Еврей діні мектебінің басшысы

Head of a yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva (, pl. , ; Anglicized pl. rosh yeshivas) is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and the Torah, and halakha (Jewish law). The general role of the rosh yeshiva is to oversee the Talmudic studies and practical matters. The rosh yeshiva will often give the highest shiur (class) and is also the one to decide whether to grant permission for students to undertake classes for rabbinical ordination, known as semicha. The term is a compound of the Hebrew words rosh ("head") and yeshiva (a school of religious Jewish education). The rosh yeshiva is required to have a comprehensive knowledge of the Talmud and the ability to analyse and present new perspectives, called chidushim (novellae) verbally and often in print. In some institutions, such as YU's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, the title of rosh yeshiva is given to many rabbis and the dean of the yeshiva is known as the rosh ha yeshiva.

Yeshivas continue the scholarly traditions of the sages of the Mishnah and Talmud who often headed academies with hundreds of students. In the Talmudic academies in Babylonia, the rosh yeshiva was referred to as the reish metivta ("head of the academy" in Aramaic) and had the title of gaon. Regard for the rosh yeshiva in many ways is the transplantation of Hasidic attitudes in the Lithuanian world.

Depending on the size of the yeshiva, there may be several rosh yeshivas, sometimes from one extended family. There are familial dynasties of rosh yeshivas, for example, the Soloveitchik, Finkel, Feinstein, Kotler, and Kook families, which head many yeshivas in the United States and Israel.

The title rosh mesivta (alt. rosh metivta) has a long history, going back many centuries. The role is comparable to a dean in a university.

The personal and ethical development of the students in the yeshiva is usually covered by a different personality, known as the mashgiach or spiritual 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. One typical and influential mashgiach was Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler.