# Beth Midrash

A beit midrash (Hebrew: בֵּית מִדְרָשׁ, romanized: bêt midrāš, lit. 'house [of] study'; pl. בָּתֵּי מִדְרָשׁ, bātê midrāš), or beth midrash, is a dedicated study hall, often located within or adjacent to a synagogue, but sometimes housed in its own building, where Jews engage in intensive Torah study, including of the Hebrew Bible, Mishnah, Gemara, Halakha, Midrash, and other Jewish classical texts. It is distinct from a beit knesset (בֵּית כְּנֶסֶת, bêt knésset, 'house [of] assembly')—a synagogue—though the two are often coextensive. In Yiddish, the beth midrash may be referred to as a zal (Yiddish: זאַל, lit. 'hall').