Mesivta

Mesivta (also metivta; Aramaic: מתיבתא, "academy") is an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva secondary school for boys. The term is commonly used in the United States to describe a yeshiva that emphasizes Talmudic studies for boys in grades 9 through 11 or 12; alternately, it refers to the religious studies track in a yeshiva high school that offers both religious and secular studies. The comparable term in Israel is Yeshiva Ketana (Hebrew: ישיבה קטנה‎‎, lit. "small yeshiva"). After graduation from a mesivta, students progress to a beis medrash, or undergraduate-level, yeshiva program.

In practice, yeshivas that call themselves mesivtas are usually a combination of mesivta (high-school) and beis medrash (post-high-school) programs. Students in the beis medrash program are often called upon to mentor those in the mesivta.

The term metivta first appears in the Talmud, where it refers to a yeshiva of Talmudic sages. Abba Arika learned in the metivta in Sepphoris under Judah the Prince, his son, and grandson. Under the leadership of Rav and Shmuel, the Talmudic Academy of Sura during the Babylonian Exile was called a sidra, but under Rav Huna, the second dean of the Academy of Sura, the yeshiva began to be called a metivta and Huna was the first to hold the title of resh metivta (corresponding to rosh yeshiva). According to Graetz, the metivta convened in certain months of the year.Metivta frameworks continued to operate throughout the era of the Geonim, a period of approximately 1000 years.

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