chavrusa

English

Alternative forms

• chavruta, havrusa, havruta, chevruta, chevrutah

Etymology

From the Ashkenazic pronunciation of Hebrew חברותא (khavrúta), from Aramaic חברותא (ħavrutaʔ).

Noun

chavrusa (plural chavrusas)

1. (Judaism, countable) A partner with whom one studies Talmud and other topics in Judaism; by extension, any study partner.
   • 2001 June 30, toichen, “How long would you last in yeshiva?”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated‎^[1] (Usenet):

     A bachur who takes arguments personally will very quickly find himself without a chavrusa.

   • 2017 September 6, Yisroel Besser, “Internal Audits”, in Mishpacha‎^[2]:

     The tumult for the uninitiated is this unscripted informal matchmaking service ensuring that every single talmid in yeshivah finds an appropriate chavrusa — yet there is no computerized list or formal director no algorithm or aptitude test just well-meaning intermediaries making suggestions and answering questions as would-be chavrusas try to gauge their potential partners.

2. (Judaism, countable) A pair of students who study together.
3. (Judaism, countable) A study session with a partner.

   I have a Chumash chavrusa with Shlomo every Thursday at 9 pm.

Translations

a partner for studying topics in Judaism

• Hebrew: חַבְרוּתָא (he) (khavrúta)
• Yiddish: חברותא (khavrusa)