Chavrusa, also spelled
chavruta or
havruta (
Aramaic: חַבְרוּתָא, lit. "friendship" or "companionship"), is a traditional
rabbinic approach to
Talmudic study in which a pair of students analyze, discuss, and debate a shared text. It is a primary learning method in
yeshivas and
kollels, where students often engage regular study partners of similar knowledge and ability, and is also practiced by men and boys outside the yeshiva setting, in work, home and vacation settings. The traditional phrase is to learn
b'chavrusa (בְחַבְרוּתָא, "in
chavrusa"; i.e., in partnership); the word has come by
metonymy to refer to the study partner as an individual, though it would more logically describe the pair.