05 Mar THE FAITHFUL TRANSMISSION OF THE TORAH SHEBE’AL PEH AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RAV HERSHEL SCHACHTER SHLITA ABOUT THE 3 NEW SEFORIM, HIS MINHAGIM, & FUN QUESTIONS
Rabbi Hershel Schachter shlita, 82, a noted rosh yeshiva and posek, has had a distinguished career with the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) for over 50 years. Rav Schachter became an assistant to the Rav, Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik zt”l, at the age of 22 and joined the faculty in 1967 at the age of 26, the youngest Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS. Since 1971, Rav Schachter has also been Rosh Kollel in RIETS’ Marcos and Adina Katz Kollel (Institute for Advanced Research in Rabbinics). Rav Schachter is also the Senior Halachic Consultant & Posek for OU Kashruth.
This past month, there were 3 new seforim in English with Rav Schachter’s Torah: 1-Divrei Soferim: The Transmission of Torah Shebe’al Peh which is part of the RIETS Hashkafah Series with Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman as the Series Editor and Rabbi Isaac Rice as the Co-Editor, 2- Rav Schachter On Orach Chaim Volume I – Insights and Commentary Based on the Shiurim of Rav Hershel Schachter Hilchos Hanhagas Adam BaBoker, Tzitzis, and Tefillin adapted by Dr. Allan Weissman & 3-Rav Schachter On The Parsha Volume III – Insights and Commentary Based on the Shiurim of Rav Hershel Schachter adapted by Dr. Allan Weissman. For tens of thousands of Jews worldwide, Rav Schachter is the living link in the transmission of the Torah Shebe’al Peh, the oral Torah. His teachings, writing, rulings, and personal model together manifest the faithful and flourishing continuation of the tradition in this generation.
Having the opportunity to interview Rav Schachter one-on-one has always been a dream of mine & I will never forget the experience. The first time I learned in the same Beis Medrash as Rav Schachter was when I was in MTA high school, and I had chavrusas with Rabbi Ari Jacobson and Rabbi Gedalya Hochberg for night
seder. Both of them were in Rav Schachter’s shiur and would reach out to Rav Schachter, who was in the Beis Midrash, with questions. I was always in awe watching Rav Schachter learn and how everyone approached him to ask shailos on a regular basis. After learning in yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael, I attended Rav Schachter’s Monday night shiur at the Young Israel of Midwood for over 25 years.
The Rosh Yeshiva is also a very big supporter of my family’s tzedakah, The Matzoh Fund, that helps our brothers and sisters in Yehuda and Shomron for Pesach, and for that we are very grateful.
Please tell everyone a little bit about your new sefer Divrei Soferim, which is about the transmission of Torah Shebe’al Peh. What does the sefer add that Rav Elchonon Wasserman doesn’t discuss in his Kuntres Divrei Sofrim and the Netziv doesn’t address in his sefer on Torah Shebe’al Peh, or that others have done before? What is unique about this presentation of the transmission of Torah Shebe’al Peh?
The goal of the sefer is to explore the various categories of the Torah Shebe’al Peh and to attempt to elucidate some of its principles and methods. Rav Elchonon has a complex discussion. My sefer contains very basic information. So basic, in fact, that a lot of people don’t even know it. Rabbi Meir Goldwicht insists that I should translate it into
Hebrew because yeshiva bochurim in Eretz Yisroel don’t know these things. These are basic, elementary ideas that
everyone should have been taught when their rebbes started teaching them Gemara. The Netziv has some of this material, and
I sometimes quote from him, but most of the time I quote Gemaras that people are not familiar with. I start off discussing a
lot of minhagim that are based on the fact that we are responding, we are fighting against the Karaite beliefs against the
Torah Shebe’al Peh. For example, a bris is done with a knife instead of scissors. I remember once that we had a mohel give
a demonstration to the boys in the Kollel. He showed a video of some other mohel doing a bris milah and he was explaining
why he thought the mohel did not do the right thing, he did not cut enough. He showed the boys where the mohel cut
with a knife and said that he should have really used a scissor. Why did he use a knife instead of a scissor? The Karaites
interpreted a pasuk in Yehoshua that for the 40 years in the midbar, most of Bnei Yisrael did not observe bris milah because
the weather conditions were a little dangerous. The Gemara says only Shevet Levi observed bris milah. Most didn’t observe bris milah, but when they came to Eretz Yisrael the weather conditions were normal, so everybody had a bris milah. It
says “Kach lecha charvos tzurim shulmol es Bnei Yisrael sheinis” (Yehoshua 5:2). The Karaite interpret “charvos tzurim” (plural) as scissors, which has two knives coming together. Therefore they say that you must use scissors to be yotzei the mitzvah of bris milah. The Rambam lived with and fought against the Karaites. He writes that you can use a scissor, but the minhag of the Jews is to use a knife…. What do I mean by the minhag by the Jews? Who else is doing a bris milah? The Arabs? As Orthodox Jews who
follow the mesorah, we use a knife and go out of our way not to use scissors so that no one will think that we follow the
opinions of the Karaites. Another example of a minhag that is in direct opposition to the Karaites comes from a famous Baal Hamaor in the third perek of Maseches Shabbos quoted in the Shulchan Aruch in Hilchos Shabbos (257:8). He says that you have to eat warm food on Shabbos morning. The Karaites learned pshat “lo seva’aru aish” as you’re not allowed to leave any fires burning in the house on Shabbos. Therefore they sat in the dark on Friday night. This also explains why we say a bracha on hadlakas neiros. The bracha does not seem to have existed in the early generations. The earliest source for the bracha is in the days of the Geonim, and the historians suggest that it may have been introduced because they were fighting against the Karaites who said you are not allowed to leave the lights on in the house on leil Shabbos. The chochamim said we should say a bracha because you’re doing a mitzvah, not an aveirah. Eating warm food on Shabbos day is similar. The Karaites always ate cold food on Shabbos, so the Baal Haamor says that if someone does not eat chamim (cholent) on Shabbos, you have to check if he’s an apikores; maybe he’s from the Karaites. We have a lot of minhagim that have developed because of this fight against the Karaites.
There are ideas in the Rambam in his Mishneh Torah that are clearly a polemic against the Karaites, emphasizing the importance of Torah Shebe’al Peh. He doesn’t say it explicitly, but we can understand his intent. For example, he rules that it is permissible to slaughter a pregnant animal without explaining why this needs to be taught (Hilchos Shechitah 12:10). It has been suggested
that he wrote this in objection to the Karaite view, which considers this to be a violation of “oso v’es bno,” slaughtering a mother and her child on the same day (Vayikra 22:28). Professor Chaim Soloveitchik, Rav Soloveitchik’s son, published an essay
on the Rambam’s order of halachos in Hilchos Shabbos. He points out that hadlakas neiros is placed where it doesn’t belong and the heter of pikuach nefesh is in the middle of nowhere. You would expect that first it would say all the melachos and then discuss pikuach nefesh, but Rambam puts both pikuach nefesh and hadlakas neiros in the beginning, in perek beis and perek hei,
because the Karaites did not believe in either one. Every so often, there’s a line in the Rambam about our minhagim that are
b’davka to show that we subscribe to Torah Shebe’al Peh. The Rambam records a related practice with respect to kiddushin. Although kiddushin can be accomplished with the use of a document, the Rambam writes “kvar nahagu kol Yisrael, All Jews already have the custom” to use kessef or its equivalent (Hilchos Ishus 3:21). In the previous halacha, the Rambam labeled kiddushei kessef as divrei Soferim, words of the scribes, which connotes a din that is not explicit in the Torah Shebiksav, rather
requires the Torah Shebe’al Peh for its derivation. For this reason, the Karaites did not accept kiddushei kessef. It seems that the Rambam teaches that we specifically use this method of kiddushin to demonstrate that Orthodox Jews subscribe to Torah Shebe’al Peh.
Why does the Rosh Yeshiva feel that it is so important to teach about Torah Shebe’al Peh? Why is it that in all
the shiurim that the Rosh Yeshiva gives, he always weaves the halachic process, the mesorah, de’oraisa,
d’rabbanan, into his shiurim? Why is this so important? Why is the message of understanding how Torah Shebe’al Peh works so critical?
We have people in our generation who are ignoring learning Gemara and they’re spending all their time learning Tanach.
The whole yeshiva is learning Mesechta Brachos this year. We just got to the Gemara today where one of the tannaim
on his deathbed tells his talmidim “Don’t let your children study too much Tanach” (Berachos 28b). The Nodeh BiYehuda
has a sefer on Berachos, the Tzlach, and he asks why you shouldn’t let your children learn Tanach. The reason is because there are a lot of apikorsim who are teaching Tanach. During his time, there weren’t any apikorsim teaching Gemara. Now we have apikorsim teaching Gemara also, like in all the universities where they are teaching different interpretations. It’s important
to know the ABC’s of Torah Shebe’al Peh. You have to know what everything is based on.
With all the Rosh Yeshiva’s responsibilities, how does the Rosh Yeshiva have time to write so much? This
past month alone, the Rosh Yeshiva came out with three new seforim.
The new sefer Transmission of Torah Shebe’al Peh, was published because of Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman and Rabbi Isaac Rice. They both worked very hard on this sefer for many years. The two new seforim Rav Schachter On Orach Chaim Volume I & Rav Schachter On The Parsha Volume III, I was zoche to publish because of Dr. Allan Weissman. Dr. Weissman is a medical doctor who has a big family with 11 children, and he wrote this sefer on his own. He published eight seforim of my shiurim: Three on
the parshiyos, one on the siddur, one on Pirkei Avos, one on the Moadim, one on the Haggadah and one on Or Hachaim based on the Monday night shiurim at the Young Israel of Midwood/Zoom. He transcribed the shiurim and he writes very well. People say when they read his books, they can hear me speaking. He checked and he wrote every mare hamakom. He has me read
everything before it is published. I taka don’t have time. He did all of the work and it is all his zechus.
Should the Klal spend so much time learning Torah Shebe’al Peh when they don’t know Torah Shebiksav
well?
I mentioned today in my shiur the gemara “not to let your children study too much Tanach.” There’s a sefer called “Seder Olam” by the Tana Reb Yose Ben Chalafta. He writes after the nevi’im Chaggai, Zechariah and Malachi died, there was no more nevu’ah. Malachi says that the next navi is going to be Eliyahu Hanavi, who comes just before Mashiach. Malachi lived during the beginning of the Bayis Sheini, which was way over 2,000 years ago. He was the last navi until Eliyahu. Seder Olam continues
that now that nevu’ah has ended, “hateh oznecha ushma divrei Chachamim, pay attention and listen to the words of the sages.” We are living in a period of the Torah Shebe’al Peh. The emphasis has to be placed on learning the Torah Shebe’al Peh. The Midrash says: “Ein hagaluyos miskansos ella bizchus limud hamishnayos, the exiles will be gathered only in the merit of learning
Mishnayos” (Vayikra Rabbah 7:3, alluded to in Bava Basra 8a). Mishnayos in this context means Torah Shebe’al Peh. The future geulah will be in the zechus of learning Torah Shebe’al Peh. You can’t understand Torah Shebe’al Peh without Torah Shebiksav, but the main emphasis has to be on the Torah Shebe’al Peh.
FUN QUESTIONS WITH RAV HERSHEL SCHACHTER SHLITA
Does the Rosh Yeshiva have a favorite Masechta?
My favorite Masechta is Sanhedrin because when I was 16 years old, they put me in Rav Soloveitchik’s shiur and we learned Sanhedrin for two years. We learned it from cover to cover. I enjoyed that because it was a new style of learning for me and I enjoyed it extremely.
If the Rosh Yeshiva could hear a shiur of anybody from gemara Brachos, the masechta that you’re learning in the yeshiva now, who would you want to hear a shiur given by?
Rav Soloveitchik. That’s a dead giveaway.
What middah should Klal Yisrael as a whole be working on right now?
We have to work on everything. Tefillah, we have to daven more. We also have to do kiruv. In Eretz Yisrael, many Jews don’t even know what it means to be Jewish. They don’t even know why they’re being attacked or what Judaism isall about.
What is the first middah that someone should look for when looking for a shidduch?
Yiras Shamayim. In the days of the Gemara, they had the tefillah that we say by Rosh Chodesh bentching, but they had a different text. They only said the words “Chaim sheyesh bahem Yiras Shamayim” once. Over the generations, the text changed a little bit and now we say it twice. Apparently, the rabbis decided we can all use an extra dose of Yiras Shamayim. So, I think the first
middah that you have to look for in marriage is Yiras Shamayim.
Should Jewish boys/men take the path of Torah Umadda and why?
Dr. Shmuel Belkin, a past president of Yeshiva University, said that Torah Umadah is “a yeshiva with a cafeteria & a dormitory in one building.” You need a degree to make a parnassah. Dr. Belkin said that we give everything in one building, so you don’t have to travel to a city college. That’s what Torah Umadda is all about.
What’s the Rosh Yeshiva’s most prized sefer?
I have to think about that for a long time. I don’t know if I have a favorite sefer. I enjoy all the seforim.
What is the Rosh Yeshiva’s take on giving a hashgacha to something that is not related to food, i.e. mezuzas, sheitelach, etc.?
I remember years ago my father was a rabbi in a shul in the Bronx. The president of the shul used to manufacture caskets to bury people, and at that time his was the only casket that was all wood. It didn’t have any metal nails. He wanted the OU to give a hechsher on the caskets. My father went to the OU and they said, “We only give hashgachos on food.” But you need hashgachos
on some non-food items! Years ago, there was a whole scandal. Somebody had a factory in the Ukraine making shofros. Every shofar was perfect. They couldn’t figure out how he did it. It turned out he had a mold; he melted all the shofros and then poured it into a mold, but that’s pasul. From that time on, the Rabbanut said that before you buy a shofar it has to have a hechsher to
ensure it’s not pasul. The same applies to mezuzahs and tefillin. A lot of times you have mezuzahs and tefillin that are pasul and people don’t realize that they aren’t kosher. I would approve giving hashgachas on items such as that.
What’s the Rosh Yeshiva’s favorite Igros Moshe?
I have a Sunday chavrusah, a businessman, who is starting to learn a little bit. He feels the greatness of Reb Moshe and wants to tell about his greatness. When Reb Moshe was under the Communists, he told them they should say the bracha on tefillin when they wake up in the morning even though it’s before misheyakir (Igros Moshe 1:10). He said he didn’t know how long Communism was going to rule. If you tell the people they should put on tefillin without a bracha, they’re going to realize that there’s a shaila and they’ll stop wearing tefillin. The Rambam paskens that layla lav zman tefillin, and Reb Moshe paskens against the Rambam that it is zman tefillin. You can say the bracha on tefillin at night because under the Communists, as a hora’as sha’a, we’re not machmir like the Rambam. My Sunday chavrusa thinks this is the greatness of Reb Moshe. He knew how to be meikel when it was necessary; on his achrayus, he told them to say a bracha on the tefillin at night.
There seems to be a lot of machlokes within families in Klal Yisrael. What is the secret for shalom bayis?
You have to compromise. You can’t compromise on mitzvos. You have to compromise on “mili d’alma,” non-religious matters. In a marriage, each partner was raised in a different family. Each one has a different style and you have to know that when you get married, you have to give in a little bit. You have to compromise on all these things.
Can the Rosh Yeshiva name anyone in Tanach that he would like to know more about than what the kriah (script) allows us to know?
All of them! We know very little about the lives of anyone in Tanach.
Which bracha does the Rosh Yeshiva typically have the most kavanah in when davening the Amidah?
Shema Koleinu
If the Rosh Yeshiva can go to any Yeshiva in the history of mankind, which Yeshiva would you want to go to?
Yeshivas Moshe Rabbeinu
Does the Rav observe the tzava’a of Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid? (Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid lived from 1150-1217. His will, or tzava’a, contains advice, directives, and rulings on a wide range of issues. It combines halacha & kabbala. Although a number of Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid’s rulings have found their way into the Shulchan Aruch, many of the statements in the tzava’a are quite mysterious and even incomprehensible. This has left Rabbinic authorities throughout the ages questioning the logic and authority of such statements.)
My father used to tell me, and now I say the same thing, that the Vaad Arba Aratzos had a meeting in the 1500’s/ 1600’s and they discussed whether the Tzava’a of Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid is only for his descendants or if it’s for all of Klal Yisrael. The Maharsha got up and he said, “I’m a descendant from Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid and in the tzava’a it says you shouldn’t name any of your children Shmuel or Eliezer. My name is Shmuel Eliezer.” The descendants don’t observe the tzava’a, so nobody has to observe the tzava’a.
FOR THE RECORD…
WITH RAV HERSHEL SCHACHTER SHLIT”A, MINHAGIM QUESTIONS
What nussach does the Rav daven?
Ashkenaz.
Does the Rav sing Shalom Aleichem Friday night at home?
We have an abridged version. We don’t say “Barchuni l’shalom.”
Does the Rav Sing “Eishes Chayil” on Friday night?
I usually don’t because I want to make kiddush as soon as possible.
Does the Rav give berachos on Friday night to his children/grandchildren?
No. My parents never gave us berachos.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva wash netilas yadayim as the first person or the last person typically?
I’m always the first person. I like to wash right after kiddush to encourage the guests, who are usually the boys from the yeshiva, to hurry up.
What does the Rosh Yeshiva use to make kiddush Friday night?
We avoid grape juice because it’s a machlokes as to whether it’s shehakol or hagafen and whether it’s acceptable for kiddush.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva stand or sit for kiddush Friday night?
My father always stood. My father was from a Chasiddishe family, but when you learn in a yeshiva, you pick up other minhagim from the yeshiva. In all the yeshivas, they sit for borei pri hagafen.
What does the Rosh Yeshiva use to make Havdalah?
Wine.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva wear tzitzis tucked in or out?
Rabbi Soloveitchik gave a whole drashaon the Magen Avraham who explains that you should wear the beged under your shirt and the strings exposed. He gave a whole drasha on why that should be, so that’s what I do. I wear the beged under my shirt and then the string stick out a little.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva wear techeles on his tzitzis?
Yes.
Is there a specific type of knot that the Rosh Yeshiva uses?
Yes.
I remember once that one of our children had a sheva brachos and one of the uncles of the chosson introduced me at the sheva
brachos. He said that he knew Rabbi Schachter was a prominent rabbi, but he didn’t really realize how prominent I was. He went to the Techeles website and they had R’ Saadia Gaon, R’ Hai Gaon, and Rabbi Hershel Schachter.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva have a second talis gadol for Shabbos?
Yes.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva wear an Atara?
No.
At what point does the Rosh Yeshiva put the talis over his head during davening?
Rabbi Soloveitchik said his family practice was to put the talis over the head for Shemona Esrei based on the pasuk “Tefillah l’ani ki ya’atof” (Tehillim 102:1) You need atifah – in the passuk it doesn’t mean that, but it’s an additional level of interpretation. He said for devarim sheb’kedusha, the classical poskim say you need atifah. Kadish, Kedusha, Barchu, or Anim Zemiros could also be devarim she’b’kedusha.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva eat only Cholov Yisroel?
Yes. After I got married, my wife wanted only to have cholov Yisroel in the house, so we would be able to have rabbanim visit us, though we hardly ever have Rabbanim visit us.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva drink milk?
No, for the last few years I haven’t [because there is a question whether we can rely on rov that most cows are not treifah. The milk we have today is mixed together from many, many different cows and probably at least one of those cows is a treifa.] But the rest of the family drinks milk.
How many hours does the Rosh Yeshiva wait between eating fleishigs and milchigs?
When one of my sons got married, they put on a skit during sheva brachos where he asked the girl on a date how long she waits between fleishigs and milchigs. She answered 6 hours, and then she asked him how long he waits. He said, “So far it’s been 6 years.” My son doesn’t have milchigs. I used to wait a full 6 hours, when I used to drink milk.
When does the Rosh Yeshiva typically do tashlich?
I used to always give a shiur in Brooklyn, so whenever that was, I would say tashlich when I drove over the bridge. Someone would drive me, so I would say tashlich while he drove. When I was in high school, the rebbe, Rabbi Yerucham Gorelick, discouraged us from going to tashlich because he said the boys and the girls hang out there. He said this on his achrayus. Still on his achrayus, I don’t go to say tashlich on Rosh Hashana. I’ll say Tehillim, I’ll learn, but I don’t go to say tashlich. When you go to say tashlich, you waste the whole day shmoozing with all the other people there.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva eat in the Sukkah on Shmini Atzeres?
Yes.
How often does the Rosh Yeshiva go to the mikvah?
Only Erev Yom Kippur.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva hold the minhag of giving his wife a present on Erev Yom Tov?
I give my wife my paycheck all the time. I say buy whatever you want.
Is one yotzei with that?
I think so. Rabbi Benjamin Yudin from Fairlawn used to say that it says in the medrash that Rosh Chodesh is a Yom Tov for women. This means that every Rosh Chodesh the husband has to buy his wife a new dress because you need to buy something new for your wife for Yom Tov. For women, every Rosh Chodesh is a Yom Tov, so the husband has to buy his wife something new. My wife buys whatever she wants whenever she wants.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva wear tefillin on Chol Hamoed?
Yes.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva wear both Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam tefillin?
No.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva eat fleishigs on Friday, Erev Shabbos?
No. It says in the Shulchan Aruch that you’re not supposed to. A few years ago, the yeshivas had a Shavuos program in a hotel. It was the first time they had it, and they served fleishigs on Erev Yom Tov when the people came. I told them that it isn’t right and they discontinued it. It says in Shulchan Aruch that you’re not supposed to have a fleishig meal on Erev Shabbos or Erev Yom Tov.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva eat turkey?
No.
Where does the Rosh Yeshiva get his matzos from?
I have a Sunday chavrusa who buys me matzos. He doesn’t pay me, so he buys matzos for me. He used to get the Shatzer matzos and now they’re out of business, so he said he’s going to get Kerestir matzos.
How many sedarim did the Rosh Yeshiva hold when he went to Eretz Yisrael for Pesach?
We were in Eretz Yisrael twice for Sukkos, so we observed Yom Tov Sheini. Rabbi Aharon Rakeffet is a good friend of mine;
we used to be in Rabbi Soloveitchik’s shiur together. He’s a few years older than me. He said some people keep one day,
some people keep one and a half days, some people keep two days and Rabbi Schachter keeps two and a half days. How
did it become two and a half days? I asked my children to listen to Havdalah in shul in between the first and second day of Yom
Tov because maybe it should be one day of Yom Tov, so we should be yotzei Havdalah after the first day. So that’s called two and
a half days because I observe two days of Yom Tov and I listen to two havdalos.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva’s family have upsherins?
We never had that many. Some of my daughters have it now.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva’s family sing Shir Hamalos before bentching?
Yes.
What about “Tehilas Hashem yidaber pi” at the end?
No. It says in seforim that you’re not supposed to say that. They said it’s some kind of mistake.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva’s family visit matzevos the first year after someone’s niftar?
I don’t, beshitah. My wife does. My wife goes to visit her parents, who are buried in Har Hazeisim, I think. Rav Soloveitchik
once gave a whole drasha why his family doesn’t go visit the cemetery.
What does the Rosh Yeshiva use for karpas at the seder?
The green stuff, maybe celery.
What does the Rosh Yeshiva use for kapparos?
We don’t shlug chickens for kapparos. My father said he didn’t have kapparos where he came from.
Did the Rosh Yeshiva use money for Kapparos?
We give a lot of money, but we don’t do kapparos with it. My father came from Vizhnitzer chassidim. His area was all Vizhnitz. He learned in Europe in the Vizhnitzer yeshiva. He said where he came from they never had kapparos.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva dip his challah in salt?
No. My wife bakes delicious challahs. The Gemara says that if the challos are delicious, then you don’t need any salt, but I do have salt on the table. Tosfos says you should have salt on the table. I tell the boys that it’s an insult to the chef if you dip the challah into the salt because my wife baked the challahs. B’davka we shouldn’t. It tastes delicious without.
What’s the Rosh Yeshiva’s favorite song to sing at the Shabbos table?
All the zemiros.
Is there a specific zemer?
We always have boys over, so whatever they sing.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva do mayim achronim before bentching?
No, we don’t wash mayim achronim.
If someone has the minhag to wear a black hat for davening, but doesn’t have his hat with him, should he daven with a tzibur without a hat or go get his hat even if he misses tefillah b’tzibur?
No, he should daven with a tzibur.
Does the Rosh Yeshiva have any other interesting minhagim that we did not discuss? Something that would be interesting to the readers.
I’m a very bland person. Nothing razzle dazzle.