Rosh yeshiva

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Rosh yeshiva (Hebrew: ראש ישיבה‎) (pl. Heb. Rashei yeshiva; Yeshivish Rosh yeshivas) is a rabbi who is the academic "head", or rosh (ראש), of a yeshiva (ישיבה), a school of Talmudic study. He is required to have a vast and penetrating knowledge of the Talmud and the ability to achieve a level of mastery of his material and an ability to analyse and present new perspectives, called chidushim, (novellae) verbally and often in print.

Yeshivas play a central role in the life of certain communities within Orthodox Judaism, so the position of rosh yeshiva is more than just a dean of a school. A rosh yeshiva is often a pillar of leadership in extended communities. In Hasidic Judaism the role of Rosh yeshiva is secondary to the Rebbe, who is head of the Hasidic dynasty that controls it. In many Hassidic sects, the Rosh Yeshivah of a school will be the son or son-in-law of the Rebbe, the assumed heir of the Rebbe.

Yeshivas continue the scholarly traditions of the Biblical Sanhedrin and the Seventy Elders (Shivim Z'kenim), wise men [1] (Exodus 24:1,9; Numbers 11:16,24) wherein were discussed and eloborated the 613 Mitzvot (commandments). This tradition was continued by the sages of the Mishnah and Talmud. In Babylonia the Rosh yeshiva was referred to as the Reish Metivta (or RaM) in Aramaic.

Depending on the size of the yeshiva, there may be several Roshei yeshiva, sometimes from one extended family. There are familial dynasties of rashei yeshiva an example of which is the Soloveitchik family which heads many yeshivas in the United States and Israel.

The general role of the rosh yeshiva is to oversee the Talmudic studies and practical matters. The rosh yeshiva may lecture on a daily or weekly basis to the highest class (shiur). He is also the one to decide whether to grant permission for students (talmidim) to undertake classes for ordination, known as semicha, as rabbis.

The personal and ethical development of the students in the yeshiva is usually covered by a different personality, known as the mashgiach ("supervisor"). This concept, introduced by the Mussar movement in the 19th century, led to perfection of character as one of the aims of attending a yeshiva.

Famous roshei yeshiva were Rabbis Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, Moshe Feinstein, and Isaac Hutner. Famous mashgichim include Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler.

Prior to the Holocaust most of the large yeshivas were based in Eastern Europe. Many Roshei yeshiva were trained by graduates of the Volozhin yeshiva, headed by its Rosh yeshiva Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, (1749 - 1821). It was known as the "Mother of Yeshivas" because so many of its alumni established yeshivas of their own over time. Rabbi Chaim was the chief disciple of the famed Elijah of Vilna (1720 - 1797) known as the "Vilna Gaon" (the "Genius from Vilna").