A (Hebrew: , pl. ) is an institute of Torah study for women, usually in Israel, and roughly the equivalent of a yeshiva for men. A "seminary" (Hebrew seminar, sometimes seminaria) is a similar institution, more traditional in orientation. Midrashot are Religious Zionist, while Seminaries are usually Haredi; although in English, "Seminary", or "Sem", is often used for either. The term Midrasha is sometimes used more widely, referring to pluralistic, as opposed to Orthodox, educational institutions. In Israel, it may also refer to field schools that organize seminars and nature field trips. History The Haredi aligned seminaries - for example Beth Jacob Jerusalem, and the Gateshead Jewish Academy for Girls - are modeled on the Bais Yaakov movement's teacher-training seminary established by Sarah Schenirer in 1923. (Today, Beis Yaakov almost invariably refers to high school, while "Seminary" is used for a post-high school institution.) Outside of Europe, the "Beis Yaakov Seminary, Tel Aviv" was founded in 1933, and Jerusalem's "Beis Yaakov Institute for Teachers" in 1939; the first Seminary in the USA was established by Vichna Kaplan in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 1941; Gateshead Seminary in the UK, was founded in 1944. The Rika Breuer Teachers Seminary - of the Breuers / Khal Adath Jeshurun community - was established in the 1960s and operated for over 40 years. See . (And for further context, , a women's seminary established in 1930, as well as discussing the Bais Medrash L'Morim established in 1864.) The Religious Zionist and Modern Orthodox began to be established in the late 1970s, parallel to the Hesder yeshivot; these include the Religious Kibbutz Movement's Midreshet Ein HaNetziv, Midreshet Lindenbaum, and Migdal Oz, sister school of Yeshivat Har Etzion. Precedent, are the Mizrachi Teachers Training College, today's Lifshitz College of Education, which was established in Jerusalem in 1921; the Talpiot Bet Medrash for Teachers in 1937; and Machon Gold in 1958. Lindenbaum, in 1976, was the first established independent of a teacher's college. The largest Midrasha is at Bar-Ilan University, with 800 students in its various programs. A midrasha that offers degree studies is sometimes called a machon (, institute) or a michlalah (, college). The word "" is based on the term beit midrash, "house of study"; the root דרש means "to seek [knowledge]", and is then generalized to mean "expound". It is cognate with the Arabic "," which also refers to a place of learning. Curriculum and