Yeshiva, Seminary, Hesder, Mechina or Gap Year Program: The Kinds of Programs Explained

The short version

• Yeshiva (יְשִׁיבָה): a men's program built around Torah study, mostly Talmud (Gemara), in a study hall called a beit midrash. See the yeshivas.
• Seminary (often called a midrasha, מִדְרָשָׁה): a women's program built around Torah study. Many include volunteering as part of the year. See the seminaries.
• Coed gap year program: a year for men and women together. It might be run by a youth movement, sit on a university campus, focus on volunteering or internships, or center on text study. See the gap year programs.
• Hesder (הֶסְדֵּר): an Israeli arrangement that combines yeshiva study with army service. Many hesder yeshivas also run a program for students from abroad.
• Mechina (מְכִינָה): a pre-army program for Israelis just out of high school. A few have groups for students from abroad.

Every program on this site has its own page with facts from its own website. Once you know which kind you're looking for, the program finder narrows the list in a few questions.

Yeshivas

A yeshiva year is mostly learning: classes (shiurim), and long stretches of study with a partner (chavruta) in the beit midrash. Beyond that, yeshivas differ a lot. Some are built only for students from abroad. Others place overseas students inside an Israeli yeshiva, learning in the same beit midrash as Israeli students. Some are aimed at students with a strong day-school background, and others at beginners or at men in their twenties who already finished college.

Each yeshiva's page here quotes who it says it's for, and the deeper yeshiva pages describe the year in detail, the location and how to apply. Use the yeshiva fit finder or compare up to three.

Seminaries

Seminaries (also called midrashot, or "sem") are the women's version of the year: classes in Tanach, halacha, Jewish thought and, at some schools, Gemara, with time for volunteering (chesed) and trips. Like yeshivas, they range from programs built for students from abroad to Israeli institutions with an overseas program.

Twenty-one seminaries take applications through one shared form, the Joint Sem Application. Read how applying works.

Hesder: what it means for a student from abroad

Nefesh B'Nefesh, which supports immigrants from North America, describes hesder as combining yeshiva study with active service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), run jointly by the recognized hesder yeshivas and the army.

For most students from abroad, "a hesder yeshiva" means a yeshiva whose Israeli students are on the hesder track, with a separate program for overseas students. Spending your year in that overseas program doesn't sign you up for the army. If you later want to do hesder yourself, there are two official routes:

• Mahal Hesder, for non-citizens: Mahal's site gives 21 months in total, 17 of active service and 4 of unpaid yeshiva study. Registration goes only through the Hesder Yeshivas Association.
• Hesder for new immigrants: Nefesh B'Nefesh gives 32 to 44 months overall, depending on the aliyah date and what the army calls "age of arrival."

Read joining the IDF after the year for the details and who to contact.

Mechinas

In Israel, a pre-military academy (mechina) is, in the words of the mechinot's own English site, a "ten-month program that brings together study, community service, and group living" for young Israelis who have just finished high school. The same site says that attending one defers army service by 12 to 18 months. There are coed mechinas for secular and traditional students, Orthodox mechinas for men, and an Orthodox program for women.

A few programs on this site bring students from abroad into the mechina format:

• Mechina Olamit, run by World Bnei Akiva with Kol Ami, shares two semesters with Israeli pre-army participants.
• Kol Ami Mechina is a six-month program where Israelis and participants from abroad live and learn together.
• Keshet Yehuda has an English speakers' group inside a mechina in the Golan Heights.
• Mechinat Ruach HaNegev and Mechinat Otzem combine study with service learning in the Negev.

For someone already planning to serve, Nefesh B'Nefesh lists a pre-army program called Lev L'Chayal for immigrants and Mahal candidates aged 19 to 25 who have finished at least one year of yeshiva.

Coed gap year programs

The coed programs on this site fall into a few groups. Each page says what the program says about itself.

• Youth movement years: Young Judaea Year Course, Habonim Dror Workshop, FZY Year Course and World Bnei Akiva's Kadima, Limmud and MTA.
• On a university campus: ELI at Tel Aviv University and Israel XP at Bar-Ilan University.
• Volunteering, internships and skills: Arevim and the Aardvark Israel tracks (service, tech, culinary and more).
• Text study for mixed groups: Hevruta and The Yeshiva @ FJC.

Shana aleph and shana bet

You'll hear these all through the year. Shana aleph (שָׁנָה א׳) is the first year; shana bet (שָׁנָה ב׳) is a second year, usually at the same yeshiva or seminary. Read deciding about a second year.

More words, from beit midrash to bein hazmanim, are in the glossary.

Common questions

What's the difference between a yeshiva and a seminary?

A yeshiva is a men's program and a seminary (midrasha) is a women's program. Both are built around Torah study; what they study, how the day runs and who they're for vary from school to school.

Does going to a hesder yeshiva mean I'm joining the Israeli army?

No. A year in a hesder yeshiva's program for overseas students doesn't enlist you. Serving through hesder takes a separate track: Mahal Hesder for non-citizens (21 months, registered through the Hesder Yeshivas Association) or hesder for new immigrants.

What is a mechina?

An Israeli pre-army program for high school graduates that combines study, community service and group living; the mechinot's site says it defers army service by 12 to 18 months. A few programs, such as Mechina Olamit and Kol Ami, bring students from abroad into that format.

Is a coed gap year program the same as a Masa program?

Not necessarily. Masa Israel helps fund long programs of every kind, including many yeshivas and seminaries. Each program page here says whether the program's own site says it's a Masa program.

What does shana bet mean?

A second year in Israel, usually at the same yeshiva or seminary. Shana aleph is the first year.