religion talmudical yeshiva of philadelphia
In ___MASK64___ , a rabbi is a teacher of Torah . This title derives from the Hebrew word ' , meaning " My Master " ( irregular plural ' ), which is the way a student would address a master of Torah . The word " master " "" literally means " great one ". Yeshiva ( lit . " sitting "; pl . , " yeshivot " or " yeshivos ") is a Jewish institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts , primarily the Talmud and Torah study . Study is usually done through daily " shiurim " ( lectures or classes ) and in study pairs called " avrutas " ( Aramaic for " friendship " or " companionship "). " avruta "- style learning is one of the unique features of the yeshiva . The Talmud ( Hebrew : ' " instruction , learning ", from a root ' " teach , study ") is a central text of Rabbinic ___MASK64___ . It is also traditionally referred to as , a Hebrew abbreviation of ', the " six orders ", a reference to the six orders of the Mishnah . The term " Talmud " normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud "( Talmud Bavli )", although there is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud , or Palestinian Talmud "' "( Talmud Yerushalmi )". When referring to post - biblical periods , namely those of the creation of the Talmud , the Talmudic academies and the Babylonian exilarchate , Jewish sources use the term " Babylonia " long after it had become obsolete in geopolitical terms . The Torah (" instruction , teaching "), or in ___MASK57___ , the Pentateuch (" five books "), is the central reference of the religious Judaic tradition . It has a range of meanings . It can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty - four books of the Tanakh , and it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries ('). The term " Torah " means instruction and offers a way of life for those who follow it ; it can mean the continued narrative from Book of Genesis to the end of the Tanakh , and it can even mean the totality of Jewish teaching , culture and practice . Common to all these meanings , Torah consists of the foundational narrative of Jewish peoplehood : their call into being by God , their trials and tribulations , and their covenant with their God , which involves following a way of life embodied in a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws ('). The Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia is a Haredi Litvish yeshiva . Its roshei yeshiva ( `` deans '' ) are Rabbi Elya Svei , Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky , Rabbi Shimon Yehudah Svei and Rabbi Sholom Kaminetsky . Its campus is located in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia . Torah study is the study of the Torah , Hebrew Bible , Talmud , responsa , rabbinic literature and similar works , all of which are ___MASK64___ ' s religious texts . According to Rabbinic beliefs the study is ideally done for the purpose of the mitzvah (" commandment ") of Torah study itself . Shmuel Kamenetsky ( born November 1924 ) is a Haredi rabbi and founder and rosh yeshiva ( dean ) of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia . He is one of the most widely known living Haredi Litvish Jewish gedolim outside of Israel . He is the son of Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky ( 1891  1986 ), one of America ' s greatest Torah leaders .