HaRav Aharon Walkin zt”l — Third Yahrzeit: Living Torah, Ahavas Yisrael, and the Rebbe Who Built Talmidim

Topics

• Third Yahrzeit of HaRav Aharon Walkin zt”l
• Words of Remembrance, Torah and Chizuk from His Brother, Rabbanim and Talmidim
• Opening Remarks — The Master of Ceremonies
• Rav Avraham Walkin — My Brother Was Also My Rebbe
• Rav Avraham Walkin — The Child Who Still Comes to the Seder
• Every Person Felt He Was My Brother's Favorite
• Rav Avraham Walkin — A Posek Who Knew the Human Being
• His Children Are Keeping His Torah Alive
• Why Couldn't Yaakov Forget Yosef?
• Rav Avraham Walkin — A Rebbe Whose Loss Remains With the Klal
• Master of Ceremonies — Two Qualities We Can Carry Forward
• Every Moment Is an Opportunity to Grow
• Master of Ceremonies — Use Your Time for Torah
• Second Quality: The Importance of Actual Limud HaTorah
• Introduction of a Talmid-Speaker
• A Close Talmid — The Rebbe Who Gives a Talmid Independence
• The Close Talmid — A Father's Greatest Kindness
• Twenty-Six Generations of Chesed
• Giving a Check or Giving a Person the Ability to Work?
• A Close Talmid — The Rebbe Who Makes His Students Independent
• "Ki L'Olam Chasdo" — A Higher Kind of Gift
• Rabbi Eliezer: Never Saying What He Had Not Heard
• The Influence That Lasts a Lifetime
• A Close Talmid — Even Seeing a Tzaddik Changes You
• His Torah Was Alive
• You Cannot Become a Ben Torah by Reading a List of Steps
• Hang Your Problems on the Doorknob
• Master of Ceremonies — Introducing Another Talmid
• Rav Tomer Zino — A Talmid Chacham Who Lived Above His Own Needs
• His Personal Warmth Transformed the Beis Midrash
• Don't Judge Another Person When You Don't Know His Life
• Rav Tomer Zino — "Just Learn, and Everything Will Work Out"
• The Rav's Extraordinary Breadth in Halachah
• Cleaving to Hashem Through His Talmidei Chachamim
• A Living Sefer Torah
• A New Speaker — Remembering the Rosh Yeshiva Before Pesach
• The Final Speaker — Why Does the Haggadah Tell Us About Five Sages?
• Five Backgrounds, One Commitment to Torah
• Every Kind of Yid Belonged in His Shiur
• The Five Sages — Every Person Can Grow in Torah
• "Harei Ani K'Ben Shivim Shanah"
• The Final Speaker — An Emunah That Must Be Renewed Twice Each Day
• "Ani Hashem Elokeichem Asher Hotzeisi Eschem"
• Why We Need It Again at Night
• Hashem Is Present in the Smallest Details
• The Final Speaker — Rav Walkin Lived for Torah and Chesed
• Editorial Notes for Publication

Transcript

# Third Yahrzeit of HaRav Aharon Walkin zt”l
## Words of Remembrance, Torah and Chizuk from His Brother, Rabbanim and Talmidim

*Editorial note: This is a multi-speaker memorial event, **not** a shiur given by Rav Aharon Walkin himself. The separate first-person voices are preserved. Speakers are identified when the original recording establishes their identity; otherwise identification remains provisional.*

## Opening Remarks — The Master of Ceremonies

Baruchim haba'im, rabosai. Welcome to the gathering marking the third yahrzeit of **Moreinu V'Rabbeinu Rav Aharon Walkin, zecher tzaddik livrachah**.

It's very hard to stand here and believe that already three years have passed since our Rosh Yeshiva left us. Here was a man who literally gave his life and soul for his talmidim, for his community, and for anyone who came to him.

I had the zechus to know him for approximately seventeen years. I remember a man who was always smiling, always bringing chizuk, always encouraging, always finding a way to give another person inspiration.

Tonight we will hear from rabbanim and talmidim who knew him and who can tell us what he stood for. But our purpose is not only to remember. We want to **learn from his example**, to become better people, to strengthen ourselves in Torah and middos in his zechus, and to bring an aliyah to his neshamah.

And what better way to begin than with his brother, who has done so much to be mezakeh the rabbim through Chazak and its youth programming, and who shared with him such an extraordinary relationship.

I would like to invite **Rav Avraham Walkin**, shlita, to share divrei chizuk.

## Rav Avraham Walkin — My Brother Was Also My Rebbe

Good evening.

It isn't easy to stand here tonight and think about why we're gathered.

My brother, zichrono livrachah, wasn't simply my brother. **He was my Rebbe**.

People ask me: "Now that your brother isn't here, whom do you ask? Where do you turn for guidance?"

I tell them the emes: **I haven't found anyone to replace him.**

My father, zol gezunt zayn, is here, and of course I ask him things. But my brother was my posek, the person I consulted when I had a problem, my guide in family situations and difficult decisions. He was my brother and my Rebbe together. He was a very great tzaddik.

Let me begin with a thought from the **Haggadah Shel Pesach**, because I think it expresses something very important about who my brother was—and still is, through his sefarim, his children and his talmidim.

We all know about the **four sons**: the chacham, the rasha, the tam and the she'eino yodea lishol.

The Haggadah gathers four different kinds of children around one Seder table. Some have clear questions, some simple questions, some troubled or challenging questions; and one doesn't yet know how to ask.

Now the Torah uses the words **"והיה כי ישאלך בנך"**—when your son asks you (Shemos 13:14).

Chazal teach that **"vayehi"** is often associated with difficulty and **"vehayah"** with good or joy, although individual uses must be understood in context. There is a discussion in **Megillah 10b** about the expression *vayehi*; a universal grammatical rule should not be stated without its qualifications.

So I have a question: if the Haggadah includes a **rasha**, why should the very fact that the children are at the Seder be an occasion for simchah?

And another question: why do we invite that child to the table and encourage him to ask questions, only to respond with the shocking expression **"הקהה את שיניו"**, blunt his teeth?

What kind of chinuch is that? The child may be angry and deeply confused. Why bring him close and then humiliate him in front of the family?

And the Haggadah goes on to say **"אילו היה שם לא היה נגאל"**—if he had been there, he would not have been redeemed. If he already has serious doubts about the Seder, do you think hearing that statement is going to convince him?

The more I think about it, the more I believe there is a beautiful lesson here—one that my brother lived with every person who came through his door.

## Rav Avraham Walkin — The Child Who Still Comes to the Seder

Let's think about the difficult child in the Haggadah.

A parent sees his child has questions, doubts, perhaps even anger toward Yiddishkeit. You can imagine a boy who comes home looking or behaving very differently from the rest of his family. The parents still love him, of course, but perhaps they think, "Why should we bring these questions into the Seder? Why not meet him another day? Why expose the younger children to all the doubts?"

Yet the Torah's Seder includes him. **He still belongs at the table.**

The night of Pesach is called **"ליל שמרים"**—a night of watching and protection (Shemos 12:42). I want to suggest that on this night Hashem watches not only over our physical lives but over **the neshamah of every Yid**.

It's as though the Ribbono Shel Olam says: "Bring that child to your table. On this night I am with you. Let him come, and let him ask."

Now why does the Haggadah say **"הקהה את שיניו"**?

The simple traditional expression is understood as **blunting** the force of the question. But I saw or heard an interpretation that links a similar Hebrew expression used in connection with metal to **softening or smoothing**. [The exact lexicographical source and the suggested interpretation of *hakeh* are not verified as the established pshat of the Haggadah.]

If we use that as a *remez*, perhaps the way to respond is not to attack the child but to **soften his anger and frustration by listening**.

He comes with his questions. He is hurt, he is confused, perhaps he has been carrying difficult feelings for a long time. Let him speak. Let him feel there is a father and a mother willing to listen.

When you let him ask sincerely, you've already begun to soften something inside.

Now hear a second understanding of the words **"אילו היה שם לא היה נגאל."**

Perhaps, in the *derush* I am suggesting, the emphasis can be: if he were **somewhere else**, outside your table, you might have no chance to reach him.

But now he is here! **You have a relationship, an opening, an opportunity.**

You should be b'simchah that he came.

People sometimes speak about a **fifth son**—the child who doesn't come to the Seder at all, the one whose parents don't know where he is or what he is doing.

Here we have a child who may be in great difficulty, but **he is still at the table**. That itself is reason for hope.

Now, I want to stress that this is a homiletic approach. The Haggadah's wording has classical interpretations, and I am not claiming that this new explanation replaces them. My purpose is to bring out the powerful message of **keeping the door open**.

### Every Person Felt He Was My Brother's Favorite

This brings me directly to my brother.

Besides being an extraordinary talmid chacham, he understood people.

He knew Ashkenazi halachah, but he also knew the halachos of the Sefardi communities and was deeply familiar with the sefarim of **Rav Ovadia Yosef** and **Yalkut Yosef**. I would call him about questions in all kinds of subjects.

But what made him so exceptional was how he **spoke to a human being**.

After he was niftar, I would meet people on the street, and they would tell me, "Your brother and I were so close. I was his favorite student. He loved me especially."

Again and again, different people told me essentially the same thing.

I would think, "My brother only had twenty-four hours in a day. How could hundreds of people each be his closest friend?"

But then I understood. **Every person felt important in his presence**.

He made each talmid feel that he was his favorite. He made every person feel that the Rav really knew him, cared about him and wanted to help him.

Of course he used to tell me that **I** was his favorite brother! I'm only joking.

But I was extremely close to him. I could call him about halachah, yes, but also about emotional questions, philosophical questions, and issues in my family life.

And that's one of the things I learned: a great posek doesn't simply know a paragraph of Shulchan Aruch. He understands **the person who is asking**.

Two people may ask superficially similar she'eilos, but their circumstances may differ. The appropriate answer requires understanding those circumstances.

So if you're dealing with a child who is struggling, don't begin with a label. **Begin by understanding the child.**

That was my brother's way. And that is why so many people called him their Rebbe.

## Rav Avraham Walkin — A Posek Who Knew the Human Being

I had the zechus to see many gedolei Yisrael in my life. Over the years I traveled to receive brachos from **Rav Shach**, **the Steipler**, **Rav Chaim Kanievsky** and **Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman**. Sometimes I would take several days for the journey, simply because seeing the face of a gadol and receiving a brachah was so precious to me.

And my brother had something very unusual in our generation, particularly here in America. He understood the community and the people in it.

I remember calling him one night at approximately **11:30 p.m.** about a practical question. Someone had asked me a she'eilah, and I thought I could repeat the answer my brother had once given me in a similar case.

I said, "Should I tell him what you told me before?"

And my brother answered, **"No. First I have to know who the person is."**

He needed to understand the man's background, his circumstances, what was really happening in his home and what kind of question he was bringing. Then he could think about the appropriate **psak**.

He sometimes told me, **"Give me an hour or two. I want to think about it."**

That wasn't because he couldn't answer quickly. It was because he respected both **the Torah** and **the human being** enough not to rush.

Now, I am not saying halachah is simply subjective or that the rules change according to preference. I'm saying that applying halachah responsibly requires knowing the relevant facts and circumstances of the individual.

He had Torah, middos, ahavas Yisrael and a beautiful smile. He cared about people of every age and background.

Whether he was speaking to an elderly talmid chacham or a very young boy in school, he treated the person in front of him as **a child of Hashem, created b'tzelem Elokim**.

And that is why his impact has lasted.

### His Children Are Keeping His Torah Alive

Baruch Hashem, my brother is no longer with us physically, but his Torah continues through his talmidim, his sefarim and his children.

I am so impressed by the amount of effort his children have put into preserving and publishing his Torah.

It is not merely a matter of putting a book on a shelf. They are working to ensure that other people can continue **learning from him**.

When a child helps bring out his father's Torah, he is doing something precious both for his own neshamah and for the memory of the father.

And I want to encourage everyone here: **learn his sefarim. Listen to his shiurim. Share his Torah with someone else.**

If you want to keep your Rebbe alive within you, take the Torah he taught and make it part of your life.

## Why Couldn't Yaakov Forget Yosef?

There is a thought I mentioned last year, and I want to repeat it because it is so appropriate tonight.

When **Yosef disappeared**, Yaakov Avinu mourned for many years. Chazal discuss how **ruach hakodesh** departed from him during that period, because the state of mourning affected his simchah.

Now here's a tremendous question.

Yaakov Avinu had extraordinary emunah and bitachon. Why couldn't he say, "Everything the Ribbono Shel Olam does is for the good," and find a way to return to joy?

After all, the loss of his simchah and ruach hakodesh was also a loss to the other Shevatim and to Klal Yisrael.

And don't we find that Hashem gives a person a certain capacity for **shikchah**, for gradually adjusting to a painful personal loss? Chazal say of someone believed to have died that a decree exists for a deceased person to be forgotten from the heart, and Rashi discusses why this did not apply in the same way to Yosef (Rashi to **Bereishis 37:35**).

So what was different about Yaakov Avinu?

I saw a thought attributed to **Rav Moshe Sternbuch**, shlita, which offers a powerful distinction.

He explains that **a private loss** and **a loss to all of Klal Yisrael** are not identical.

When an individual loses someone he loves, Hashem may gradually give him the ability to live with the loss and continue. But when the community loses someone whose Torah and influence are irreplaceable, the absence remains a communal loss.

Perhaps Yaakov understood that losing Yosef meant losing a unique **Yosef for Klal Yisrael**, the talmid who had received and embodied so much of Yaakov's Torah.

The exact published source for this attribution needs verification, but the lesson as I heard it is profound.

It was not merely **my loss**. It was the loss of a person needed by a whole generation.

And that is how I think about my brother.

We did not merely lose a brother or an individual Rebbe. **Klal Yisrael lost a source of Torah and warmth**.

## Rav Avraham Walkin — A Rebbe Whose Loss Remains With the Klal

The thought attributed to Rav Moshe Sternbuch is that a communal loss remains a different kind of loss.

Yaakov Avinu was not mourning only what **he personally** had lost. He was mourning the Yosef that **Klal Yisrael** had lost—Yosef, the talmid who absorbed Yaakov's Torah and would carry it to the next generation.

When a community loses a Rebbe who inspired so many people, the passage of time doesn't simply erase what is missing.

That's how I see my brother.

Ask one talmid what made him special, and he'll tell you about the Rav's **chesed**. Ask another, and he'll tell you about the **smile**. Ask a third, and he'll tell you about the **jokes** and the way learning became enjoyable. Another remembers how my brother cried with someone in difficulty, or how he gave a clear answer in a complicated halachic question.

Each talmid found something different because my brother was not a one-dimensional person.

He had **Torah, avodah, middos and rachmanus**. He gave different people what they needed.

So we have an obligation to keep learning his Torah and telling those stories. The Haggadah, the sefarim on Hilchos Niddah, the other writings the family has prepared—these are not merely memorial objects. They are a way for his Torah to remain active.

**Buy the sefarim. Learn them. Give them to another Yid. Let the Torah continue.**

May my brother's memory be a brachah, and may the Torah and middos that he lived continue through all of us.

Thank you very much.

## Master of Ceremonies — Two Qualities We Can Carry Forward

Thank you, **Rav Avraham**, for those words.

And I want to remind the olam that Rav Avraham gives a weekly chaburah here, full of enthusiasm and Torah. Please take advantage of it.

I want to speak about **two qualities** of our Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Aharon Walkin, zatzal. Both connect with this time of year, approaching Pesach.

The first is **the value of time**.

The Rav would not waste time. I remember coming to him about a meeting. I would say, "Rebbe, we need you at this meeting."

And he would ask, **"How long do I need to be there? Do I need to be present for the whole meeting? Can I come for a short time?"**

Not because he didn't care about us. He cared tremendously. But he knew every minute was precious, and whenever he could he wanted to be **sitting and learning Torah**.

Think about Pesach. One of the practical differences between **chametz and matzah** is time—how the dough is handled and how long one waits. A little additional time can change the halachic status in the proper circumstances.

And look at **Sefer Vayikra**, with its parshiyos of korbanos.

Chazal teach that one says **"קרבן לה'"**—a korban to Hashem—rather than placing the Divine Name first, lest one utter the Name and fail to complete the expression. This appears in **Nedarim 10b**, where the language of a korban is discussed.

What do we see? **Even a moment matters.** We are careful about every word and every fraction of an act.

So when I think about the Rosh Yeshiva, I think about a person who appreciated the tremendous value of each minute.

### Every Moment Is an Opportunity to Grow

A Yid cannot simply remain in the same place spiritually year after year.

We need to be **bnei aliyah**, people who are moving upward.

Think about a **shniyah**, a second. The sound reminds us of **shinui**, change. A **chodesh** makes us think of **chadash**, renewal. And a **shanah**, a year, can also suggest change and repetition.

I'm bringing these as remazim, not formal linguistic derivations. The idea is that every second, month and year should become an opportunity for us to grow.

You know the experience of trying to walk **up a downward escalator**? If you stand still, you'll be carried backward. You have to keep going.

That's a picture of our avodas Hashem.

I heard a comment from the Rav's family that he always wanted to keep a steady pace in Torah and mitzvos. He was not satisfied with saying, "I've done enough."

And there are famous stories about great gedolim who guarded their time, including an anecdote told about the **Chofetz Chaim** and even the moments spent tying shoelaces. [The shoelace account is an oral anecdote; its historical accuracy and exact details require verification.]

The lesson is not to copy somebody's footwear. The lesson is to appreciate **the value of time**.

Because if you lose a minute, you cannot get it back.

## Master of Ceremonies — Use Your Time for Torah

**Rav Noach Weinberg**, the Rosh Yeshiva of Aish HaTorah, would give a memorable mashal.

Imagine someone riding a bus and throwing **five-dollar bills** out the window. You would immediately ask, "Where is this bus? Let me come pick up the money!"

But Rav Noach would say that he sees people doing essentially the same thing every day: sitting on the bus and letting their hours disappear, without using their time for anything worthwhile.

Time is more precious than money because money can sometimes be earned again, but an hour that passed will never return.

Now think about the Rosh Yeshiva. How carefully he guarded his hours! How much he learned! How he tried to make every minute count!

I want us to make a **kabbalah**, bli neder. Take a small sefer and learn it every day. Ten minutes here, fifteen minutes there. Another page, another Mishnah, another piece of Torah.

You know the famous story of **Rabbi Akiva** and water gradually wearing away a stone. Drop after drop has an effect, and Torah learned little by little can transform a person.

So the first quality I want us to learn from Rav Walkin is **not to waste our time**.

## Second Quality: The Importance of Actual Limud HaTorah

The second quality is his extraordinary **chashivus for learning Torah**.

At Chazak, Baruch Hashem, things began with a parashah sheet, and then shiurim were circulated to many shuls and communities. Wonderful programs developed, and thousands of people were inspired.

But Rav Walkin said: **We need serious learning.**

It's beautiful to hear a lecture or a divrei Torah, but a person has to take the next step. He needs a **beis midrash**, a sefer open before him, and ideally a chavrusa. He needs to build a life of learning.

There had been a beis midrash and kollel effort over the years, but at one period the program was interrupted by difficult family circumstances. Later, through Chazak, we were able to strengthen and continue the beis midrash and kollel.

What did the Rosh Yeshiva want? That people should not merely be inspired for the moment. **He wanted them to learn and to become bnei Torah**.

And Baruch Hashem, his children are doing an extraordinary job preserving his Torah in books.

They have published material on Sefer Bereishis, **Shaar HaYissurim**, Hilchos Niddah, and now a **Haggadah Shel Pesach**. I'm mentioning the works as they are described at this memorial; exact editions and publication dates should be checked against the books themselves.

It's very moving to see how much the family has done.

But I want to tell the olam: **don't just read and close the book**.

Share it!

If you meet a friend or neighbor, you can talk about the weather, the news, the latest restaurant or what a politician said. Fine. But what about talking about **Torah**?

**"עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה"** (Mishlei 3:18)—it is a tree of life to those who grasp it.

Take a vort you learned and give it to another person. Share the sefer. Bring somebody into the beis midrash.

So I want to suggest two kabbalos.

First, **guard your time**. Each day, do something meaningful with it.

Second, **increase your actual limud HaTorah**. Don't be satisfied merely with hearing that learning is important. Sit down and learn.

And after the speeches this evening, we will have a **learning program** here, because we felt that was exactly what the Rosh Yeshiva would have wanted us to do.

## Introduction of a Talmid-Speaker

It is now my honor to invite one of the Rav's close talmidim, a rav who grew in his Torah.

The name of the speaker is transcribed at the introduction as something like **Rav Baruch Zavelunov**, but a later introduction calls the outgoing speaker **Rav Raphael**. [Editorial: the exact identity/name requires checking against the audio or event program; do not treat either uncertain transcription as definitively established.]

We welcome him to share divrei chizuk.

## A Close Talmid — The Rebbe Who Gives a Talmid Independence

Erev tov, rabosai. Chodesh tov.

It's interesting that I walked in while the previous speaker was discussing the importance of time, and I came a little later than I should have!

I've been thinking for days about what to say tonight. I spent important, formative years learning with **Rav Aharon Walkin**. Those were years in which he helped shape my personality and set me on a path that I am still walking today.

I was speaking with another talmid recently, and he mentioned a story about a Rebbe and a student who followed him everywhere—turn right, the talmid turns right; turn left, he turns left.

At a certain point the Rebbe turned to him and said: a Rebbe should be like a **father**. And what does a successful father hope to accomplish?

He doesn't want his son to remain permanently dependent on him. He wants to give his son the **tools, maturity and guidance** to make good decisions even when his father isn't standing next to him.

The Torah calls talmidim **banim**, as Chazal expound **"ושננתם לבניך"** (Devarim 6:7): **"אלו תלמידיך"**—these are your students (Sifrei Devarim, Va'eschanan).

A good Rebbe is therefore not trying to produce a person who can only repeat his words. He wants to raise a talmid who can live by Torah **independently and responsibly**.

That's what Rav Walkin did for me, and what he did for so many others.

Let me share something I found today in the teachings of **Rav Yitzchak Hutner**, which brought this point to life.

## The Close Talmid — A Father's Greatest Kindness

I mentioned the example of a Rebbe who guides his talmid until he is capable of continuing on his own.

I think that's exactly what Rav Walkin did.

Recently I came across a maamar of **Rav Yitzchak Hutner** in his writings on Yetzias Mitzrayim. He brings a thought about the relationship between the Ribbono Shel Olam and mankind, and it beautifully expresses this idea.

But first, let me explain the connection.

A father wants to raise a child who will eventually be able to make the right choices without having someone beside him at every moment. The father provides the education, the guidance and the tools, but the goal is to help the young person become strong and independent.

That is a much greater gift than keeping him permanently dependent.

And that was Rav Walkin's chesed to me. He didn't merely answer a question on a particular day. He taught me **how to think about a question**, how to understand a situation, and how to respond according to Torah.

I was still able to carry that guidance after we were no longer learning together every day.

## Twenty-Six Generations of Chesed

Rav Hutner begins with **Tehillim 136**, which we say in the praises of Shabbos.

Again and again the mizmor repeats:

**"כי לעולם חסדו."**

For His kindness endures forever.

How many times? **Twenty-six** times.

The Gemara explains in **Pesachim 118a** that this relates to **twenty-six generations** which existed before the Torah was given. Throughout that time, the Ribbono Shel Olam sustained the world through His chesed.

Chazal express it as:

**"שזן הקדוש ברוך הוא את עולמו בחסדו."**

Hashem sustained His world through His kindness.

There were certainly great people in those generations—Adam HaRishon, Noach, Avraham Avinu and others. But the world as a whole had not yet received the Torah, and Chazal describe its existence as sustained through this unique measure of chesed.

Now what changed after Matan Torah?

The world had been given a means to take part in its own spiritual purpose through **Torah and mitzvos**.

And Rav Hutner asks a remarkable question.

Does that mean Hashem became **less kind** after the Torah was given? Beforehand He provided everything without any work on our part, and now He asks us to fulfill mitzvos?

That can't be right.

Perhaps the very opposite is true. **Giving us Torah is a higher form of chesed**.

### Giving a Check or Giving a Person the Ability to Work?

Let me give you a mashal.

You have a friend who lost his job and is struggling to support his family. He comes to you for help.

One person gives him a check every month. Baruch Hashem, that's a wonderful chesed.

But another person finds him **a job**, helps him develop a skill, or gives him the opportunity to support himself.

Which is the greater chesed?

You might think the first person has done more. He spent more money. Every month he sacrifices something from his own account.

But the second person has given his friend something extraordinary: **the ability to stand on his own feet**.

The **Rambam, Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 10:7**, identifies the highest level of tzedakah as strengthening someone until he need not rely on others, whether through work, partnership, a loan or another form of meaningful help.

His words are:

**"מעלה גדולה שאין למעלה ממנה ... או ממציא לו מלאכה כדי לחזק את ידו עד שלא יצטרך לבריות לשאל."**

The highest level is to help a person obtain work, thereby strengthening him until he no longer needs to ask others for support.

Now do you see?

If I give a person money forever, I may keep him alive, but he remains dependent.

If I give him the ability to sustain himself, I have given him an even greater chesed.

Rav Hutner says this is a way to appreciate the **giving of the Torah**.

Before Matan Torah, the world existed by a kind of free gift. After Matan Torah, Hashem gave mankind the ability to take part in the purpose of creation through **its own choices and efforts**.

Of course everything still depends on the Ribbono Shel Olam. We still rely on Him for life, strength, sefarim, rabbanim, beis midrash and everything else.

But Hashem also gives us a role. We can choose Torah. We can fight our yetzer hara. We can create zechuyos through our actions.

That is an even greater chesed.

And as I read these words, I thought immediately of Rav Walkin.

He could have spent all his time giving us answers. Instead, he gave us **the tools to become bnei Torah ourselves**.

## A Close Talmid — The Rebbe Who Makes His Students Independent

Now I want you to see how the mashal of Rav Hutner relates to a Rebbe and his talmidim.

The Ribbono Shel Olam could have sustained the world forever while asking nothing of us, but instead He gave us Torah and the ability to become active participants in our own spiritual growth.

A great Rebbe does something similar.

He does not want the student to remain a child who must always be told, "Turn right, turn left." He gives him the **tools to think**, to recognize what is important, to make choices, and to become a ben Torah.

This is what Rav Walkin did for me.

I was a young avreich, at a formative stage of life. I had questions, difficulties and many things that I didn't know how to navigate. In those years, the Rav helped form the person I would become.

And now, Baruch Hashem, I am able to continue on that path—even without the opportunity to ask him every day.

That is his tremendous chesed.

## "Ki L'Olam Chasdo" — A Higher Kind of Gift

Rav Hutner explains that before Matan Torah, when the world was sustained primarily by Hashem's free kindness, that was already a tremendous chesed.

But giving us the Torah made us able to work toward our purpose. In that sense Hashem's gift became **greater**, not smaller.

A father who raises a child to stand independently is giving him a greater gift than one who keeps him dependent forever.

And the same is true of a Rebbe.

Think how many talmidim of Rav Walkin today have become **rabbanim, teachers, leaders of communities and people who influence others**.

He didn't simply keep them attached to him. He invested in them until they could go out into the world and carry Torah with them.

I won't pretend that I called him every day. In fact, I wish I had stayed in touch more often. I would see him at different times, call him around the Yamim Tovim, or stop into the beis midrash, and I would say to myself, "I should do this more often."

But what he invested in me in those years remained.

He taught us not only answers but a **derech of understanding questions**.

And it brings me to a thought I remember him discussing concerning **Rabbi Eliezer**.

## Rabbi Eliezer: Never Saying What He Had Not Heard

Chazal tell us about **Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol**:

**"מימי לא אמרתי דבר שלא שמעתי מפי רבי."**

I never said something I had not heard from my teacher.

That appears in **Sukkah 28a**, among the statements about Rabbi Eliezer and the transmission of Torah.

At first it sounds as if Rabbi Eliezer simply repeated what his Rebbe said. Like a tape recorder: he hears A and says A; hears B and says B. If he did not hear C, he will not say C.

But then we encounter accounts of Rabbi Eliezer teaching astonishing **chidushim**, words that no one had heard before, while his teachers took pride in his Torah.

How can both be true?

I remember Rav Walkin developing a beautiful explanation. The source for the particular original maamar or article in which he wrote it needs to be located, but the idea as I remember it was this:

Rabbi Eliezer did not merely memorize his Rebbe's words. He absorbed **his Rebbe's derech hachashavah**—the way his Rebbe understood Torah.

So when he came across a new question, he could think: **How would my Rebbe approach this? What principles would guide him? How would he analyze the situation?**

Sometimes he had never heard this particular case from his teacher. But he was capable of developing a new conclusion from the Rebbe's way of thinking.

That isn't mere copying. That's true **kabbalas haTorah** from a Rebbe.

He did not invent an unrelated new derech that departed from his teachers; he developed Torah within the framework they had given him.

And that's why this is so powerful as a description of our Rebbe.

## The Influence That Lasts a Lifetime

Some people learned with Rav Walkin for two years. Others for three or ten or more. But those years do not simply disappear.

A person might live seventy, eighty or ninety years and have many teachers and experiences. Still, the influence of a formative Rebbe can shape him for his entire life.

We remember **the way he reacted** to a problem.

We remember whether he was firm or gentle, how he spoke to a person, how he gave respect to a baal habayis or a yeshivah bachur, and what he considered important.

Those memories become part of our own judgment.

We are all different people, with different situations and personalities, but you can often recognize the influence of Rav Walkin in someone who had a close relationship with him.

That's what it means for a Rebbe to be a **father**. He gives his talmidim a framework they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

## A Close Talmid — Even Seeing a Tzaddik Changes You

You know, over the years we all move into different stages of life. We become older. We become rabbanim, fathers, teachers or businessmen. We meet new people, face new situations and make decisions that didn't even arise when we were sitting in yeshivah.

But the question remains: **How would my Rebbe have looked at this?**

That is what it means to have a lifelong influence.

I remember the Rav speaking about the story of **Og** and **Avraham Avinu**.

There are Midrashic teachings that connect Og's name with the **ugos**, the cakes or matzos that Avraham was preparing when the news came concerning Lot. The exact source and derivation require checking.

Rav Walkin raised a wonderful question.

Someone walks into a house and sees a man baking. Why should that become his **name**?

Imagine a person walks into my house and sees me washing the walls. Do we call him "Walls" forever because that's what happened to be going on when he arrived?

That doesn't make any sense.

The Rav suggested that the point is **the impression left by seeing Avraham Avinu**.

If you had seen the extraordinary kedushah with which Avraham performed an everyday mitzvah, it could have changed you for life. Even a person like Og might have been affected by what he witnessed.

And afterward people could say: **That is the man who saw Avraham Avinu baking matzos.** That event marked him.

Now think of the people who saw **Rav Walkin**.

Those who learned with him, those who watched him speak to others, those who saw his ahavas Yisrael and his complete absorption in Torah—**they didn't leave unchanged**.

Even if the contact was limited in time, the impression could remain for years.

## His Torah Was Alive

I remember the Rav giving a Chumash shiur. People would come in, sometimes interrupt him in the middle of a point. He would respond with a joke, tease someone affectionately and continue the sugya.

It wasn't simply a lecture. It was an experience of seeing **Torah being lived**.

Of course we wish he had been with us much longer. We could have learned so much more and seen him influence so many more people.

But we cannot allow what we did receive to be covered over by the passing of time.

I want the community to remember one thing above all: **limud haTorah was at the center of his life**.

Not merely beautiful speeches. Not only videos. Not only a parashah sheet—wonderful as those things are.

**Actual learning with a chavrusa in the beis midrash.**

### You Cannot Become a Ben Torah by Reading a List of Steps

Someone in the beis midrash recently asked me a very sincere question.

He said, **"Tell me how to become a ben Torah. Give me ten steps. Which book should I read? What exactly should I do?"**

I understood what he was asking. He really wanted to grow.

But I told him that becoming a ben Torah isn't merely a matter of reading a list or watching a video.

A person needs to be **in the environment of Torah**. He needs to sit near talmidim and rabbanim, hear questions being discussed, learn with a chavrusa, struggle through a Gemara and discover how Torah shapes a person's entire way of thinking.

Books and videos can help. But they are not a complete substitute for **real limud** and **shimush**.

That was a legacy of Rav Walkin.

He wanted people to become **learners**, not simply consumers of inspiration.

### Hang Your Problems on the Doorknob

I remember him saying something so often that I'm sure many of you remember it too.

When you come into the beis midrash, **hang your problems on the doorknob**.

Don't worry, he would say. When you finish learning, **the problems will still be there. Nobody is going to steal them**!

So leave them outside for an hour or two. Open the Gemara. Become absorbed in Torah.

He understood that the act of learning changes a person. It gives him new perspective, a different inner world, a deeper connection to the Ribbono Shel Olam.

And that is what we have to continue.

The more time passes, the more I realize how much I miss having somebody like Rav Walkin to ask, **"Rebbe, what do you think? How would you handle this?"**

But the guidance he gave us is still inside us.

May we continue learning and applying what he taught, and may his talmidim and their talmidim increase.

Yehi zichro baruch.

## Master of Ceremonies — Introducing Another Talmid

Shkoyach.

Our previous speaker represented one of the earlier groups of avreichim connected with the Rav. Now we will hear from **Rav Tomer Zino**, shlita, representing another generation of talmidim.

Please welcome him.

## Rav Tomer Zino — A Talmid Chacham Who Lived Above His Own Needs

Chazak u'baruch, rabosai.

I want to speak about what it meant to be near **Rav Aharon Walkin**, zichrono livrachah, and to be a talmid in his beis midrash.

The Gemara in **Shabbos 114a** discusses the qualities of a talmid chacham, including how his integrity and conduct can make him recognizable as a person worthy of trust.

There is a sugya concerning returning a lost object to a talmid chacham based on **tevi'us ayin**, recognition without the ordinary identifying simanim, and Chazal discuss the distinctive conduct of a genuine talmid chacham. [The speaker brings several Gemara criteria together; the exact connection of each quoted expression to the daf requires separate textual checking.]

One of the ideals associated with a talmid chacham is being occupied with **cheftzei Shamayim**—the things that matter to the Ribbono Shel Olam—rather than allowing worldly concerns to dominate one's life.

And that was what we saw in Rav Walkin.

He would spend nights learning Torah, davening for people, remembering names of people who needed a refuah or a yeshuah, and then continuing to learn.

He seemed almost beyond ordinary human limits in how much he would do for other people.

I'm speaking about how he appeared to his talmidim, not claiming that he had no need for sleep or that exhaustion ceased to apply to him. We watched him give extraordinary effort, and it made us want to do more.

## His Personal Warmth Transformed the Beis Midrash

I was privileged to learn with him for several years, but the influence feels far greater than the number of years.

When I came to the kollel, I had just gotten married. I was facing a period of adjustment and difficulty. I had a great deal to learn—not only Gemara and halachah, but how to deal with people.

I tended to be more rigid. I could read in the sefarim about **anavah**, about yielding to another person, about remaining silent when insulted. But reading the words and knowing how to live them are two entirely different things.

Then I met Rav Walkin.

He demonstrated those middos in the way he treated everybody.

Somebody would walk through the door of the beis midrash, and the Rav would greet him with a warm **"Shalom aleichem!"**

It didn't seem like a big act. But that greeting could make the person feel that he belonged.

The man might come back the next day, and the next day, and eventually become a regular learner in the beis midrash—all because **someone welcomed him warmly**.

That was his genius.

He knew how to make learning serious and demanding without making it cold.

We were learning difficult sugyos, high-level Torah, and he would suddenly make a joke or an unexpected comment. He would ask, **"How are you? How's everything at home? Is everything okay?"**

He spoke to us like family.

The beis midrash came alive. We wanted to be there. We looked forward to the learning and to the warmth.

And I began to understand what **bein adam lachaveiro** really meant.

Not simply knowing that a person should be kind, but being the sort of person who **makes another Yid feel that he matters**.

### Don't Judge Another Person When You Don't Know His Life

The Rav would tell us something very sharp about speaking about other people.

He would ask, **"Can you stand in that person's shoes? Do you know what is going on inside his head?"**

You don't even fully understand what is going on inside your own mind. So how can you be certain that you understand everything about another person and judge his actions?

It's very easy to criticize someone whose circumstances we don't know.

Rav Walkin wanted us to have **humility**, to think before speaking, and to remember that a person may be carrying struggles we haven't seen.

He used to tell us to be **normal**—to act like a human being, to have proper middos, and not to turn every small matter into a complicated issue.

And he repeated the same advice:

**"Just learn. Everything will work out."**

He wanted our first response to life's difficulties to be a deeper connection to Torah.

That doesn't mean ignoring genuine problems or refusing necessary practical help. His message was that **limud HaTorah gives a person the strength and framework** to meet life's difficulties.

And that is what we experienced from him.

## Rav Tomer Zino — "Just Learn, and Everything Will Work Out"

The Rav made us feel that the beis midrash was a place where we could grow, where we were valued, and where Torah could change our lives.

I remember him saying, **"Just learn, and the Ribbono Shel Olam will take care of the rest."**

He was not telling us to avoid responsibility. He was teaching us to make **Torah** the foundation of our lives, the source from which we draw the strength to deal with our responsibilities.

He would also tell a famous story about **Rav Shmuel Berenbaum**, zichrono livrachah.

A woman came with tremendous tzaros and asked for a brachah. Rav Berenbaum, who had spent his life immersed in learning, turned toward the Torah he had learned—the teachings of **Abaye and Rava**—and expressed the hope that the zechus of those years of devoted study should stand in her favor.

The story is reported here as a teaching that Rav Walkin repeated. The exact wording and independent historical source need verification.

But what a message! **Torah is not only information.** A person who dedicates his life to learning develops a relationship with the Ribbono Shel Olam, and that Torah becomes a source of chizuk and zechus.

That's what the Rav wanted us to appreciate.

He fed the community spiritually. He made people want to come day after day and open a Gemara.

And each of us must learn to carry that **joy in Torah** into our own lives and give it to others.

## The Rav's Extraordinary Breadth in Halachah

The Gemara also discusses the standards by which one recognizes a **talmid chacham**. One expression refers to being able to answer a question from any area of learning, even **Maseches Kallah**, a relatively small and less commonly studied tractate.

That is how I think about Rav Walkin.

We would ask him about all kinds of she'eilos—things we had just seen or things no one had expected to discuss that day—and he would know where to begin.

If somebody asked about an unusual halachic subject, he would open the **Shulchan Aruch** and show us the relevant places. There were conversations about clothing and shatnez and all kinds of practical details.

And even though he came from an Ashkenazic yeshivah background, he learned the halachos relevant to the **Sefardic** community with such care. He knew the writings of Rav Ovadia Yosef and the later Sefardic poskim, and he wanted to guide people according to the relevant halachic traditions.

He was a person who **lived and breathed Torah**.

Reading stories about gedolim is inspiring. But there's something entirely different about seeing a talmid chacham living in front of you, joking, caring for a person, learning intensely, and answering questions with such sensitivity.

You discover that a real person can be all of those things at once.

## Cleaving to Hashem Through His Talmidei Chachamim

The Torah commands **"ולדבקה בו"**—to cleave to Hashem (Devarim 11:22 and related verses).

Chazal ask how a physical human being can cleave to the Shechinah and explain the importance of attaching oneself to **talmidei chachamim**, supporting them and learning from them (**Kesubos 111b**).

What if a person could actually **learn with a talmid chacham**?

What an opportunity!

Chazal also teach **"גדולה שמושה של תורה יותר מלמודה"**—service of Torah scholars is greater than merely studying their words (**Berachos 7b**).

Why?

Because when you're near a great person, you don't only learn **what he says**. You see **how he lives**.

You see his patience, his middos, his response to difficulty, his conduct toward somebody who insults him, and his love for another Yid.

That is shimush.

And we had the zechus to experience something of that with Rav Walkin.

### A Living Sefer Torah

Chazal speak sharply about someone who stands for a **Sefer Torah** but fails to show proper respect for a **gavra rabba**, a great Torah scholar (see **Makkos 22b**).

A great talmid chacham embodies Torah in a living human being.

That is what our Rebbe was for us.

He was normal, warm, and funny, but also a gaon in Torah, a man who cared about the community and gave himself over to the needs of others.

His life showed us that these qualities belong together.

So our avodah is to keep the Torah alive, to share what we learned from him, and to influence more people.

Yehi zichro baruch. May his talmidim and their talmidim continue his derech and bring more Torah to Klal Yisrael.

## A New Speaker — Remembering the Rosh Yeshiva Before Pesach

[The previous speaker concludes. The next speaker begins, but his name is not clearly announced in the supplied transcription.]

Morai v'rabosai, it's very hard to believe that three years have passed since the tragic petirah of **Rav Aharon Walkin**, zatzal.

We still feel his fire, his energy, and his Torah. Baruch Hashem, new sefarim are being published and his shiurim remain available. But we miss that extraordinary personality and the warmth of his presence.

And look at the room tonight. We're sitting together, many people gathered.

Three years ago, at this time, the world was very different. So many people were **locked down** because of the pandemic. Many couldn't attend minyanim or celebrate Pesach in the usual way.

Baruch Hashem, today we can come together to learn Torah and remember our Rebbe.

That itself is a reason for hakaras hatov.

I want to share a thought about the **Haggadah Shel Pesach** and connect it to what we learned from Rav Walkin.

## The Final Speaker — Why Does the Haggadah Tell Us About Five Sages?

The Haggadah tells us:

**"מעשה ברבי אליעזר ורבי יהושע ורבי אלעזר בן עזריה ורבי עקיבא ורבי טרפון שהיו מסבין בבני ברק."**

Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon were reclining together in Bnei Brak.

They spent the entire night telling over the story of **Yetzias Mitzrayim**, so deeply involved in the mitzvah that their talmidim came in and said:

**"רבותינו, הגיע זמן קריאת שמע של שחרית."**

Our teachers, the time for the morning Shema has arrived.

Now I have a simple kashya.

Throughout the generations, surely many great talmidei chachamim stayed awake all night on Pesach learning Torah, discussing the nissim of Yetzias Mitzrayim, and telling over the Haggadah.

So why does the Haggadah make such a special point of telling us about **these five rabbanim**?

There are many answers. I want to share one that I believe captures something about the atmosphere Rav Walkin created in his shiurim.

## Five Backgrounds, One Commitment to Torah

Look at the variety represented by those five great sages.

**Rabbi Eliezer** had a remarkable journey into Torah, and the later traditions concerning Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus describe his coming to learn despite resistance and despite having grown up in a very different kind of environment.

**Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananiah** lived with great poverty. The Gemara describes **blackened walls** in his home, evidence of his work and difficult material circumstances.

**Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah** became a leader of the beis midrash at a remarkably young age; the familiar account tells us how his beard turned white when he was **eighteen**.

**Rabbi Akiva** began his major path in Torah at the age of **forty**, after an earlier life far removed from his later scholarship.

And **Rabbi Tarfon** was a man of substantial means, yet devoted himself to Torah and chesed.

The speaker relates additional details about inheritance, family backgrounds, precise ages and wealth. Some of those details in the oral telling appear mixed with other traditions or are unverified; they should not be published as proven historical facts without checking the original sources.

But the fundamental point of the *derush* is clear.

These sages didn't all come from identical backgrounds. They came to Torah through different routes and different circumstances.

Some had wealth; some had poverty. Some began early, and some faced years of difficulty before reaching their full greatness.

Yet there they were, sitting together in **Bnei Brak**, speaking about Yetzias Mitzrayim until the morning.

Do you understand?

**There is no single background from which a ben Torah must come.**

A person says, "I'm too old to begin." Look at Rabbi Akiva.

Another says, "I don't have the money or the circumstances to learn." Look at Rabbi Yehoshua.

Another says, "I have a business, too many responsibilities." Look at the sages who combined other responsibilities with greatness in Torah.

We all have explanations for why we cannot grow. Some are real difficulties, and we should respect them. But we must not let difficulty become a permanent excuse for refusing to begin.

Rav Walkin understood this.

### Every Kind of Yid Belonged in His Shiur

His shiurim included people from so many backgrounds.

Some had learned in yeshivah their whole lives. Others had gone to **public school** and were just beginning to learn seriously.

Some were wealthy businessmen. Others were struggling financially. There were doctors, diamond dealers, people of all kinds and all levels.

And somehow the Rav spoke to all of them in **one shiur**.

He didn't simply lower the Torah to the lowest common denominator, nor did he make people feel that they were not worthy to understand.

He brought everyone into the discussion.

That was part of his greatness. People could sit together, open the Torah and feel that this is **my Torah too**.

A person might say, "Rebbe, I'm too busy."

The Rav would challenge him to make time.

Someone else might say, "I don't have a yeshivah background."

The Rav would welcome him and help him begin.

He didn't let people abandon the possibility of greatness because of the life they had lived until now.

That's the lesson I see in the five rabbanim of the Haggadah. Different life stories, one night spent in Torah.

So I want to urge everyone here: **come and learn**. Take advantage of the learning programs in the community. Don't look for excuses. Look for opportunities.

That's the kind of Torah atmosphere Rav Walkin created, and it is something we can continue.

## The Five Sages — Every Person Can Grow in Torah

Look again at the five rabbanim in Bnei Brak.

They were all great talmidei chachamim, yet their backgrounds were not the same.

One came from a wealthy family. Another knew poverty. One became a leader very young. One entered the beis midrash in earnest only after many years. Another had substantial resources and could have devoted himself to other pursuits.

But they were united by one thing: **a commitment to Torah and avodas Hashem**.

Now imagine each of them using his background as an excuse.

The wealthy man says, "I have too many business responsibilities."

The poor man says, "I can't concentrate on Torah because I have no money."

The older beginner says, "I missed my opportunity years ago."

The young man says, "I'm too young to have a serious voice in Torah."

Each of them could have found a reason not to grow.

But these great sages showed that **the path of Torah is open to people in very different circumstances**.

I see the same thing in the atmosphere that Rav Aharon Walkin created.

He had talmidim who had grown up in yeshivos and talmidim who had never attended a traditional yeshivah. Some had advanced learning; others were just beginning to recognize the letters of the Gemara. They came with different levels of knowledge, different lives and different difficulties.

Yet he had the ability to speak to them **all at once**.

He made everybody feel that Torah belonged to them.

And he would not allow a person to dismiss his ability to grow merely because of his past.

You might have a business. You might be poor. You might have learned very little until today. But the question is: **what can you begin doing now?**

Of course different people have real obligations and needs. We are not saying that every person can learn the same hours or is equally situated. We are saying that each person can take a step toward Torah within his own life.

This gathering should be a reminder of that.

In the beis midrash programs here, on different days and different times, people are creating those opportunities. Come learn. Bring a friend. Start with what you can.

And if we want to preserve Rav Walkin's legacy, we should not stop with praising his remarkable life. **We should become greater learners ourselves**.

## "Harei Ani K'Ben Shivim Shanah"

Now I want to share one more thought from the Haggadah.

Immediately after the story of the five rabbanim, the Haggadah quotes **Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah**:

**"הרי אני כבן שבעים שנה ולא זכיתי שתאמר יציאת מצרים בלילות עד שדרשה בן זומא."**

Behold, I am like a man of seventy years, and I did not merit to establish the mention of Yetzias Mitzrayim at night until Ben Zoma expounded it.

This is also found in **Mishnah Berachos 1:5**.

The Haggadah discusses the obligation to mention **Yetzias Mitzrayim** in both the morning and evening.

Now, why does Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah make such a dramatic announcement?

He could have simply said, "I learned an important din: we mention Yetzias Mitzrayim at night."

Why introduce it with **"Harei ani k'ben shivim shanah"**?

And by the way, he was not saying that he had already lived seventy years. Chazal tell us how his beard became white when he was appointed to leadership at a young age, so he appeared older.

What is the connection between the dramatic personal introduction and the halachah he is about to discuss?

There are many answers. I want to share one that brings the topic back to **emunah**.

But first, notice something about our **Kriyas Shema**.

We recite Shema morning and evening. The third parashah, the parashah of **tzitzis**, concludes with the remembrance of Yetzias Mitzrayim:

**"אני ה' אלקיכם אשר הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים להיות לכם לאלקים."** (Bamidbar 15:41)

I am Hashem your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your G-d.

Just a few words, but look at what they contain.

The entire story of the nissim in Mitzrayim teaches us about Hashem's rule over the world.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah is asking about remembering that foundational truth **at night**, not only during the day.

And now I want to give you a very simple mashal that I think will make the point unforgettable.

## The Final Speaker — An Emunah That Must Be Renewed Twice Each Day

Rabosai, I want a volunteer. Somebody who eats breakfast in the morning!

All right, you eat breakfast. How long does it take you? Ten minutes? Fifteen minutes?

And how long does that breakfast keep you going? Three hours? Four hours? Maybe some of you can go much longer, but usually a person will need another meal.

You eat lunch. Twenty minutes, let's say. And a few hours later, you're ready for supper.

And then you eat supper, and that has to keep you going through the night.

Now why am I asking you about food when I'm speaking about **Yetzias Mitzrayim**?

Because I want to give you a mashal about **emunah**.

### "Ani Hashem Elokeichem Asher Hotzeisi Eschem"

When we say:

**"אני ה' אלקיכם אשר הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים"** (Bamidbar 15:41),

we aren't just recalling an old historical event.

We're saying that the Ribbono Shel Olam, Who took us out of Mitzrayim, **is the Master of creation**.

Think about the makkos. The Torah shows how Hashem demonstrated His power over the water, animals, the land, the weather, darkness and light, life and death.

The Nile turned to blood. Frogs came out. There were plagues affecting people, animals, and the environment. There was darkness. There was Makkas Bechoros.

Every aspect of the world became part of the revelation that **Hashem rules over creation**.

Now imagine a Yid saying the pasuk in the morning with full kavanah.

**"Ani Hashem Elokeichem asher hotzeisi eschem me'eretz Mitzrayim."**

What is he saying? Ribbono Shel Olam, You run the world.

You know my difficulties. You know the worries I have about my business, my parnassah, my health, my family, even the little frustrations of daily life.

You took Klal Yisrael out of Mitzrayim and demonstrated Your power over the entire creation.

So I want to carry that emunah into my day.

### Why We Need It Again at Night

Now I want to suggest a beautiful way to understand Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah.

Perhaps I might have thought that saying Yetzias Mitzrayim in the **morning** would sustain my emunah throughout the entire day and night.

After all, it's a powerful pasuk, a powerful reminder. Perhaps once in twenty-four hours would be enough.

But then the teaching comes that we must mention Yetzias Mitzrayim **even at night**.

Why?

Perhaps because emunah also needs to be **renewed**.

Just as breakfast nourishes a person for a certain period and then he needs another meal, so a person's awareness and confidence in Hashem can be challenged by the pressures of an ordinary day.

He leaves the beis midrash, goes into business, deals with other people, faces traffic, receives an unexpected bill, has worries about his children, and the sense of calm with which he began the morning may become weaker.

So at night he says the pasuk again.

He remembers **Yetzias Mitzrayim** again.

He recharges his spiritual batteries.

This is a *mussar derush* explaining the significance of the repeated remembrance, not a claim that it is the sole formal halachic reason for the mitzvah.

But it is something I want us to take to heart.

Just as you would not expect a small breakfast to give you enough nourishment indefinitely, you shouldn't expect yesterday's inspiration to carry you through every situation without renewed effort.

You need emunah in the morning, and you need emunah again at night.

And, of course, the body may need food at different intervals. I'm using the meal pattern as a simple mashal, not a medical rule about the number of hours that everyone must eat.

The point is that we should **take our emunah seriously**, not let the pasuk become words that pass over our lips without entering our heart.

### Hashem Is Present in the Smallest Details

When you say **"Ani Hashem Elokeichem"**, think about the world you're entering.

Hashem runs the world. I may think I'm controlling everything, but the smallest inconvenience can remind me how little is actually within my power.

Will I find a parking place? Will traffic hold me up? Will something go wrong in my business? Will the supper be too salty?

You can smile at those little examples, but they are real opportunities to remember **Who is in charge**.

Of course a person must act responsibly and make proper hishtadlus. Emunah does not mean pretending that our choices are irrelevant.

It means **living with the awareness that the Ribbono Shel Olam governs creation**, even as we fulfill our obligations within it.

And I want to tell you, this was one of the deepest qualities of Rav Walkin.

He lived with a constant sense of **the Ribbono Shel Olam**.

## The Final Speaker — Rav Walkin Lived for Torah and Chesed

Rav Aharon Walkin was a man who lived with **the Ribbono Shel Olam**.

He had a beautiful home in Lakewood, but he would spend several nights each week in **Queens**, sometimes sleeping in a tiny room, because he wanted to be with his talmidim and with the people who needed him.

He did not arrange his life only around comfort.

He arranged his life around **Torah**, around teaching, around helping another Yid, and around what he understood Hashem wanted from him.

That's the perspective we need to learn.

We spend so much of our time thinking about **olam hazeh**, about money, pleasure and everything we want to accomplish for ourselves.

I'm not telling you that money is bad. You should make a lot of money, b'ezras Hashem!

Why such a quiet Amen? What happened?

You should have parnassah b'revach and be able to take care of your family.

But don't forget what comes first.

**Torah. Chesed. Being an eved Hashem.**

And when you are frustrated, when you have a problem that doesn't seem to make sense, remember:

**"אני ה' אלקיכם אשר הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים."**

Say it with kavanah in the morning, and say it again at night.

Let it remind you that Hashem, Who brought us out of Mitzrayim, is with us today.

We need that reminder from **Shacharis to Maariv**, and from **Maariv to Shacharis**.

If we take the lesson seriously, we can live with a different perspective. We can be calmer and more grounded, with greater emunah when we face the challenges of life.

And that is something we saw in Rav Walkin: a person who made Hashem and His Torah the center of his life.

So as we mark his third yahrzeit, let us take on something practical.

**Learn more Torah. Speak words of chesed. Strengthen another Yid. Guard your time. Remember Yetzias Mitzrayim.**

Don't simply say that the Rav was a great man. **Carry forward the things that made him great.**

May all of this be an aliyah for his neshamah.

And may we be zocheh, this year, to bring the **Korban Pesach** and to be together in **Yerushalayim ir hakodesh**, with the **Beis HaMikdash**, bimheirah b'yameinu.

Amen v'amen.

[End of the memorial event as preserved in the supplied transcription. The TorahAnytime announcement that follows is distributor audio and is not included in the memorial speeches.]

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## Editorial Notes for Publication

- This event contains **several speakers**. The words are theirs, spoken *about* HaRav Aharon Walkin zt”l; they must not be published as though he delivered this shiur.
- **Rav Avraham Walkin**, brother of the niftar, is identified in the host's closing words. The precise recorded name of a close talmid in the middle of the event is inconsistent: he is introduced with a name resembling *Rav Baruch Zavelunov* but referred to afterward as *Rav Raphael*. His section has therefore been labeled only **A Close Talmid** until the speaker can be confirmed.
- **Rav Tomer Zino** is named in the introduction to his remarks. The final speaker's name is not recoverable from the supplied transcription.
- This publication edit preserves the speakers' questions, memories, stories and rhetorical emphasis. Oral anecdotes and unusual interpretations of the Haggadah are identified as such; uncertain historical details and named source attributions need review against the printed original before formal publication.