier classic Jewish ethical texts ( mussar literature ), as well as a new literature for the movement. After early opposition, the Lithuanian yeshiva world saw the need for this new component in their curriculum, and set aside times for individual mussar study and mussar talks ("mussar shmues"). A mashgiach ruchani (spiritual mentor) encouraged

30135-487: The mid-20th century the greatest number of yeshivot, and the most important were centered in Israel and in the U.S.; they were also found in many other Western countries, prominent examples being Gateshead Yeshiva in England (one of the descendants of Novardok ) and the Yeshiva of Aix-les-Bains , France. The Chabad movement was particularly active in this direction, establishing yeshivot also in France, North Africa, Australia, and South Africa; this "network of institutions"

30340-427: The military draft (leading to the end of conscription in 1973) and wide opposition to U.S. intervention in Vietnam (with the U.S. totally withdrawing in 1975). A societal shift in the roles of women was significantly responsible for the large increase in female paid labor participation during the 1970s, and by 1985 the majority of American women aged 16 and older were employed. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw

30545-466: The model either of Porat Yosef or of the Ashkenazi institutions. The Sephardic world has traditionally placed the study of Kabbalah (esoteric Jewish mysticism) in a more mainstream position than in the European Ashkenazi world. This difference of emphasis arose as a result of the Sabbatean heresy in the 17th century, that suppressed widespread study of Kabbalah in Europe in favour of Rabbinic Talmudic study. In Eastern European Lithuanian life, Kabbalah

30750-415: The modern sense; towards the end of the century a school for orphans was founded providing for some rabbinic studies. Early educational institutions on the European model were Midrash Bet Zilkha founded in 1870s Iraq and Porat Yosef Yeshiva founded in Jerusalem in 1914. Also notable is the Bet El yeshiva founded in 1737 in Jerusalem for advanced Kabbalistic studies. Later Sephardic yeshivot are usually on

30955-612: The most attractive to the population are the most vulnerable. The U.S. is one of 17 megadiverse countries containing large numbers of endemic species : about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland. The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295 amphibians , and around 91,000 insect species. There are 63 national parks , and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas , managed by

31160-478: The most violent, the California genocide of thousands of Native inhabitants, lasted into the early 1870s, just as additional western territories and states were created. During the colonial period, slavery had been legal in the American colonies , though the practice began to be significantly questioned during the American Revolution. States in the North enacted abolition laws , though support for slavery strengthened in Southern states , as inventions such as

31365-417: The necessary soulfulness with which to approach other Jewish study and observance. Although the yeshiva as an institution is in some ways a continuation of the Talmudic Academies in Babylonia , large scale educational institutions of this kind were not characteristic of the North African and Middle Eastern Sephardi Jewish world in pre-modern times: education typically took place in a more informal setting in

31570-534: The opinions of the Tannaim. The rabbis of the Gemara are known as Amoraim (sing. Amora אמורא ). Much of the Gemara consists of legal analysis. The starting point for the analysis is usually a legal statement found in a Mishnah. The statement is then analyzed and compared with other statements used in different approaches to biblical exegesis in rabbinic Judaism (or—simpler— interpretation of text in Torah study ) exchanges between two (frequently anonymous and sometimes metaphorical) disputants, termed

31775-432: The other hand, mainstream Judaism began to reject Hellenistic currents, outlawing use of the Septuagint (see also the Council of Jamnia ). Remaining currents of Hellenistic Judaism may have merged into Gnostic movements in the early centuries CE. In the later part of the Second Temple period (2nd century BCE), the Second Commonwealth of Judea ( Hasmonean Kingdom ) was established and religious matters were determined by

31980-485: The period after Judah haNasi's death, which could not have been written by Judah haNasi himself). According to the Iggeret of Sherira Gaon , after the tremendous upheaval caused by the destruction of the Temple and the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Oral Torah was in danger of being forgotten. It was for this reason that Judah haNasi chose to redact the Mishnah. In addition to redacting the Mishnah, Judah haNasi and his court also ruled on which opinions should be followed, although

32185-409: The personal development of each student. To some degree, this Lithuanian movement arose in response, and as an alternative, to the separate mystical study of the Hasidic Judaism world. Hasidism began in the previous century within traditional Jewish life in Ukraine, and spread to Hungary, Poland and Russia. As the 19th century brought upheavals and threats to traditional Judaism, the Mussar teachers saw

32390-408: The policy of redlining later adopted by the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation . An explosion of technological advancement accompanied by the exploitation of cheap immigrant labor led to rapid economic expansion during the late 19th and early 20th centuries , allowing the United States to outpace the economies of England, France, and Germany combined. This fostered the amassing of power by

32595-476: The post-Second Temple era. Rather, it sees the Judaism of this period as continuing organically from the religious and cultural heritage of the Israelites, stemming from the Law given to Moses at Sinai onwards. According to this view, while the title rabbi was not used earlier, Moses was the first rabbi (and is commonly referred to by Orthodox Jews as "Moses our Rabbi"), with the knowledge and laws received at Sinai being passed down from teachers to students through

32800-420: The primary colonial grievances was a denial of their rights as Englishmen , particularly the right to representation in the British government that taxed them . To demonstrate their dissatisfaction and resolve, the First Continental Congress met in 1774 and passed the Continental Association , a colonial boycott of British goods that proved effective. The British attempt to then disarm the colonists resulted in

33005-422: The principal body for interpreting Jewish law . The community regarded the Gaon of a yeshiva as the highest judge on all matters of Jewish law. Each yeshiva ruled differently on matters of ritual and law; the other yeshivot accepted these divisions, and all three ranked as equally orthodox. The yeshiva also served as an administrative authority, in conjunction with local communities, by appointing members to serve as

33210-528: The result of the destruction of the Jewish commonwealth in the year 70 CE and the consequent upheaval of Jewish social and legal norms. As the rabbis were required to face a new reality—mainly Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the center of teaching and study) and Judea without autonomy—there was a flurry of legal discourse and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. The earliest recorded oral law may have been of

33415-515: The rights of African Americans . National infrastructure, including transcontinental telegraph and railroads , spurred growth in the American frontier . From 1865 through 1917 an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United States, including 24.4 million from Europe. Most came through the port of New York City , and New York City and other large cities on the East Coast became home to large Jewish , Irish , and Italian populations, while many Germans and Central Europeans moved to

33620-437: The rocky Great Basin and Chihuahua , Sonoran , and Mojave deserts. In the northwest corner of Arizona , carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, is the Grand Canyon , a steep-sided canyon and popular tourist destination known for its overwhelming visual size and intricate, colorful landscape. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast . The lowest and highest points in

33825-645: The rulings do not always appear in the text. As he went through the tractates, the Mishnah was set forth, but throughout his life some parts were updated as new information came to light. Because of the proliferation of earlier versions, it was deemed too hard to retract anything already released, and therefore a second version of certain laws were released. The Talmud refers to these differing versions as Mishnah Rishonah ("First Mishnah") and Mishnah Acharonah ("Last Mishnah"). David Zvi Hoffmann suggests that Mishnah Rishonah actually refers to texts from earlier sages upon which Judah haNasi based his Mishnah. One theory

34030-404: The sake of studying itself) or towards earning rabbinic ordination. Non-denominational yeshivas and kollels with connections to Conservative Judaism include Yeshivat Hadar in New York, whose leaders include Rabbinical Assembly members Elie Kaunfer and Shai Held . The rabbinical school of the Academy for Jewish Religion in California is led by Conservative rabbi Mel Gottlieb. The faculty of

34235-414: The same structure or curriculum as the traditional yeshiva for boys and men. Alternate spellings and names include yeshivah ; metivta and mesivta ( Imperial Aramaic : מתיבתא methivta ); beth midrash ; Talmudical academy, rabbinical academy and rabbinical school. The word yeshiva is applied to the activity of learning in class, and hence to a learning "session." The transference in meaning of

34440-464: The six service branches, which are made up of the U.S. Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , and Space Force . The Coast Guard is administered by the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime and can be transferred to the Department of the Navy in wartime. The United States spent $ 916 billion on its military in 2023, which is by far the largest amount of any country , making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of

34645-458: The size of the yeshiva, dozens or even hundreds of pairs of chavrutas can be heard discussing and debating each other's viewpoints. Students need to learn the ability to block out other discussions in order to focus on theirs. A post-high school for women is generally called a "seminary", or midrasha (plural midrashot ) in Israel, and not a yeshiva. (Although there are exceptions such as Prospect Park Yeshiva.) The Haredi Bais Yaakov system

34850-407: The sole authority of a state government. SDFs are authorized by state and federal law but are under the command of the state's governor . They are distinct from the state's National Guard units in that they cannot become federalized entities. A state's National Guard personnel, however, may be federalized under the National Defense Act Amendments of 1933 , which created the Guard and provides for

35055-543: The states are also represented by local elected governments , which are administrative divisions of the states. States are subdivided into counties or county equivalents , and further divided into municipalities . The District of Columbia is a federal district containing the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. . The federal district is an administrative division of the federal government. Federally recognized tribes govern 326 Indian reservations . The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it has

35260-451: The structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states. The U.S. Constitution is the world's oldest national constitution still in effect (from March 4, 1789). Composed of three branches, all headquartered in Washington, D.C., the federal government is the national government of the United States. It is regulated by a strong system of checks and balances . The three-branch system

35465-477: The student to analyze and explain the material, point out the errors in their partner's reasoning, and question and sharpen each other's ideas, often arriving at entirely new insights of the meaning of the text. A chavruta is intended to help a student keep their mind focused on the learning, sharpen their reasoning powers, develop their thoughts into words, organize their thoughts into logical arguments, and understand another person's viewpoint. The shiur-based system

35670-406: The students who received semikha (rabbinical ordination) would either take up a vacant rabbinical position elsewhere or join the workforce. Organised Torah study was revolutionised by Chaim Volozhin , an influential 18th-century Lithuanian leader of Judaism and disciple of the Vilna Gaon . In his view, the traditional arrangement did not cater to those looking for more intensive study. With

35875-538: The study of rabbinic literature - essentially along the lines established in the Lithuanian Yeshivas as above - principally the Talmud, along with the study of halacha (Jewish law); Musar and Hasidic philosophy are often studied also. In some institutions, classical Jewish philosophy or Kabbalah are formally studied, or the works of individual thinkers (such as Abraham Isaac Kook ). See also Rabbi § Contemporary ordination . United States The United States of America ( USA ), commonly known as

36080-476: The support of his teacher, Volozhin gathered interested students and started a yeshiva in the town of Valozhyn , located in modern-day Belarus . The Volozhin yeshiva was closed some 60 years later in 1892 following the Russian government's demands for the introduction of certain secular studies. Thereafter, a number of yeshivot opened in other towns and cities, most notably Slabodka , Panevėžys , Mir , Brisk , and Telz . Many prominent contemporary yeshivot in

36285-405: The synagogue or in the entourage of a famous rabbi. In medieval Spain, and immediately following the expulsion in 1492, there were some schools which combined Jewish studies with sciences such as logic and astronomy, similar to the contemporary Islamic madrasas . In 19th century Jerusalem, a college was typically an endowment for supporting ten adult scholars rather than an educational institution in

36490-457: The term from the learning session to the institution itself appears to have occurred by the time of the Talmudic Academies in Babylonia , Sura and Pumbedita , which were known as shte ha-yeshivot (the two colleges). The Mishnah tractate Megillah contains the law that a town can only be called a city if it supports ten men ( batlanim ) to make up the required quorum for communal prayers. Similarly, every beth din ('house of judgement')

36695-512: The term was explicitly sectarian. The rabbis claimed leadership over all Jews, and added to the Amidah the birkat haMinim , a prayer which in part exclaims, "Praised are You O Lord, who breaks enemies and defeats the arrogant," and which is understood as a rejection of sectarians and sectarianism. This shift by no means resolved conflicts over the interpretation of the Torah; rather, it relocated debates between sects to debates within Rabbinic Judaism. The survival of Pharisaic or Rabbinic Judaism

36900-521: The texts of Jewish philosophy, and likewise Tanakh is studied with commentaries. See Midrasha § Curriculum for further discussion. Classes in most Lithuanian and Hasidic yeshivot (throughout the world) are taught in Yiddish ; Kol Torah , established in 1939 in Jerusalem and headed by Shlomo Zalman Auerbach for over 40 years, was the first mainstream Haredi yeshiva to teach in Hebrew, as opposed to Yiddish. Sephardi , Modern Orthodox, Zionist , and baal teshuvah yeshivot use Modern Hebrew or

37105-414: The three centuries following the redaction of the Mishnah by Judah ha-Nasi (c. 200 CE), rabbis throughout Palestine and Babylonia analyzed, debated and discussed that work. These discussions form the Gemara ( גמרא ). Gemara means "completion" (from the Hebrew gamar גמר : "to complete") or "learning" (from the Aramaic : "to study"). The Gemara mainly focuses on elucidating and elaborating

37310-416: The title given to the heads of the three yeshivas which existed from the third to the thirteenth century. The Geonim acted as the principals of their individual yeshivot, and as spiritual leaders and high judges for the wider communities tied to them. The yeshiva conducted all official business in the name of its Gaon, and all correspondence to or from the yeshiva was addressed directly to the Gaon. Throughout

37515-424: The vast majority of Jews. Two organized groups remained: the Early Christians , and Pharisees . Some scholars, such as Daniel Boyarin and Paula Fredricksen, suggest that it was at this time, when Christians and Pharisees were competing for leadership of the Jewish people, that accounts of debates between Jesus and the apostles, debates with Pharisees, and anti-Pharisaic passages, were written and incorporated into

37720-405: The view of the sages collectively ( Hebrew : חכמים , hachamim ) is given separately. The Talmud records a tradition that unattributed statements of the law represent the views of Rabbi Meir (Sanhedrin 86a), which supports the theory (recorded by Rav Sherira Gaon in his famous Iggeret ) that he was the author of an earlier collection. For this reason, the few passages that actually say "this

37925-406: The world's fourth-longest river system , runs predominantly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat and fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast. The Rocky Mountains , west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado . Farther west are

38130-449: The world's second-largest diplomatic corps as of 2024 . It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council , and home to the United Nations headquarters . The United States is a member of the G7 , G20 , and OECD intergovernmental organizations. Almost all countries have embassies and many have consulates (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all countries host formal diplomatic missions with

38335-461: The world's third-largest land area , largest exclusive economic zone , and third-largest population , exceeding 334 million. Its three largest metropolitan areas are New York , Los Angeles , and Chicago , and its three most populous states are California , Texas , and Florida . Paleo-Indians migrated across the Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations and societies . British colonization led to

38540-444: The world's oldest surviving federation, and its presidential system of national government has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent states worldwide following their decolonization . It is a liberal representative democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law ". The Constitution of the United States serves as the country's supreme legal document , also establishing

38745-423: The world's tornadoes occur in the country , mainly in Tornado Alley . Overall, the United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country. Extreme weather became more frequent in the U.S. in the 21st century, with three times the number of reported heat waves as in the 1960s. In the American Southwest , droughts became more persistent and more severe. The regions considered as

38950-442: The world, with almost 2 million people incarcerated . An analysis of the World Health Organization Mortality Database from 2010 showed U.S. homicide rates "were 7 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25 times higher". The U.S. has been the world's largest economy nominally since about 1890 . The 2023 nominal U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $ 27 trillion

39155-414: The yeshiva in Jerusalem, while those living in the Arabian Peninsula and modern-day Iraq and Iran typically followed one of the two yeshivot in Baghdad. There was no requirement for this, and each community could choose to associate with any of the yeshivot. The yeshiva served as the highest educational institution for the Rabbis of this period. In addition to this, the yeshiva wielded great power as

39360-412: The yeshivot of Sura and Pumbedita were dispersed following the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. After this education in Jewish religious studies became the responsibility of individual synagogues . No organization ever came to replace the three great yeshivot of Jerusalem, Sura and Pumbedita. After the Geonic Period Jews established more Yeshiva academies in Europe and in Northern Africa, including

39565-458: Was annexed in 1845, and the 1846 Oregon Treaty led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest . Victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in the 1848 Mexican Cession of California, Nevada, Utah, and much of present-day Colorado and the American Southwest . The California gold rush of 1848–1849 spurred a huge migration of white settlers to the Pacific coast, leading to even more confrontations with Native populations. One of

39770-417: Was innovated at the Telshe yeshiva , where there were five levels. Chavruta-style learning tends to be animated, as study partners read the Talmudic text and the commentaries aloud to each other, and then analyze, question, debate, and argue their points of view to arrive at an understanding of the text. In the heat of discussion, they may wave their hands, pound the table, or shout at each other. Depending on

39975-436: Was Haredi, including Sephardic Haredim – supporting numerous yeshivot correspondingly . Boys and girls here attend separate schools, and proceed to higher Torah study, in a yeshiva or seminary, respectively, starting anywhere between the ages of 13 and 18; see Chinuch Atzmai and Bais Yaakov . A significant proportion of young men then remain in yeshiva until their marriage; thereafter many continue their Torah studies in

40180-703: Was adopted on July 4, 1776. The political values of the American Revolution included liberty , inalienable individual rights ; and the sovereignty of the people ; supporting republicanism and rejecting monarchy , aristocracy , and all hereditary political power; civic virtue ; and vilification of political corruption . The Founding Fathers of the United States , who included Washington, Jefferson, John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , Alexander Hamilton , John Jay , James Madison , Thomas Paine , and many others, were inspired by Greco-Roman , Renaissance , and Enlightenment philosophies and ideas. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and established

40385-443: Was attended by a number of pupils up to three times the size of the court ( Mishnah , tractate Sanhedrin ). According to the Talmud , adults generally took two months off every year to study. These being Elul and Adar the months preceding the pilgrimage festivals of Sukkot and Pesach , called Yarḥei Kalla ( Aramaic for ' Months of Kallah '). The rest of the year, they worked. The Geonic period takes its name from Gaon ,

40590-404: Was elected the country's first president under the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 to allay skeptics' concerns about the power of the more centralized government. His resignation as commander-in-chief after the Revolutionary War and his later refusal to run for a third term as the country's first president established a precedent for the supremacy of civil authority in

40795-408: Was established in the wake of the immigration of Central and Eastern European Jews (1880s – 1924). Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem , founded in 1907, was led by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein from the 1940s through 1986; Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin , est 1904, was headed by Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner from 1943 to 1980. Many Hasidic dynasties have their main Yeshivot in America, typically established in the 1940s;

41000-460: Was founded in 1914; its predecessor, Yeshivat Ohel Moed was founded in 1904. From the 1940s and onward, especially following immigration of the Arabic Jewish communities, Sephardi leaders, such as Ovadia Yosef and Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel , established various yeshivot to facilitate Torah education for Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews (and alternative to Lithuanian yeshivot). The Haredi community has grown with time – In 2018, 12% of Israel's population

41205-407: Was replaced with prayer service in synagogues which built upon practices of Jews in the diaspora dating back to the Babylonian exile. As the rabbis were required to face two shattering new realities, Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the center of teaching and study) and Judea without autonomy, there was a flurry of legal discourse and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It

41410-612: Was reserved for an intellectual elite, while the mystical revival of Hasidism articulated Kabbalistic theology through Hasidic thought. These factors did not affect the Sephardi Jewish world, which retained a wider connection to Kabbalah in its traditionally observant communities. With the establishment of Sephardi yeshivas in Israel after the immigration of the Arabic Jewish communities there , some Sephardi yeshivas incorporated study of more accessible Kabbalistic texts into their curriculum. The European prescriptions to restrict advanced Kabbalistic study to mature and elite students also influence

41615-452: Was started in 1918 under the guidance of Sarah Schenirer . These institutions provide girls with a Torah education, using a curriculum that skews more toward practical halakha (Jewish law) and the study of Tanakh , rather than Talmud . The curriculum at Religious Zionist and Modern Orthodox midrashot includes some study of Talmud: often Mishnah, sometimes Gemara ; in further distinction, curricula generally entail chavruta -based study of

41820-424: Was the highest in the world, constituting over 25% of the global economy or 15% at purchasing power parity (PPP). From 1983 to 2008, U.S. real compounded annual GDP growth was 3.3%, compared to a 2.3% weighted average for the rest of the G7 . The country ranks first in the world by nominal GDP , second when adjusted for purchasing power parities (PPP), and ninth by PPP-adjusted GDP per capita . It possesses

42025-472: Was traditionally reserved for investigative Talmudic study, was not always given a place. The new analytical approach of the Brisker method , developed by Chaim Soloveitchik , has become widely popular. Other approaches include those of Mir , Chofetz Chaim , and Telz . In mussar , different schools developed, such as Slabodka and Novhardok , though today, a decline in devoted spiritual self-development from its earlier intensity has to some extent levelled out

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