R’ Yaakov Kamenetzky is quoted as saying that the original takana to say chazaras hasha”tz was not made in a beis medrash, where the attendees generally know how to daven themselves. It was only made for shuls, where it is common to have people who need to be yotzei with the sha”tz.
Doesn’t this remind you of the whole Sukkah debate? Something done one way for thousands of years, and is brought down in all Halachic works to be done that way. Shas, Rishonim, Achronim, until a Rov about a hundred years ago says to do things otherwise, and then another Rov about 50 years ago tries to find a Sevara, however Dachuk[1] it may be, to justify it.
[1]. Was this Minhag HaYeshivos MeAz UmiKedem? Was this Minhag Volozhin? Minhag HaGra? I don’t remember seeing such a thing Maaseh Rav. I just looked up the Aruch HaShulchan (Siman 232:6, the Mishna Brura didn’t seem to say anything interesting) where he says that the only hetter to daven a Heicha Kedusha is:
1. You’re running late. But he said that the Minhag is like the Arizal to daven a proper Chazaras HaShatz even if you’re going to end up saying the Chazaras HaShatz after Shkiya.
2. If the shul (or, by the way, Beis Medrash) doesn’t have more than a “bit more than a minyan” of people, you should do a Heicha Kedusha because we’re concerned that they won’t answer Amen. I don’t think that this was really a concern in Slabodka, one of the top Yeshivas back in Europe, which also had plenty of students, way more than 10. And in many of the modern Yeshivas, there are often way more than 10 people davening.
But note, he didn’t say the Sevarah of Reb Yaakov, or that “in Yeshivas they also don’t do Chazaras HaShatz”, and he was the Rov of Novardok, which had its own Yeshiva.
So through who is this Mesorah that the takana to say chazaras hasha”tz was not made in a beis medrash?
And a side question, if there was no such Takanah, why do a Heicha Kedusha? A Heicha Kedusha’s a replacement for a Chazaras Hashatz. If there’s no Chazaras Hashatz, there should be no Heicha Kedusha?