Fourth Yahrzeit Azkarah: Tributes to Rav Aharon Walkin and His Torah Legacy

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Over here, ... and we know that the reason why it's called Shabbos Hagadol, because of the nes gadol that happened in Mitzrayim, that Klal Yisroel was told to take a sheep for the Korban Pesach, and that was the avodah zarah of the Egyptians. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu made a nes gadol that the Egyptians took the avodah zarah, and the avodah zarah that then was holy and lay, and they saw the Jews taking this their avodah zarah to shecht it and to destroy it, so to say, and they couldn't do anything about it. And because of that, it was called nes gadol. So the shaila they ask, there's a lot of nisim in Yisrael. This nes is more than other nisim. I heard over b'shem Rav Shimshon Pinkus zatzal that he said that there was many nisim. There was Kriyas Yam Suf, there was asarah nisim and asarah makos in Mitzrayim. There was many, many nisim. The difficulty with this nes was that you take the avodah zarah, you take that that you hold of and you pray to, and you hold that this is the holiest thing. And they're going to take it away from you, and you can't do anything about it. And no Yid was hurt, not even a mashu. That's a tremendousness, when something that you hold very stark from, and you can't do anything about it, and you want to kill the other person, destroy the other person who is doing that which is taking away your avodah, your zechus that you hold from. That's a nes gadol. Some people call even, they say, the Kaf HaChaim, at the end of the Kaf HaChaim itself, I heard the Kaf HaChaim writes that a good Shabbos, say a good Shabbos, a good Shabbos gadol. It's a certain gedulah that Klal Yisroel reached at the time of Mitzrayim, machmas the nes and machmas everything, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the closeness to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Like we see in this parsha, parsha from Metzora, the parsha of Metzora talks about the kedushah, the kedushah from Klal Yisroel. If a person doesn't watch himself, בפרט we're talking about tumas zov or tumas keri, the person doesn't watch himself, is missing in that kedushah. So that's the difference between a Yid and a non-Yid, is the kedushah. Klal Yisroel is a... mitzvoso. We are a different kind of people. We are people with kedusha, people that full of nisim, because we're close to the Eibishter. ... we can destroy the Mitzrim, ... It's a different madreige, different. I think that is the nekudah, that Reb Elchonon was different than everybody else. He was on a different madreige. He was l'maalah mishichmo. He did what everybody did. In chavrusa he learned. He maybe knew more than everybody else knew, but there was a certain kedusha, a certain ... l'maalah mishichmo, that was. And not only kept that ... for himself, but he picked everybody else up. I was in Westgate maybe for...

Maybe ten years or so, and everything was beautiful. All of a sudden, Rabbi Wolkin comes in and moves into Westgate, and he opens up a beis medrash. And it was beautiful because he was mamish, we picked up the whole rama of the shchune, and he had a tendency to get so close to people. People became mamish mekurovim, mekurovim. I just opened up in the sefer, the new sefer. This year's is Shmois. That's the Shmois. So parshas Shmois, what the shik of a beis haknesses. The shik was a big zach for him, right? The shik was he always kissed everybody. I saw some ... over there that he kissed people even in beis medrash also. I don't know. Anyways, he got close to people and was mekarev people. He picked himself up, and he not only kept the hordim for himself, but he picked everybody else up. He was mekasher himself with everybody else, and it was so beautiful to see how he picked up the whole rama, a different madreigah, a different wavelength. This is something which is ... remember, ... in his madreigah. Lately I picked up a USB, and, you know, they're selling today, by ... medrash, somebody's selling USB on breishis, Shmois, and Vayikra. It's like over a hundred shiurim in every parsha, שאו וולקין has put together. So beautiful, you know, with a geshmak, with—he asks the regular kashas that everybody was before Shabbos, but he picks everybody up in a different madreigah. So this Shabbos is Shabbos Hagadol, to remind us of the gedulah that we'll tell us to reach at time of Mitzrayim. And this gedulah is in generation after; it keeps on going, machmas the pirsumei nisah of our generation. And definitely, Rav Wolkin was one of those gedolim that helped us out and picked us up in a different madreigah. So this Shabbos Hagadol—this Shabbos is the Yahrzeit. Which day is the Yahrzeit? What? When? Tes. Tes. Okay, very close to Yud, right before Yud. Yud is the Shabbos Hagadol. So this reminds us, the gedulah of the olam gadol, that we're coming together over here to daven here. Hashem should give us yatzer neshama to be able to shtel tzu to his madreigah and to his mahalach hachayim, the ahavas hamakom, ahavas habriyos, in a tremendous, in a tremendous oifen, very meyuchadike oifen. And Hashem should give everyone, I assume. Many of the people here are talmidim, children of talmidim. I also hold myself like a talmid. ... to try to remember the Odom Gadol in his gedulah, in his ... keit, in his ...keit. And Hashem should give everyone over here should ... to the Shmaya, to shtel tzu to his ... for a ... ... Boruch. Shost ha'olam, I have to be upfront. I was not planning on speaking, and it's not b'kavod of the Rav zatzal that I should get up and speak. ... it's not b'kavodik that I should speak without having properly prepared. But bishleima if I would have been the Rav, the Rav zatzal, it wouldn't have been an issue. There would have been no need for preparation, because the Rav was able to say on the spot anything that needed to be said, the right thing that had to be said, and how to say it. He was able to do that on the spot. I tried learning that technique. It would have taken another thousand years before I would get a little...

Of that technique, lemaisa, the rav was able to do it. I'm not able to do it. But מצד שני, I feel that if I don't share my thoughts and I don't share my heart and whatever I have inside from the rav, that also is going to be a shtickel a pegiah in the kavod, chas v'shalom. So between the two pegi'os, I'm hoping that this will be not the bigger pegiah. I hope, bezras Hashem, that ... to say the right things and to come out the right way, even without a preparation. Lahashkacha, I heard today a gevaldke vort. It's not really shayach to the parsha, not really shayach to inyanei d'yoma, but it might be shayach to the inyan that we're gathered here today, so I'll share that with the oilam. In Parshas Chayei Sarah, Parshas Vayeira really, Parshas Vayeira, we find by Sarah Imeinu that it said that on the day that she had Yitzchak Avinu, on that day there was harbei simcha ba'olam. Everybody was happy. Everybody was freilach. It was a day that mamash made your celebration. What was the big celebration? Chazal say that on that day everybody was nifkad, everybody had simchas, everybody that needed children had children, everybody who needed yeshuos, on that day had yeshuos together with Sarah Imeinu. So what's the nekudah? Was כאילו, Sarah Imenu made like some segulah in the velt. What was—and if there is such a segulah, what is the segulah? What is the inyan that Sarah Imenu brought to the velt that made it that everybody was nispa'er together with her and Avraham Avinu? I'm not sure who was the one who said this, but whoever it was that I was hearing today, he said over like this about the Rav zatzal, which I think is very much apropos to apply to the Rav zatzal, as we all know it. Is it shayach that Sarah Imenu should have a simcha when it's only her simcha? Let's take it into account. I mean, we're talking about she couldn't have children, she was akarah, she wasn't able to have children for many, many years. She's ninety years old, and finally, finally, the simcha that she was waiting for finally comes. And no, not a simcha shleimah. It's not a simcha shleimah. What's happened? Why is it not a simcha shleimah? What could be a bigger simcha? Not enough, not enough. If there's one person that's b'tzaar, one person that's not feeling simcha, then it's going to stare the simcha. It's going to stare the simcha. After all these years of not having children, and finally having a child at ninety years old, it's going to stare the simcha if one person is still b'tzaar. Everybody in this room who knew the Rav zatzal could say right here, right now. Exactly what I mean. Exactly what I'm about to say. This is mamash the Rav. This is mamash the Rav. The Rav, Baruch Hashem, was zoche to many, many simchas, many zachin. The Rav was zoche to many, many zachin, many simchas. But if another Yid is b'tzaar, then it stared his simcha. It stared his simcha. It's not—how could he be freilach? How could he be b'simcha if Yenim's b'tzaar? Nu, so what was the eitzah? The eitzah by him is to, first of all, to do whatever he can to help the other person, to make the other person not be b'tzaar, or upon him to be mispallel for the other person that during the simcha he should say Tehillim or be mispallel, get everybody to be mispallel with him for the other person. But it was that nekudah. It was that nekudah, that he didn't feel the simcha if somebody else was sorry, b'tzaar. If somebody else had a tzaar, it stared his simcha. Whoever was saying this was bringing out another nekudah with Chanina ben Dosa. The Gemara says that Chanina ben...

With Chanina, it says, Chanina ben Dosa dailo b'kav charuvin, and the gantze velt was nizon bishvil Chanina ben Dosa. So the bracha to the gantze velt was bischus, was bischus of Chanina. But he himself is dailo b'kav charuvin, miShabbos l'Shabbos. That was enough. He didn't need that much. So pashut pshat, we understand, is that the tzaddik is mistapek b'muat. The tzaddik is b'seder, and the bracha, the bracha goes to others, bischuso, bischuso. Like this, like this taich, the pshat is like this, that even the kav charuvin, even the kav charuvin that he would be mistapek b'muat with, it would only be k'dai, it would only be enough, only if the rest of the velt is nizon bishvilo. Only if the rest of the velt would have a surplus and harbeh bracha, then dailo b'kav charuvin. But would he be mistapek b'muat if Yenem also has to be mistapek b'muat and Yenem is not holding at that madreigah, would feel tzaar that he doesn't have enough, it would be a shlechte kav charuvin. He wouldn't feel even, even with his greatest madreigah, mistapek b'muat. It wouldn't be enough. It wouldn't be enough because of Yenem's tzaar, Yenem's needs. I think this is mamash the Rav. This is mamash the Rav. Every time that he would see somebody that without a shmeichel, he would do whatever he can to bring out that shmeichel. Any tzorech, any tzorech a person needed, whether it was a personal trachim, whether it was pashut mitzad the learning, a person wasn't feeling that he was knowing enough, no problem. He would set up a seder with him. He would make whatever time, doesn't matter, he would make whatever time he could and help the other person in whatever level that he needs to be helped with. It was in ganzen moser, in ganzen moser to the other einam. So, like I started before, I'm not really a speaker over here, so I'm going to hold over here. But the emes is that being very close to the Rav zatzal, being very close to him, the truth is, and it's taka the emes, I could go on and on. I could go on and on talking about kimat any single middah in the velt, because he was mushlam in kimat, from what I saw, kimat every single middah, mamash mushlam, mamash an adam shalem. But like I said, I'm not a prepared speaker, I'm not prepared to speak here, so... בשוס... ...ברכה... ...בשוס קהל הקודש... ...החשובים... We heard twelve ... came at the end, but I'm able to ... At that, the klal, the klal hadovor. Shleimus of a bein adam, that we have the zechus to know him in yeshiva and when he's mishamesh b'rabonus in this area, this at that time, this is the beginning of the expansion of lekut in this area. Different Rishonim that brought the listikeit of ahavas haTorah, yiras Shamayim, beyond, beyond the kosev beis hamedrash. Rosh yeshiva, Reb Chaim Yaakov Shnei, used to quote a pasuk in Koheles that seems like that Shlomo HaMelech, chas v'shalom, was saying a double pshat. The pasuk says, Im yimale'u he'avim geshem, al ha'aretz yarik. If the clouds become saturated with rain, it rains down on the earth. What's Shlomo HaMelech saying? You all know that Shlomo HaMelech is, chas v'shalom, Koheles. So Chazal explain, Im yimale'u talmidei chachamim Torah, al Yisrael yarik. Shlomo is to say that Shlomo HaMelech is explaining.

The koach hashpoa of Talmidei Chachomim on Klal Yisroel. The secret is they become saturated. Imor Talmidei Chachom Torah, then it spills over al Yisroel yarik. And just in the mashal, the earth has the merdike — Hashem put into the earth merdike koach itself, gidul. Without the rain, nothing grows. The rain is the chelek that HaKadosh Baruch Hu provides, and then the aretz could do its shiur. Klal Yisroel has to grow and shteig; they need to have the rain that comes from Talmidei Chachomim. And that rain is the saturation, that they become saturated. When they're talmidim, and they're and they're and they're growing and shteiging, it becomes part of their metzius; they become saturated. And then it rains down on Klal Yisroel. And that was Rabah. We saw the tekufah of Yemolo Hashem, and they were able to see the short life, short time that Hashem, that shlichus was al Yisroel yarik. They were able to mashpia, and we heard. And ish yochid v'yochid, we felt that he felt that achrayus, felt that that's his mission. Obviously, with the mesirus, mesirus of ovos, the inikl of ... and his father. Bezras Hashem, with a shalsheles of three doiros, that he was able to be matzliach and build this kehillah, that's still, still holchim l'oro, still carrying on the illumination, that he was able to be kovea this shechunah, this area. And we have to mention, appreciate the rebbetzin and the children that are preserving his zikaron year round, and especially when it comes the time of the yahrzeit, to get together and to renew and relive the lessons that he left us with, and to carry that on, bayis to bayis, ourselves and our generations, to all enjoy this great aliyah yerikah that HaKadosh Baruch Hu atzal us shared with us. And we approach approaching the Yemei Chag HaMatzos, zman cheiruseinu. I believe we all feel, we all feel that tzeischa miMitzrayim, meirenu nafloes. And again, I would like to share what Rosh Yeshiva, my mechutan, shlita, used to say, that he said a me'oredike chiddush, that when Moshe Rabbeinu was missioned to be the goel Yisrael of geulas Mitzrayim, and that mission was included ultimate geulah as well, because geulas Mitzrayim was supposed to be the ultimate geulah. The Sforim says if we would endure the whole 400 years, so then the geulah then would have been the geulah hasidah, would have been the tikkun ha-shalem. But since we weren't able to endure that, HaKadosh Baruch Hu had to take us out earlier, ... subtracted 190 years, and we're only there a ... and only there 210 years, so we weren't ready yet for the geulah acharon. So, the Beis Halevi, the other goliyos make up for the time that we missed, and the ultimate geulah will be what geulah at the time was supposed to be, in essence. So when HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave Moshe Rabbeinu the shlichus of geulas Mitzrayim, it included the geulah hasidah as well. And the ... didn't mention this, but this is a ... The Chaim HaKadosh in Parshas Tetzaveh says, from the Zohar Chodash, that Moshe Rabbeinu is involved in the geulah acharon as well. But that's the ... because ultimately he's the shliach for that geulah as well. And we feel what's going on in the ... and especially in Eretz Yisroel, what we experience this Motzaei Shabbos. It smells, it smells like this is ...

This is, בעזרת השם. You may say somewhere on the floor, the floors that are going to be, will be greater than the floors in Eretz Yisrael, and much greater than drones and intercepting the missiles. We're looking forward to much, much greater גילויים of השגחה פרטית, of אהבת השם לעמו, that are going to be, בעזרת השם, be revealed to us. And we prepare for this ליל הסדר, we should bear in mind that this is part of יציאת מצרים. It's a foregone that we're looking forward, בעזרת השם, בקול, and the zechus of the Rav and his lessons and his illuminations, we should take that as a preparation for the ליל הסדר, that we sit, as told in our families, tates and kinder and eyniklach, and we should be זוכה, einiklach, and be זוכה, בעזרת השם. We renew our commitments to be עבדי השם, and to understand that we're chosen to be עבדי השם. The biggest mistake is to think that we're deprived to be עבדי השם, to defer this thing from the truth. We're chosen to be עבדי השם. אתם קרויים אדם מכל העמים. What's the bottom line? כי בך בחר ה' אלקיך. The choice, the realization of the choice, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu brings us closer to Him in our subjection. It's not being deprived, being rejected, chas v'shalom. When we resume upon ourselves, ... that's what's chosen to be there. And that's why, the secret that nobody understands: why do the goyim hate us? Why the anti-Semitism? What does Klal Yisrael do to the nations over the generations? It's just the opposite. They oppressed us. The Gemara says the secret: Lo merikashma Sina. Har Sinai had a name before, before Moshe Rabbeinu had that revelation. It's called Har Chorev. It has a name. The Torah recognizes that name. Why would there be a new name? What is this new name? Moshe Rabbeinu says this: shemesham yored sinah. Sinai, lashon hatred. This mountain is the reason for hatred of the goyim to Klal Yisrael. It's envious. We're chosen and they're on the cold. They were offered to be part of it, but they declined. And after they declined it, they don't have the opportunity anymore. They don't have the opportunity. There's only one way, that Hashem, they become geirim and part of Klal Yisrael, they can enjoy that choice. But they're out of that privilege. Shemesham yored sinah. And the Mabit says in Beis Elokim that Moshiach comes to be a greater revelation of choice, at a much higher level. And the world tastes Mitzrayim, and they feel the sodim l'mailah see this great, this great revelation coming, and that's an intensity of the yoda sina lo. That's why we feel this anti-Semitism now. But if we would know what they know, we would—if we would know how imminent it is, we would be awakened. But they know, they know it's coming, and that creates and awakens this anti-Semitism. But we should at least appreciate the choice that we were chosen, and that way we should prepare ourselves to Yetzias Mitzrayim, ... to renew our commitment to become avdei Hashem and enjoy it, ... that we kvi'a avdei Hashem. And that was Rabban's message. That was his message: the more ponim, the ... ponim, the glow on his face, to be a ben Torah, to be an omel baTorah. He gave that message that we're not deprived; we were chosen to become closer and closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and that should give us inspiration and preparation to sit at the Seder table and be zoche, ... then the Seder will become ...

You can say over three mekoros, and I think all of us who know Rav Aharon HaGadol will recognize the relevance of this and having lifted that. The shiur shel Yom of the first day of Pesach, ayin ches, maskil l'Asaf. It's going through the sefer Divrei Yisrael. It says, Shamanu v'neidaim, va'avoseinu sipru lanu. We heard, we knew it, our fathers told us. Lo nechached mibneihem. We won't hold it back from their children. Ledor achar mesaper tehillos Hashem. For the next generation to say it, it goes, right, l'maan yeidu dor achar banim yivaledu, that the next generation should know, yekumu vyesapru l'vneihem, they should tell their children, v'yesimu b'Elokim kislam. They should put their bitachon in the Ribono Shel Olam, mivtacham. Says the Ibn Ezra, says the Ibn Ezra, asher shamanu, he says it's like this: these are things that we heard from many people, from great tzaddikim, that a person is mechuyev to believe what he hears from them. They're pointing neidaim. These are things we hear from them to the point that we know it ourselves. By us it's yediah, and we turn around and say it to our children and hold it back, that they should also be able to be mesaper. By us this is actually yediah. By Rabahard, the Shmues, and we're going to see in a minute the, you know, the Torah and the bitachon, that he was mekabel from his parents, from his grandparents, and from his rabbeim, were to the point of yediah. And when he told us over, and he was like a chacham, when he didn't hold it back from us, we all saw that these things were by him with things of not shmues, but yediah. Now, the pasuk goes on and says, why are we saying this over? That the next generation, they also should also have bitachon in the Ribbono Shel Olam. There's a Gra. There's a Gra that maybe you could call the stirah in the Gra, maybe you could be meyashev it. You can say it's davar hafuch, but I think by our Rabban Hagadol, we saw both things together, that the tach was both together. There's a Gra in Mishlei, chof-beis. The pasuk says, Liyos Hashem bivtachacha, pasuk yud tes, v'hoda'aticha hayom af ata. Says the Gra like this, and he quotes these pesukim in ayin ches, and tohilim, that the Torah told that the Ribbono Shel Olam gave us, vayocham eidus, v'im ksuvim, Torah, Torah, Torah, some of Yisrael. He says the ikar nesinah of Torah b'Yisrael was that Klal Yisrael should have bitachon baHashem. Says the ikar giving of Torah b'Yisrael, k'dei sheyismur chayim laHashem, shene'emar, v'yismu l'kim kislam. So Torah was given to Klal Yisrael sheyihyeh bitachon, and then to turn around and sap it to their children and grandchildren, because the ikar of everything is bitachon. That's what the Gra says in Mishlei. The Gra in Haazinu, lamed-beis, of the pasuk, Dor tapuchos banim, lo emun bam, he says like this, that— Loshon, shan niskaymu Torahsim b'yadam, achmas chesron bitachon. He says, why did these people not have the Torah being mekuyam in them? Because they didn't have bitachon. Okay, sounds like, again, Steve, they didn't have—because they didn't have bitachon, they didn't have Torah. You have Torah and you don't have bitachon by— and we know the many mekoros how Torah connects with bitachon. By Rav Aharon HaGadol, Torah was meivi lidei bitachon, and bitachon was meivi lidei Torah. This that he was able to learn Torah through the challenges he went through, the Sefer Shaarei Yeshua that he wrote, b'damoi v'nafsho, not only saying, it was because the Torah led to bitachon and the bitachon led to Torah. A few months ago I was by the Agudah convention, and Rav Yosef Elephant was speaking, and he was talking about what happened in Eretz Yisrael. He said the response is not to talk about bitachon. Bitachon, you need to spend 20 years working on it, and then, you know, when the challenge comes, this is not the time to work on bitachon. Let this be a reminder. Let this be the reminder of what bitachon can lead someone. I can't not end off with what I said in the past, but with what Rav Aharon HaGadol used to say over from Rav Pam, and he lived it. He was a big, should I say, a big yodea in bitachon, a big meivin, a big understander in bitachon, but what he said over from Rav Pam. He once asked Rav Pam, does bitachon mean like this? Does bitachon mean like that?

Rav Pam said that's for big people. For us pashute Yidden, we just have bitachon, okay? It takes many years of Torah and avodah to just have that bitachon, and that the bitachon should lead to more Torah and more bitachon. The end of Maseches Moed Katan: אמר רבי, כל היוצא מבית הכנסת לבית המדרש, whoever goes from the shul to the beis medrash, ומבית המדרש לבית הכנסת, from the beis medrash to the beis haknesses, זוכה ומקבל פני שכינה, is zocheh to greet the Shechinah, שנאמר, as the pasuk says, ילכו מחיל אל חיל יראה אל אלוקים בציון. You're going to go from multitude to multitude, מחיל אל חיל. Multitude is referring to the multitudes of the yeshiva, to the beis medrash, into the shul, to the beis medrash. So we'll be zocheh, יראה אל אלוקים בציון, be zocheh to see the Shechinah. אמר רבי חייא בר אשי אמר רב, תלמידי חכמים אין להם מנוחה אפילו לעולם הבא. Talmidei chachamim don't have rest in Olam Haba, שנאמר, from this pasuk, ילכו מחיל אל חיל יראה אל אלוקים בציון, because they constantly go from מחיל אל חיל, because, as the mefarshim explain, they're learning even in the next world; they go מחיל אל חיל also. הדרן עלך בהלכות... speak about Maseches Moed Katan. הדרן עלך Maseches Moed Katan, והדרן עלן. דעתא אנא עלן מסכת מועד קטן, ודעתך עלן. לא נתנשי מינן מסכת מועד קטן, ולא תתנשי מינך. לא בעלמא הדין ולא בעלמא דאתי. הדרן עלך מסכת מועד קטן, והדרן עלן. דעתא אנא עלן מסכת מועד קטן, ודעתך עלן. לא נתנשי מינן מסכת מועד קטן, ולא תתנשי מינן. לא בעלמא הדין ולא בעלמא דאתי. הדרן עלך מסכת מועד קטן, והדרן עלן. דעתא אנא עלן מסכת מועד קטן, ודעתך עלן. לא נתנשי מינן מסכת מועד קטן, ולא תתנשי מינן. לא בעלמא הדין ולא בעלמא דאתי. יהי רצון מלפניך ה' אלוהינו ואלוהי אבותינו שתהא תורתך אומנותנו בעולם הזה, ותהא עמנו לעולם הבא. חנינא בר פפא, רמי בר פפא, נחמן בר פפא, אחאי בר פפא, אבא מרי בר פפא, רפרם בר פפא, רחיש בר פפא, סורחב בר פפא, אדא בר פפא, דרו בר פפא. הרבנן, לההוא ... בפינו ופי עמך בית ישראל, ונהיה כולנו נאחנו וצאצאינו וצאצאי עמך בית ישראל, כולנו יודעי שמך ולומדי תורתך לשמה. ... כי לעולם היא לי, היא ליבי, היא שומי בחלקך. למען לא אבוש, לעולם לא אשכח פקודיך, כי בם חייתני. ברוך אתה ה' למדני. אמן, אמן, סלה ועד. מודה אנחנו לך, אדוננו אלוהינו, וסמכת חלקנו יושבי בית המדרש, ולא שמת חלקנו יושבי קרנות, שאנו משכימים והם משכימים. אנו משכימים לדברי תורה, והם משכימים לדברים בטלים. אנו עמלים והם עמלים. אנו עמלים ומקבלים שכר, והם עמלים ואינם מקבלים שכר. אנו רצים והם רצים. אנו רצים לחיי העולם הבא, והם רצים לבאר שחת, שנאמר: ואתה אלוהים תורידם. רבשע, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Yisgadal v'yiskadash shmei rabbo. Amen. ... Yisbarach v'yishtabach, v'yispo'ar v'yisromam v'yisnasei, v'yishadar v'yis'aleh v'yishalal, shmei d'kudsha ... B'rich hu. L'eila min kol birchasa v'shirasa, tushbechasa v'nechemasa, da'amiran b'alma, v'imru amen. Yehei shlama rabba min shemaya, v'chayim, aleinu v'al kol Yisrael, v'imru amen. Oseh shalom bimromav, hu yaaseh shalom aleinu v'al kol Yisrael, v'imru amen. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Baruch Hashem, zen aleh, maminim bnei maminim. We only hope that the best of Klal Yisrael, called secular, come to emunah. Aber be'emes, that's our emunah. It's not just something we have to take for granted. You see, emunah, ... bamidbar ... tzaddik b'emunaso yichyeh. That's the yesod of kol haTorah kula. When the Ramban in sefer Bo tells us that Yetzias Mitzrayim, the Ribbono Shel Olam is megaleh the aleh yesodos of emunah: hashgachas Hashem, koach Hashem, yecholes, schar va'onesh, the aleh pratim of hashgacha that are in teva. We know that the word teva is the same gematria as Elokim. That's the Ribbono Shel Olam is haltach in the teva, that we could think it's just a natural occurrence. And, says the Ramban, the Ribbono Shel Olam doesn't do that b'chol dor vador, such giluyim like the word Yetzias Mitzrayim. So He gave us many mitzvos, zecher l'Yetzias Mitzrayim: mezuzah, tefillin, Shabbos, Kiddush HaLevanah, mitzvos that we do k'seder every day before we put on tefillin, ... Yetzias Mitzrayim, to remember those nisim and niflaos, and mitzvos of zechiras Yetzias Mitzrayim twice a day, something we know, k'seder. Mitzvah is to mention it twice a day, and the halacha is al pi the Yerushalmi. The Rambam says, we have to mention makas bechoros, ukriyas Yam Suf. It says, yetzias Mitzrayim, something that we have to live with. And emunah is something that should become part of us, because as much as we're ma'aminim, but the metzius of teva, that things happen, natural occurrences, is the person looks at it, there is a natural occurrence. Just this past week, people even find in Meah Shearim, Motzei Shabbos, from Iran sent hundreds of missiles, and no one was hurt. One person, an Arab, was killed. No one else. The damage was—nothing happened. Teva, just, they just missed. You want to think like that. It's different than Yetzias Mitzrayim. It's true. By Kriyas Yam Suf, is oz nivhalu ulefei edom. The whole world back and saw Kriyas Yam Suf. It was something that was obvious. Here, it's still a makom. People could attribute it just—they were...

It was with so much superior. ... But that's the avodah of emunah, seder, to chazer in that the Ribono Shel Olam, al kol tzaad v'sha'al, is the one that ... us to live with that. Kol rega v'rega, kol neshama neshama, to hallel kol. And in Yetzias Mitzrayim, bad b'vad, Yetzias Mitzrayim to live with, the yesod of Yetzias Mitzrayim, avdus ... al hora'ah zeh. Yetzias Mitzrayim is that we should become avdei Hashem, ... We have the Torah. It's only appropriate this time, the Ribono Shel Olam, hashgachah, that zeh gefirt, that the yahrzeit ... tzaddik livrachah, that this time that we have to take a chizuk from him in our emunah, the way he's ... It means Yetzias Mitzrayim is ... al hora'ah zeh, that it's for a purpose, it's for a tachlis. The Ribono Shel Olam gave us koiches, His shefa, to ... koiches, to mashpia and hashpaah, to mashpia in a ... chelek haTorah, that they had a ... shaychus with the hilchos refuah. And today, the more that we have, we call scientific advances, there's more and more to know how do we apply, how the dinei Torah apply to every prat and prat in our lives, to everything. And that's the taich of the Gemara, dino shel mona k'dino shel prutah, because— The monah and the puter are both insignificant compared to the din. Dino shel monah, dino shel prutah. The din Torah, how we live and how we see, and if we're zocheh, asheinu ma tov chelkeinu, that we live a life that we realize, ki heim chayeinu v'orech yameinu. But it's something that needs kiseder achizuk, kiseder to grow in emunah the whole year, day in, day out, till we come to Pesach, that it's not only zechiras yetzias Mitzrayim, but sipur, sipur yetzias Mitzrayim, mitzvas sipur, v'higadta l'vincha, to give over it to dor v'dor, liros es atzmo k'ilu hu yatza miMitzrayim, to appreciate the fact that it's not just a historical event that happened thousands of years ago, and m'meila, yeah, if my great-grandfather would have not married my great-grandmother, I wouldn't have been here. Obviously, that's the history of the zach. But that the yetzias Mitzrayim, not just our history, that in yetzias Mitzrayim the Ribbono Shel Olam took us out of Mitzrayim, took Klal Yisrael at that time, who was in Mitzrayim, and all the batei dikdushes, ad bias haGoel, until the sof of the olam, until the shleimus of the olam, that's out in yetzias Mitzrayim. Ben shleimus, that yetziah, He took us out of Mitzrayim to be the am Hashem, avdan shel Elokim, l'hora zeh. That's the avodah, and that's the zunder title, like we say, just add the impetus that we have at this tekufah, shelo bizoiche to consider shtייגן in emunah, Ribbono Shel Olam, to consider in the last time that you just said this week. And everyone knows the nisim, the boirei dike giluyim close to nes nigleh, that happened takke when the Arabs attacked us in Chutz Laaretz, the protection that we saw for those who were b'megayeh Shabbos, for those yeshivos mekayemes haTorah, the Ribbono Shel Olam shows us. She'only bizoiche that we shtaig in emunah, and it's yadua that Yisrael, the more that we shtaig, schleps the hashpaah on the whole world. It should have the hashpaah, the rest of Klal Yisrael should come to that hakarah, alez on Makkas Zayin, Ki Hashem Hu HaElokim, the Ribbono Shel Olam fears the belt. We come to that hakarah, takke levad, that we're close to that time, Ki LaHashem HaMeluchah, v'oshah baGoyim, they will olam Mashiach, hartziah, and lishpot es har Eisav. That will come takke the time to see the geulah shleimah b'vias Mashiach Tzidkeinu, bimheirah v'yameinu.

It's a tremendous kavod to be here tonight on the yahrzeit of my father's atzal, and be making already my eleventh siyum together with my chavrusa. It's a promise. This is a promise that I made to my father's atzal a few months before he passed away, that I was going to take on the amud yomi and go through Shas. The last year of his life, as I mentioned during many of my siyumim, he made it a priority that he wanted his talmidim, he wanted the community to be kovea itim and to finish Shas. Baruch Hashem, we're here with siyum number 11, Maseches Moed Katan. I can only imagine how proud, the pride that he must feel in Shamayim tonight here with us. Also of significance is not just the siyum, but specifically we get to make a siyum on Moed Katan. The last perek of Moed Katan, that we spent the last several weeks on, deals a lot with the halachos of mourning, the halachos of aveilus, and the process by which the neshamos of tzaddikim, how they go into the next world. There's many pesukim from Eicha. One of the pesukim that we came across is, Naflah ateres rosheinu. We lost our crown, our splendor. Many of the events from the rav zatzal, my brother Shlomo puts a lot of work into the flyers. And to the graphics, and most of the headlines, Nafla Teres Roshenu. Shloima HaMelech teaches, Ateres Zekeinim Bnei Banim. The crown, the splendor of the elder, of the zekeinim, of a zaken, is bnei banim, is the children, the grandchildren. They're the ones that carry on the legacy and the splendor of the grandparents, are really based on how it gets carried on through the children. With this impact, how much, how many homes did the Rav zatzal uplift, was made frum, and today we have the children of those homes, the yeshivas, especially in Queens, yeshivas where boys go to yeshiva, those are all his bnei banim. How great the legacy, how great is the ateres zekeinim, how great is the atarah, when the impact of the bnei banim continues and continues to multiply. The last several years, since dealing with the Rav zatzal's passing, obviously everyone was moved in a certain way. However, the main comment that I get was, Wow, it was so impactful, his life, and Baruch Hashem we were able to be so close to him, but it was also very short. And my answer is always the same. It's always that maybe it was short in years, but we need to appreciate what we had, the greatness that we had, the bracha that we had to have him. At least in my case, for 25 years I was zoche to be around my father's atzal. It's an incredible bracha, something I don't take for granted. Even one year, how many people just knew him for one year changed their life. Their homes are changed, their children are different, their future is different, all for just a little bit of time that they spent with the rav zatzal, the Rosh Yeshiva zatzal, in some cases. However, I would even argue and say, in fact, it really wasn't that short of a life. Depends what we look at life and how we view length of life. My father's atzal had a talmid named Simcha Yassiov. I was a little boy when he passed away, but he passed away at a very young age, at 28. He was 28 years old. Anyone who knew him would define him not just as a tzaddik, but almost as a malach. And I remember vividly when I was a young boy what my father said over.

At his levaya. Just to put into perspective, he was, I think, at 18 or 20. He wanted to go to yeshiva, wanted to learn by my father's atzal, and his father didn't let, and he would go by the window whenever his father would come to the yeshiva, even in the winter, like Hillel, by the fire escape, not to miss any of the shiurim. And his father would, b'shum oifen, not let him be in the yeshiva. He would make sure to never miss a shiur. Also, I remember he was someone who never spoke a word of lashon hara. When he was sick at the end, toward the end of his life, he would call my father's atzal with shailas, and it was even under tremendous duress. He was makpid on halacha. Someone like this, what I remember, even you could qualify him as a malach. And the Rav zatzal got up at his levaya and said over b'shem Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, and he said, We give people a bracha, arichas yamim v'shanim. A person should have long days and years. The Rav zatzal asked, Why is it important to have arichas yamim v'shanim, days and years? Imagine a person lives till a hundred years and ten days. Arichas shanim is what's most important. He has long, long years. Why is it important he lives a hundred years and ten days? Why is the yamim so part of the bracha? The Rav zatzal answered, Because a person can have long years. He can have arichas shanim. But his days are empty. He doesn't have any yamim. The bracha is that a person should have arichas shanim through the yamim, through the rich days. And in this way, he really has arichas yamim. So the Rav Zatzal said about his talmid, Simcha Yassi, even though he was only 28 years old, but his days were rich. His days were rich, and therefore he essentially did have arichas shanim. This leads me to my next topic. The Rav Zatzal gave a whole shiur on the concept of what it means for a tzaddik to live out his days, and he spoke about how a tzaddik lives and dies very much the same way. Most people, living and dying are two—it's an obstacle. It's a very difficult period, a transition to go to the next world. He has regrets and different things. To a tzaddik, the tzaddik doesn't have these problems when he passes away. It's one and the same. Living and dying is the same. The pasuk says regarding Avraham Avinu, when it came time for him to pass away, the pasuk says, Vayigva vayamas Avraham b'seivah tovah. It's time for Avraham to pass away. Vayamas Avraham b'seivah tovah, and Avraham passed away at the ripe old age. Vissavea, and he was very satisfied. So the Rav Zatzal quoted the Ramban. Visoveya, the tzaddik, it says, visoveya bayamim, that his days were satisfying. Sva yomim, the day itself is satisfying. To the tzaddik, the day itself is where he accomplishes. He doesn't need extra things in his day to make his day rich, to make his day good. The tzaddik is davuk to Hashem. He does his avodas Hashem, and the day itself is thus rich. The Rav zatzal said over a pshat from the Sfas Emes, a beautiful pshat. Avraham zaken ba bayamim. Avraham got old. The simple explanation is, ba bayamim, he got old. The Rav zatzal brought from the Sfas Emes, look down from the Sfas Emes, Avraham zaken ba bayamim. As we just mentioned, the tzaddik has his day, ba bayamim. The tzaddik comes to Shamayim, ba bayamim, with his days. Further, we see this by Sarah as well. Vayihyu shnei chayei...

Sarah. The Torah again repeats itself, shnei chayei Sarah. These were the years of Sarah's life. So at the beginning, we know a hundred, like 27, they were related to one another. But why does the pasuk repeat it? It says, Rashi, to teach us, kulan shavin l'tovah. Kulan shavin l'tovah. They were all good years. So the question that the Rav zatzal asked: were they all good years? Do we have the right to say on someone's life they were all good years? Many of Sarah's years were difficult years. She was in Akarah, and she had a avimelech, and she was on the go with Avram, lech lecha. How much, how can we define that as good years, kulan shavin l'tovah? Said the Rav zatzal from Rav Zusha, Meanapoli, b'eineha shel Sarah it was good years. The pasuk was speaking from her perspective. To her, everything that happened in life was, kol man d'avid Rachmana l'tav avid, gam zu l'tovah. Every day was good, regardless if there was nisyonos or what we would say is difficult, difficult days. To her, they were kulan shavin l'tovah. And this is the midah of the tzaddik, that the day itself is always good, is rich, s'va yamim. Anyone who knew the Rav zatzal, anyone who davened here in the shul, knew the slogan of our shul is, It's all good. Everything was always good. Not every— the Rav went through difficult situations in his life. And he also, he excelled this midah of kulan shavin l'tovah, kol man d'avid Rachmana l'tav avid. It was always good, and in this way, it was shnei yamim, it was rich in days. And in this way, I would say he really had a arichas shanim, because his days were rich. What he was able to accomplish in what most would say would be a short life, he accomplished lifetimes in harbatzas Torah, lifetimes in chiddushei Torah, in his writings, in his gemilus chasadim, in his ahavas Yisrael, and what he was able to accomplish, what most people would take lifetimes to accomplish. So he accomplished shleimus. The very last speech that he gave during COVID, I think it was four days before he passed away, he spoke about that he doesn't have the answers to everything that was going on during COVID, but he did say that a person is obligated that his learning Torah makes, and I'll quote verbatim, Torah transforms a person to become an adam hashalem, to make a person wholesome, to make a person complete. The Rav zatzal passed away, yes, maybe it was young in years, but he passed away with shleimus. He accomplished his mission. He passed away an adam hashalem. It was v'savea, it was satisfying. I want to share a short story with R' Moshe, our gabbai. Every single Shabbos, this concept of shnei yamim, everything is good. A rav of 10, 15 years, not every Shabbos is always good. Most of them here in the shul were beautiful, but some Shabbosim were maybe more difficult. And the Rav would turn after every single Shabbos, Motzei Shabbos, the first thing after Maariv, he would turn to Reb Moshe's table, and he would say, Another beautiful Shabbos. Another beautiful Shabbos. Every Shabbos was beautiful to him, regardless if there was any difficulties. It was always beautiful. Every Shabbos in the shul was beautiful. That's how he looked at it. Kulan shavim l'tovah. They were all beautiful. That's his concept of svayamim. And I would say it was really a long life, if this is how you look at life. If I would have to define the Rav's atzal in one word that would encompass so much of his life that most people resonated with, it would be the concept of ahava, love. The Rav's atzal broke down the word ahava into three parts. He gave a series of shiurim on this: Ahavas Torah, Ahavas Hashem, and Ahavas Yisrael. I'd like to touch briefly and share a few stories about each one. First and foremost, any conversation about my father's atzal, the Rav, has to start with his ahavas Torah.

He was defined by his Torah. Torah—he was a living Sefer Torah. It was his love for Torah, his middos, everything came from his Torah. It was pure. Obviously his hasmadah, every free minute that he had. Many know him that the last few years he was oisek in the community, but I remember you were able to walk into his room two, three, four in the morning, and he had a pile of sefarim maybe fifteen, twenty high. He was writing his chiddushim. He wouldn't even notice you would come in. The nighttime hours, his hasmadah was something unbelievable. When I picture the Rav zatzal in his greatest moments, pride, one I would say is at the front of when he was giving shiurim to his talmidim, the pride that he had. But also in his study late at night, next to his table there was always piles and piles of sefarim, or surrounded by sefarim. The Rav zatzal to Torah was like a fish in water. I would like to talk a little bit about his knowledge, his yedias haTorah, his vast knowledge, what a massive talmid chacham he was. Everyone knew that he learned every sefer. There was no this type or that type. Every kind of sefer he would learn. If it's Torah, it was good for him. In fact, I remember when we were children, we would go to a sefarim store in Borough Park, Biegelaisen, and he would always talk about Biegelaisen. You know what's special about Biegelaisen? Biegelaisen has this farm that no one else has before anyone else gets it. He would go there every, every day right after yeshiva. He would take us, especially in the summer when we would go with him to yeshiva, and he would go look at all the new sefarim. And I remember that those hot summer days, we were more interested in playing ball than spending our afternoons in Biegelaisen's farm store. My brother Yitzchak remembers that we used to have a special technique of how to get my father out of the sefarim store. Every time we would try to, you know, pull his kapota and say, Ta, we really have to leave. It's already, the game is starting, and we really want to play. We don't want to be here all afternoon. He'd tell us, Another five more minutes, another five more minutes. I have to just finish this. And he'd pick another sefer, and those five minutes added up to several hours some days. And eventually we came up with a master plan that there was a ladder, a ladder that was able to roll across the sefarim shaints to be able to reach the tall sefarim, the sefarim high up in the store. And we had a technique how we used to hang on the ladder and roll it across the whole, the whole store until the point that Mr. Biegelaisen had to physically throw us out of the store, and that was the only way to get him out of the sefarim store, if I remember. That's what it is. The rav without sefarim was like a fish outside the sea. You had to literally figure out a way to get him out, otherwise... I would like to speak for a moment about his yediyas haTorah and the... Every, every type of sefer. Obviously, he came from a background, a Nashkanaz background. He completed semicha in his twenties from Rav Leibus. I just want to actually point out one thing that was written in his, in his semicha from Rav Leibus. Rav Leibus writes that he completed the bechar in Yediyus, and his knowledge is vast, and he passed all the tests. But he also writes there that on top of any community that takes the Rav Zatzal to lead them, it's not just getting the knowledge of Torah, but it's also getting the spirit of Torah. So the Rav Zatzal's learning was not just an intellectual pursuit, but as I mentioned previously, it makes somebody an adam hashalem. All his middos and how oisk arbet he was, and his ahavas Yisrael, his ahavas Hashem, stemmed from his learning, his Torah. He mastered much of, much, most areas of halacha before even the age of thirty: Choshen Mishpat and Niddah and Rav Belsky and Rav Feinstein. However—

Over the last several years, he was involved in the Bechari community. His yeshiva was the Sefardi yeshiva. And every day after Shacharis, he would open—halacha sefer was on Yalkut Yosef—he would open up the Yalkut Yosef, and whatever topic was on where he opened to, that's what shiur was on that day. And I asked him once, I said, Do you have to prepare? The Yalkut Yosef is so big, and it's not like that was your upbringing. He tells me, No, I don't have to prepare. I open it, and wherever it is on that day, that's what halacha is on that day. Rav David Yosef shlita, Rav Vadia's son, he would come a few times a year to America to visit Chazak, and he was learning with the rav atzal, his father's psakim. He was going through them with him. And he turns to Rabbi Meiruv, the head of Chazak, and he says, Forget at his age—he was only 50 years old at the time—and he said, I never saw an Ashkenaz rav who knows my father's psakim as well as Rav Wolkin. On the other side, there was a Yid in our shul, Rabbi Gelb. He lives in Williamsburg, a Satmar chassid. He bought a summer home up the block, 30-minute walk. He would walk in every Shabbos in the summer, even in the heat, in his shtreimel, and he would have to discuss the Divrei Yoel every week on the parsha with the rav atzal, and they would exchange a vort on Divrei Yoel from the Satmar Rebbe. One week— One week, he shares something that he saw from the Divrei Yoel on the parasha, and the Rav Zatzal tells him, Where did you see that? That's not in the Divrei Yoel. He says, No, I saw it. I saw it quoted. They quoted from the Divrei Yoel. So the Rav Zatzal tells him, No, go back, go back and see where the source of it is. It's not in the Divrei Yoel. He went back and came back a week later, and he says it was taka, it was from the publications, the manuscripts that they published after the Satmar Rebbe passed away, but it wasn't included in the actual Divrei Yoel. The Rav was right. It was not in the Divrei Yoel. He says, You see, if it was in the Divrei Yoel, I would know if it's in the Divrei Yoel. The knowledge between Chassidish sefarim and Sefardi sefarim and everything in between, everything in between, it didn't matter to him. It was emes. If it was Torah, it was emes. It was good for him. Torah was all-encompassing. The second of the ahavas was ahavas Hashem. I'd like to spend a minute or two on his love, on his love for doing mitzvahs, his avodas Hashem. Rav Shlomo Rosenberg shared a story at one of the Rav's askarah events, how one Sukkos morning, he came a little bit early, and he saw the Rav coming down, coming downstairs with his lulav and his esrog. He was so happy. Rav Shlomo thought there was a simcha. A simcha happened in the family the night before, and he turns to the Rav and he says, Rav, what was the simcha? It looks like you had a simcha last night. And he turns to him and he goes, Simcha? Of course. I get to shake lulav and esrog. I just want to put into context how much effort, how much effort that the Rav would put in to Sukkos morning, shaking lulav and esrog. It was not something he just came woke up and he was excited to do lulav and esrog. It was that as well, but in fact, we would go on vacations to Vermont in the summer, to the mountains, and the Rav would bring a pile of sefarim on Arba Minim and all the different halachos. He would start preparing for Sukkos already in the summertime. He would go straight. Many people don't know this about the Rav; those who were in the shul obviously know, but the Rav had tremendous talent in music and chazanus, and he would blow shofar. He would blow shofar. He would layn all the Megillos. Listening to him on Eicha, to layn Megillas Eicha, you would feel the loss of the Beis HaMikdash just listening to his Eicha. You would feel a story of Purim just the way, besides for his beautiful voice that he would layn the Megillah, but the heart that he put into it, the way he sang it, you would feel the story of Purim. Shofar, he would blow like Kol d'mama dakah, a sweet, still sound, to hear a short story. Reb Shabtzi Reitzik told me after the Rav passed away, the Rav was makpid that the kol of the shofar should be very soft and sweet.

And b'shaas, he told me he came to blow shofar by him, to learn how to blow, and he was blowing very strong, powerful tekiyos. He said, Rav, this is good, no? And the Rav said, No. The shofar needs to be soft and sweet, that the neshama on Rosh Hashanah, the Yiddishe neshama on Rosh Hashanah, needs to hear the soft, sweet, broken cry of the shofar. It's going to resonate right away; he'll do teshuva. This is the way the Rav did mitzvahs. It was not just with the talent, but it was also with the hergesh and a sensitivity to the Yiddishe neshama. The Rav would blow shofar and daven Yom Noraim. Matzei ne'ilah, the last year of the Rav's life, I remember clearly, he blew a tekiah gedolah that was the longest by far I've ever heard. He put in all his koiches into the davening. Everybody in the shul, after he finished ne'ilah, went to go say Kiddush Levana and then to go break the fast. I come back after Kiddush Levana, I broke the fast, and I see him still sitting by his seat. So I say, Ta, would you like to come upstairs? You could sit, but maybe just go upstairs and you could break your fast. He turns to me, he looks at me, his face was white. You could see the kedushah on his face after the ne'ilah. And he says, Pinchas, you don't understand. I just gave Hashem everything I have. I have nothing left. I'm sitting here, I don't have any energy left. I just gave Hashem everything I have. This is the way he did mitzvahs. He put in b'chol levavcha, b'chol nafshecha, v'ahavta Hashem Elokecha. This is how the Rav zatzal did mitzvahs, with everything that he had. And then lastly. The Rav's ahavas Yisrael, Rav's legendary ahavas Yisrael. If we be discussing, if we be only discussing the Rav's ahavas Yisrael, we'd be here for weeks, months, how legendary it was, and many of the things going on here in the shul, the chasadim that went on for people. Just a few small anecdotes that I remember that brings out the Rav's legendary ahavas Yisrael. I mentioned Rabbi Gelb, a satmar chassid from Williamsburg. He happened to be a kohen. We also had with us for many years Dr. Muchnik. Dr. Muchnik came from a more young Israel background. And one Birchas Kohanim, the Rav was makpid that his children would have to come under his tallis every Yom Tov. Even after bar mitzvah, during Birchas Kohanim, we would have to come under his tallis. Birchas Kohanim on Yom Tov, there was one year there was Rabbi Gelb, and he did the Satmar niggun, and Dr. Muchnik did the Young Israel niggun. And I remember hearing under the tallis that the people were amused how the different niggunim came together. But to the Rav's atzal, I noticed under his tallis he was crying, crying like a baby. And as soon as they finished Shalom, Birchas Kohanim, he turns to us, he takes off the tallis and he says, This is what it means, 'Habocher Yisrael b'ahavah.' This is Klal Yisrael. This is ahavas Yisrael. This was the Rav's ahavas Yisrael. The different factions of Klal Yisrael come together to bench. Birchas Kohanim b'ahava. One more story I would like to share from the Rav zatzal. One of his talmidim opened up a yeshiva in Queens, and the Rav was considered the nasi of the yeshiva. They came to him with all the daas Torah questions, and one of the rabbeim in the yeshiva did something that he deserved to be fired. It was clear, incontrovertible, that what he deserved wasn't going to be maintained on the staff in the yeshiva anymore. And they came to the Rosh Yeshiva, to the Rav zatzal, to sign that they were going to fire him. And the Rav zatzal said, First go to the other rabbanim in Queens. Their sign-off, it's an easy psak halacha. And they all signed, and then they came back to the Rav to sign, and he refused to sign. And he said that the psak halacha was done. It was clear that the psak halacha, that he was going to be fired. But he said, Even so, I still don't want my name on this paper. He said, My name cannot be associated with the pain of another Yid's family. The family of this person, they didn't do anything, but they're going to suffer the pain, the consequences, and I don't want to have my name associated with that. I'll ensure that the psak halacha gets done. I may tell the rabbanim to sign it, but my name, Aaron Walkin, cannot.

not be signed on a paper, which will cause another Yid's family pain. This was the legendary ahavas Yisrael that he had, and the love that he had for every Yid. There were some people in the yeshiva that came just for the hug. There was a boy in the yeshiva that told me in Queens that he was in bed for six months. He had a depression. He came every day just to get the hug of the Rav. There was no hour of the day that was not accessible. I want to just wrap it up with the Rav's Mishaberach l'cholim, how legendary it was. In this book, the Rav, zatzal, the Yisamli segulah, he would make Mishaberach l'cholim by himself. Every week he would rip out the newspapers of all the cholim lists and as many pictures of sick children, and he said, It's there for people to daven, people like me. I'm the one who cares. He would make a Mishaberach l'cholim for them. The gabbai wasn't allowed to do it; he himself had to go up and do it. With this book, till today we still make Mishaberach l'cholim with this book. He would cry like a baby up to Shabbos HaMelizug. Tears were rolling down his cheeks when he would list the names of the cholim with so much fervor and so much heart. You saw how much he cared, up to Shabbos HaMelizug, and then he would try to stop crying. This is the love that he had for every Yid. We mentioned the Ateres Yekainim; it's only as great as the Bnei Bonim. It's only בזכות the Bnei Banim. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the shul, to thank also the children, my family, my siblings for stepping up, the Bnei Banim, how much effort that we put in to the legacy. That's what makes the Atara great, the Atara Sekeinim and the shul. Everyone continues the shem u'tiferes with the middos and kavod habriyos and yiras Shamayim. The legacy continues; it's alive and well, and the community, for all the—everyone who comes together. And lastly, to take this opportunity to thank my mother for everything that she's done. Yes, it was a royal crown that he wore and a lot of accomplishments, as we mentioned, lifetimes of accomplishments in his sefarim and his teachings and his impact on people. But the splendor and the grandeur really behind everything was my mother. May she be zocheh to see simchas in the family, to be a zechus for her. My bracha is that the Rav zatzal davened for Klal Yisrael so much during his lifetime. As Reb Shapsi, the first text I got after the Rav passed away, Reb Shapsi texted me, He will surely continue upstairs the same way he davened downstairs, especially during this time. May he continue to be a meilitz yosher. May he continue to be a meilitz yosher for our family, the community, and all of Klal Yisrael during these difficult times. And may we be zocheh to reunite with him, reunite with the Rav and see him again with the coming of Moshiach, bimheirah b'yameinu, amen. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.