Rebbi

This chapter explains why the leader of the shiur is almost never addressed as “you,” but rather referred to either as “the Rosh Yeshiva” or as “Rebbi,” a term broadly used in Ashkenazic Jewish culture to refer to any teacher of Torah, from one who instructs small children to the most advanced lecturers. It argues that their Rebbi's authority is, if anything, anticharismatic and reserved, unlike the paradigmatic hasidic leader, similarly addressed and referred to as “the Rebbe.” The chapter also discusses the custom in the beis medresh whenever the Rebbi enters and stand upon his entry. It presents a discussion which turned on the fundamental principle of rabbinic biblical interpretation that nothing is superfluous in the Torah — and that therefore, every seeming superfluity is available to teach us something not explicitly stated in the text. Ultimately, the chapter illustrates the Rosh Yeshiva's dedication to making sense of the text on his own as far as possible. It assumes that the Rosh Yeshiva is willing to accept a certain degree of necessary misapprehension of the rabbinic texts because of his conviction that the halacha for us is what we do.