First Yahrzeit of Rav Aharon Walkin (Hour 1): Torah, Ahavas Hashem, and the Bond Between Rebbe and Talmidim

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. We've all gathered together to pay tribute to our dear Rebbe, Rosh Yeshiva, Harav HaGaon, Moreinu v'Rabbeinu, Harav Aharon Walkin, zecher tzaddik v'kadosh livrachah. I'm getting the chills as I speak and just mention the names and see the pictures and see the family and see the avreichim and the community all gathered together. Morai v'rabosai, as we all know, we're in Chodesh Nissan. Nissan is a month of hope, and during the month of Nissan there are no hespedim. But why are we all gathered here together, morai v'rabosai? Because we're going to learn from the life of the Rav zatzal, from the Rosh Yeshiva. We're going to learn how we should live our lives. We used to learn about the chashivut, the importance of learning Torah, the importance of taking our community to the next level, which was his main mission, Baruch Hashem, I had the zchut to be close, very close to the Rav zatzal, probably 15, 16 years. Yishtabach shemo la'ad. It was amazing to ask she'eilot and advice backwards and forwards, to learn together, to grow together, to build this community together. And this past year has been very, very difficult for us all. But one thing he would always tell us is, we need to continue strong. You have to always be happy. You have to build. You have to do. And I'm so proud that the family is here today, the children, shiurim, that are continuing the legacy of the Rav zatzal, of the Rosh Yeshiva zatzal. And Baruch Hashem, thanks to so many members of the community, we were able to do a siyum hashas. We're going to, be'ezrat Hashem, tonight, start off the evening by finishing Talmud Bavli, and we're going to ask the children, Pinchas, Yitzchak, Shloime, Naftali, Baruch, Bar Yisrael, come up, and we're going to, be'ezrat Hashem, start off with the siyum hashas. We're going to also ask from our dear friends of the community that also finished Masechet, the talmidim of the Rosh Yeshiva zatzal. We're going to ask from Rabbi Yisubov, Rabbi Yehuda Nisanov, and we have Shamsiev, Michal Shamsiev, and Barry as well, Adam Sionov as well, a few others, including myself, Ani HaKatan, Baruch Hashem, I was able to do Daf Yomi thanks to the Rosh Yeshiva zatzal. We did Masechet Brachot. For all of you that remember, the siyum was huge. It was the last public event, more or less, before the pandemic. The place was packed. There was no room to move. And I took it upon myself, together with the Rosh Yeshiva zatzal, to continue Daf Yomi even during the pandemic. I was mesayem Shabbat, Erev, and we're basically finishing Pesachim, but I didn't do a siyum because I couldn't. It was too difficult. B'marava, tonight I'll also, b'ezras Hashem, be mishtatef nesiim on the side. We'll say the Haggadah together. Pinchas, please. Where is this? Guys, come. Yehuda, Raffy, all the time, come. I'm gonna first finish last few lines in Megillah. I'm gonna finish last few lines in Megillah, and then on, just... The last few lines of Maseches Megillah speak about the halachos of Sefer Torah. Gemara says, Amar Rabbi Yannai brei d'Rabbi Yannai sava mishmei d'Rabbi Yannai Rabba: mutar tigalal hamitpachas. It's proper that the cloth wrapping of the Sefer Torah be rolled around it. V'al yigalel Sefer Torah, but the Torah scroll should not...

rolled upon the cloth in order to wrap the scroll in it. The Mishnah says, Vayedaber Moshe es mo'adei Hashem el Bnei Yisrael. Moshe declared the mo'adim, Hashem, to the children of, to the Bnei Yisrael. Mitzvasan sheyihu korin osan kol echad v'echad bizmano. This indicates that there is a chiyuv to read each and every Yom Tov portion at its appropriate time. Rashi says that we should, Rashi says we need to learn the halachos before the Yom Tov in order to, for the Yom Tov. Tanu Rabbanan: Moshe tiken lahem l'Yisrael sheyihyu sho'alin v'dorshin binyano shel yom, that they should inquire upon and expound upon the matters of the day. They should learn the halachos before the Yom Tov. Hilchos Pesach b'Pesach, they should learn the halachos of Pesach before Pesach. Hilchos Atzeres b'Atzeres, they should learn the halachos of Shavuos before Shavuos. Hilchos Chag b'chag, the halachos of Sukkos before Sukkos. Hadran alach Bnei Ha'ir, v'shlika lan Maseches Megillah. Hadran alach Maseches Megillah v'Talmud Bavli. Hadran alan. Daitan alach Maseches Megillah v'Taanis Bavli, v'daitan alan. Lo nisnashei minach Maseches Megillah v'Taanis Bavli, v'lo sishtakach minan, lo b'alma hadin v'lo b'alma daasi. Yehi ratzon milfanecha, Adonai Eloheinu v'Elohei avoseinu, shetehei Torascha umlaseinu b'olam hazeh, v'tehei 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. הא רב נא, אדונאי Eloheinu, אסדרי שירתך בפינו ופי עמך בית ישראל, ונהיה כולנו אנחנו וצאצאינו וצאצאי צאצאינו וצאצאי עמך בית ישראל, כולנו יודעי שמך ולומדי תורתך לשמה. מה אהבתי תורתך, כל היום היא שיחתי. כי לעולם היא לי. יהי לבי תמים בחוקיך, למען לא אבוש. לעולם לא אשכח פקודיך, כי בם חייתני. ברוך אתה, Adonai, למדני חוקיך. אמן ואמן, סלה ועד. מודים אנחנו לך, Adonai Eloheinu v'Elohei avoseinu, ששמת חלקנו מיושבי בית המדרש, ולא שמת חלקנו מיושבי 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, Elohim, תורידם לבאר שחת; אנשי דמים ומרמה לא יחצו ימיהם, ואני אבטח בך. יהי רצון מלפניך, Adonai Elohai, כשם שעזרתני לסיים מסכת תענית ומסכת תשעהים תלמוד בבלי, כן תעזרני להתחיל מסכתות וספרים אחרים ולסיימם, ללמוד וללמד, לשמור ולעשות ולקיים את כל דברי תלמוד תורתך באהבה, וזכות כל התנאים והאמוראים ותלמידי חכמים. בזכות ... התורה ... ... עד עולם. ... תשמר ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Talk about.

It's a great kavod to have here with us tonight through a shiva. Say a few words. בשוס. כל הקודש הזה. בעצם, ניסן is not a zman for a seudah, אבל ענין יום מקיים דוכרן. The yom, which is a bissel, gives a picture of a barn in a certain movement. גיין דוכסם ליל הסדר. The Mishnah says, גמליאל היה אומר: כל שלא אמר ג' דברים אלו לא יצא ידי חובתו. So you have to say, Pesach, matzah, maror. So the Baal Haggadah says, מצה זו שאנו אוכלים... Why do we eat matzah? על שום שלא הספיק בצקם של אבותינו להחמיץ. Ad shenigla lahem Melech Malchei Hamelachim HaKadosh Baruch Hu b'gvulo. When we went out of Mitzrayim, we didn't get a chance that our dough should become chametz, and it baked in the sun as we ran out of Mitzrayim, and didn't become chametz, and therefore we eat the matzah zecher for that avodah, zecher for the geulah. Shenemar, and the Gemara, the Baal HaHaggadah brings a pasuk, shene'emar, Vayofu es habatzek ugos matzos ki lo chametz, ki gorshu miMitzrayim, v'lo yachlu l'hismahmea, v'gam tzeidah lo asu lahem. The pasuk says the same thing. They baked the dough, the batzek, which they took out of Mitzrayim, ugos matzos. It didn't get a chance to become chametz because they were chased out of Mitzrayim, they couldn't wait. And then the pasuk says another thing, v'gam tzeidah lo asu lahem. They also did not make, did not prepare any other food when they went out of Mitzrayim. That's the pasuk. The goyen, the goyen son, the geulahs Avraham is the Haggadah from the goyen son. In fact, he asks the she'eilah, where is merumaz in the pasuk? The pasuk doesn't say anything about niglah lahem Melech Malchei Hamelachim HaKadosh Baruch Hu v'gvulom. There's no remez in the pasuk. The pasuk just says that they had to run, and because they had to run, so they didn't get a chance to let the, before they bake it, to let the dough rise, and it baked in the sun on the way. What does that have to do? It's true that niglah aleihem Melech Malchei Hamelachim HaKadosh Baruch Hu b'gilui. It's true that HaKadosh Baruch Hu came to them, was go'el them. But what does that have to do with the matzah, the fact that HaKadosh Baruch Hu, niglah aleihem Melech Malchei Hamelachim HaKadosh Baruch Hu b'gilui? What's hatzad ha-talmud the matzah? Why do we say, why do we mention this niglah aleihem Melech Malchei Hamelachim HaKadosh Baruch Hu b'gilui? So the Gulas Avrohom, which is the Goyen's son, it's very not clear. A lot of things he brings is from the Goyen or his own, whatever it is, it's good. Zogt the Goyen, zogt the Goyen asai, the pasuk says two things. The pasuk says, Ki goreshu miMitzrayim, and the pasuk says, V'lo yochlu l'hismahmea. Zogt the Goyen asai, what are the two things? If they were chased out of Mitzrayim, they couldn't wait. Why does the pasuk have to say also they couldn't wait? So the Goyen says like this. He says that really what happened was they were being chased out of Mitzrayim, and they couldn't wait another moment. They were being chased. אבל משהו אחר היה קורה באותו זמן. The Shechinah was there, and the Shechinah was leaving Mitzrayim, and goydel תשוקתם.

To have such a cheshek and such a ahavas Hashem, and such a taiva to run after the Shechinah, that they poshut ran after the Shechinah. They couldn't wait till the basei to be prepared to become chametz, migodel avosam, migodel shekasam la'aretz achrav, to run after the Shechinah. And that cheshek to run after the Shechinah was so great that they had to run. So two things happened simultaneously at the same time. One thing that happened was that the Mitzrim were chasing them and they had to go. The other thing that happened was that the Shechinah was leaving and they had to run after the Shechinah. They couldn't wait a second to leave after the Shechinah, from the godel ha'ahavah, godel shekasam, to run after the Shechinah. So what was on their minds? What was on their minds when they were running? What was the main thing? Here they're being chased, and here, so they're running away and running after the Shechinah. So the pasuk says another line: V'gam tzeidah lo asu lahem. They went out of Mitzrayim, they didn't prepare any food. They went out, millions of people, without a morsel of food that they didn't bring along. Gam tzeidah lo asu lahem. They didn't prepare any other food to take along. Says Rashi: Magid shevacham shel Yisrael, shelo amru, 'Eich neitzei lamidbar b'lo tzeidah?' How can we go out to the midbar without any food? Anashim, nashim v'taf, l'choira millions of people. Hu shemefurash b'kabbalah, 'Zacharti lach chesed neurayich, ahavas klulosayich.' Lechtech achrei bamidbar b'eretz lo zeruah. That was the ahavas Klal, the siyach, the ahavah of becoming connected to Hashem, running after Hashem, that they went after Him bamidbar b'eretz lo zeruah. V'gam tzeid, they didn't think about tzeidah. That was a gevaldike ahavas Hashem and a gevaldike bitachon. That's called chesed nuraich, ahavas Klal, the ahavah of being klulah like a chasanah, becoming connected to Hashem. That's why they didn't make the seudah. We have the same thing. We have another Rashi. Rashi says in the end of Parshas Shemos, the pasuk says at the end of Parshas Shemos, Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, 'Atah sir'ah. Now you're going to see. Moshe says, complained, כביכול, to the Ribono Shel Olam. He says, You sent me to Paro, and since I went to Paro, Paro made things worse for us. Heira la'am hazeh, v'hatzel lo hitzalta es amecha. So the Ribono Shel Olam tells him, Atah sir'ah. You're going to see. Now you're going to see asher e'eseh l'Paro. U'veyad chazakah yeshalchem. With a strong hand he's going to send them out. U'veyad chazakah yegareshem me'artzo. He's going to chase them out of the land with a yad chazakah. So Rashi, he's going to send them out al korcham shel Yisrael. They're not going to want to run so fast. They're going to want to go slower. V'lo yaspiku la'asos lahem tzeidah. They're not going to make tzeidah. They're not going to get a chance to make tzeidah. V'chein hu omer, V'terach Mitzrayim al ha'am. The pasuk says, V'terach Mitzrayim al ha'am l'ma'an shalcham min ha'aretz, ki omru kulanu meisim. So again, we have the same stirah. Over here, מצד אחד. The big sheista, didn't get a chance to make seudah, and the Ribono Shel Olam is ... Lech techachar bamidbar, ... וגם סעודה לא עשה להם. What's the truth? Why did they go? Obviously, the goidel loshon of the ... the goidel shekasav v'ahavasam, the ahavah klulei sayich was so strong that they didn't even notice and realize that the Mitzrayim is chasing them. It wasn't on their minds. They were running after the Shechinah. That was the goidel shekasam. What they did is, the ahavah was so much stronger than the pachad of Mitzrayim chasing them, or than the fact that they were forced to go, that in their minds they were running after Hashem, and the Ribono Shel Olam is ... The chatel l'chesed noraich, ahavas klulei sayich, lechtech achar bamidbar b'eretz lo zrua. The goidel shekasam v'ahavasam, to run after the Ribono Shel Olam drowned out any other tzaar that they were able to have. There's a ... there's a Rashi with the ... The pasuk says, the pasuk says, Yonasi bechagvei hasela. Also Hashem, Yonasi bechagvei hasela. The pasuk says, ...

So the pasuk says like this. The pasuk says that Yonasi. Rashi explains that the goyne is mearech a little more in this mashal, a mashal to a bird that's being chased by its captors. They have these big nets, and they're ready to catch the bird, the yonah, the dove. And the bird has nowhere to run besides into the stones, b'nikikei haselaim. So the bird runs into the stones, and over there there's nechoshim v'akrabim. So the bird is stuck, no eitzah. Run into the nechoshim v'akrabim, they'll get killed. Stay outside, it'll get captured; the avaita get killed. There's no way, nothing you can do. He's stuck. That was the matzav of Klal Yisroel, b'shaas they came to the Yam. They came to the Yam Suf. The Yam was homa likrasam, the Yam was coming towards them. The Mitzrim were chasing after them. They turned to the right, it was nechoshim v'akrabim. They turned to the left—I don't remember which one was the right or left—the left was chayos torefos, was beheimos chayos torefos. They looked up on top, and they saw sar shel Mitzrayim coming, the sar of Mitzrayim coming to fight with them. They're stuck. There's nowhere to go. They can't go in, they can't go forward, because the Yam homa likrasam. They can't go backwards, they can't go to the right, they can't go to the left, they can't even go up to Shamayim. There's nowhere to go. They're stuck. Yonasi bechagvei hasela. So the pasuk says, so what are they supposed to do? What are they supposed to do? Hashmi'eini es kolech, hare'ini es mareich, hashmi'eini es kolech. Show me your mara. Hashmi'eini es kolech. Give me your kol. Says the goyim, what does it mean? You already had such a story, and you ran after the Ribono Shel Olam. V'gam tzeida lo asa lahem. You ran after the Ribono Shel Olam. You didn't think about, yes food, not food. Here also, don't think about being stuck. Don't think about everything. Just run after me like you ran after me then. Where do you run after him? Says the goyim, it says somewhere else, the Ribono Shel Olam was over the Yam Suf, so they ran to the Yam Suf. Run after me in the Yam Suf. And then the pasuk says, Hashmi'eini es kolech. You already said a shira to me. When did you say a shira to me? B'leil Pesach. You said a shira. I want to hear that shira again. It's before they're stuck, when everyone's from all sides they're being attacked. There's no way out. The Ribono Shel Olam says, I want a shira, and I want you to run after me. V'kach hava. They jumped into the Yam, and ein ha-yam omed bifneihem. And like the Targum Yonason says, Hashem yilachem lachem, v'atem tachrishun, says the Targum Yonason, doesn't only mean be quiet and don't scream. Say a shira. What's shira? When shira? They're not up to shira. Right now, when they'll go out, when they get on the other side, they'll say shira. The simcha of halicha achar Hashem, that was the gevaldige shira. I'm waiting for a shira. Right now, I'm waiting for a shira. That's what the pasuk. The pasuk says that this chukah, to run after the Ribono Shel Olam. And this ahavah, which brings out a tremendous shirah that we have a zechus to one after the Ribono Shel Olam. And we have a ahavah, will drown out any tzarah that we have. We're surrounded from all six sides, all sides. There's nowhere to go, there's no way out. It's stuck, it's end. And afal pikein, miloifenoch l'Ribono Shel Olam, mitrachtnis. This doesn't, is not toifes makom at all. It doesn't take any place in our being, in our machshavos. What we're thinking, and now is one thing, but afal pikein, miloifenoch l'Ribono Shel Olam. So Rashi amar l'kizach. The pasuk says in Shir HaShirim, Moshcheni acharecha narutzah, heviani hamelech chadarav. So he brings up the Gemara, it sounds like it's a medrash. They מזכירין לפניו חסד נעורים, אהבת כלולות, לחתם אחריו במדבר ארץ ציה וצלמות, וגם צידה לא עשו להם. והאמינו בו, they trusted in Him, and bishlucha, and He sent you. ולא אמרו איך נצא למדבר לא מקום זרע ומזונות, there's no seeds there, there's no mezonos there. What happened? והוא הביאם לתוך היקף חג'ה ענניו. He took them into His rishus. So then Rashi פירש זה, אמרי דקזח. בזו, אודם היום, תפשין פא.

Galim, I think it means galim, means lashon gil, u'smeichim boi. Af al pi oniam v'tzarosam, u'mishta'ashim baTorah. They don't think about the oni, the tzaros, they don't think about anything, and they're mishta'shea baTorah, and they're enjoying the Torah. V'sham mazkirim dodav u'meish avosam oisoi, and they think about the ahavah they have to the Ribono Shel Olam. It's a kenah in Torah. That's Torah mitoch hatach. I'm a land, u'mishta'shea baTorah. It's schwer, it's from all sides. And af al pi kein, mishta'shea baTorah, says the goyen, that's still existing, that midah of lechtem achor bamidbar, and not only lechtem achor bamidbar, forgetting about all the tzaros, forgetting about everything that's happening, not thinking about it, because it doesn't exist, because the tzaros, they don't exist when we're mukaf with the ahavah of the Ribono Shel Olam, with arumgenum with the ahavah of the Ribono Shel Olam, meloi kol ha'aretz kevodo, mila'en mizal mishtashean zayn Torah. We're talking His Torah. Everything's batel. There's no, there's no, there's no, there's no, nothing, nothing, nothing is there. We go in gantzen in the reshus of the Ribono Shel Olam. Yedidi, ahuvi, Reb Aharon, zichrono livrachah, many, many years, and we—same years that we didn't see each other, but mir zikh gehalten on tasachas Achyon and the Shmuels, the Sachmol, and Lana. And there's one thing, this picture: never took the Shemoneh Esrei off from ponim. Never, wherever he was holding in life, whatever he was going through. It was his health. It was tzaros, that he went through. But he was mishtashea b'Teirah, his ahavas haTorah, his love for good thoughts, for sugya, for Torah and learning, his love for people. His love for people, his ahavas Hashem, and his ahavas Hashem is kolel the ahavah of people. Eizehu mechubad? Hamechabed es habriyos, shene'emar, Ki mechabday achabed. Mi mechabed a person is mi mechabed the Ribono Shel Olam. Loving a person is loving the Ribono Shel Olam, as it states in Pirkei Avos. V'ahavta, Rabbi Akiva omer, v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha, zeh klal gadol baTorah. It states in Medrash, Yachol a person could think, v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha is kamocha. What happens if I'm not in such a good matzav? Nisbazaisi, niskalalti, the person was embarrassed, people embarrassed him, un niskalalti. Iskeit un nisht azoi gut. So meileh, dafka nesh livam l'chaveiro more than himself; he could be mevazeh his chaver also. So the pasuk, but there's another klal gadol baTorah: Ki b'tzelem Elokim asah es ha'adam, b'tzelem Elokim asah oso. A person is a chelek Eloka mima'al. Im atah mevazeh, dal mi atah mevazeh? Atah mevazeh tzelem Elokim. The Mishnah says, Eizehu mechubad? Hamechabed es habriyos, shene'emar, Ki mechabday achabed. What's that pasuk going on? That pasuk is going on Reb Nechunya. U'boizei yekalu. The mechabed, the mevazeh, the mevazeh kodshei Shamayim. What does that have to do with mechabed a person? The Ribono Shel Olam is saying that those are mechabed Me, are mechabed them. But does a mechaber, mechuber, mechaber l'sabrius is mechaber people. Why is that? Why is that? Why does that make him a mechubad? Why is the Ribono Shel Olam mechabed him? Because if you're mechaber a person, you're mechabed the Ribono Shel Olam. That's ki mechabedai achabed. So the Ribono Shel Olam says, Mechabdei achabed. It's eizehu mechubad? Hamechabed es habriyos. And that's what the Medrash says. The same thing goes with ahavah: Ahavta l'reacha kamocha. If the ahavas re'im is, v'ahavta es Hashem. It's a lechtige chai bamitzvah. So a person וואס האט זיך געטאכט בכלל in his surroundings, in his health, in his... one thing: his ahavas habriyos, his ahavas Hashem. I hear now understood there's the maaseh with learning Torah for cholim. Who thinks in that direction בכלל? What am I going to do for the ruchniyus? Daven, of course. Daven, say refaeinu. He put in a few names over there, Abba, and say a kapital Tehillim, Abba. Mamash, ... eleven. Pashut the ahavah for ahavas hazulas, ahavas chaveirim, to ... mekabeles kol ponim, as kol adam b'sever panim yafos. ... ahavas Hashem and ahavas ... Pashut has to leave that mention, leave out the Ribono Shel Olam, and there's nothing that stood in his way from his ...

From his simcha, and from his ahavas klulos, lechtev achar hamidbar, ve'eslois eruah. That was a gevaldike, a gevaldike limud was mekayem zan far them. There was this middah was mezan that we can have this lechtev achar hamidbar even though we're being phenomenal. We're being—everybody goes through whatever he goes through, but our lechtev achar hamidbar, u'mishta'ashim baTorah. His ahavas haTorah is geshmakeln. He's shaashua; it was poshut his shaashua, his enjoyment, druking in, learning. I'm sitting with the son, he says, and I said to my father, the first thing is, Let's hear a good vort. Shalt zach, stam shmoozn. Let's hear a good vort. Okay, we can shmoozen later, but the eshes zach, let me hear a good vort. That's the ganze mishta'ashim baTorah. That's the ganze. And this middah of simcha, and mekabels kol... from Yofis, I can... It's like, it's mamash very, very niker, this gevaldike middas tovos, this going in this gevaldike derachim. Leibish l'helfen, it should be gevaldike... for Choshve rebbetzins, stood by him the whole time, and for Choshve kinder, kulam ahuvim, all the kinder, was the gevaldike middos and gevaldike... This gevaldike... from Yofis. And mir zoln uplernen from them that we have so much more going for us. If we'll go noch in mishta'ashim baTorah, the ahavas Hashem... Then every—there's nothing that will stand in our way, and there's nothing that should take us down. ... is, ... galim b'simcha, we can be b'simcha, we can be b'gil, b'simcha. ... whatever we have, but ... Torah, ... The Eibershter will help us, ... Okay, rabosai, it's hard to believe that it is already a year since the Olam HaTorah lost the Choshuve talmid chacham, Rav and Rosh Yeshiva, Hagaon Rav Baran Walkin, zecher tzaddik livracha. And actually I feel that it is very, very true. And mamash now, the hargasha is so real that, which I had mentioned, that the shloshim, the Chazal tell us in the Medrash, K'shemeis Moshe Rabbeinu, when Moshe Rabbeinu passed away, hayah Yehoshua holech u'vocheh. Yehoshua would go and he would cry. Ha'oman, he would say, Avi, avi. Avi, he's my father. Moshe Rabbeinu was my father, says Yehoshua, shegadleni k'av, because he raised me up like a father. And rebbi, but he was also my rebbi, shelamadni Torah, because he also taught me Torah. And the ksav sofer mentioned, and he quotes matzeivah of his father, some sofer, why do Chazal say that when Moshe Rabbeinu passed away... That he was holech u'vocheh, that he was walking and crying. Why mention that he was holech? Would it make any difference if he would be yoshev u'vocheh, if he would be sitting, or whatever he would be doing? What is the hagasha, what is the emphasis, the hadgasha, that Yehoshua would be holech u'vocheh? The Sfas Emes points out, and he said the following, that many, many times when we lose an Odom Gadol, we lose an Odom Chashuv, at the moment, at the heat of the moment, we are not yet aware, we don't even realize yet what we have lost, because after all, we had him yesterday, we had him the day before, we had him for many, many years. It is too new, it is too fresh. The aveilah yet was not able to sink in that we should be margish and to be able really to feel what we have lost. But the truth is, as time goes by, not only the loss becomes weaker and lessened, just the opposite. But when you lose a rebbe, what happens is that the more that the days and the months go by, the tzaar and the feeling of the loss becomes even more intensified, because as time goes along, we realize we have a problem, we have a kasha, we need an eitzah, we need someone to teach us Torah. Wherever we move, we realize that we once had a rebbe to ask, and now we have lost all that. So it comes out.

That the tzaar of the aveidah that was felt at the time of the petirah, l'maaseh is much less, but it continues to grow as time goes along. The ksav sofer, that is the pshat, Ki shameis Moshe Rabbeinu, meaning the Chasam Sofer, whose name was Moshe, Hoyah Yehoshua holech u'vocheh, holech means it was mosif v'holech. It continued to continue on and on and on, that the tzaar was more, more greater, bigger, and felt all the more. I think the same thing certainly can be said regarding the loss, regarding the loss of Rabbaran. The truth is, when Rabbaran passed away, it was a loss not only for his choshuve, choshuve family, his mishpachah, not only, rabosai, was it a loss for his talmidim. Truly, as a person like himself was a loss for Klal Yisroel, because Klal Yisroel lost a rav. He was a rosh yeshiva, he was a marbitz Torah. He was not stam a rosh yeshiva, but really he was a marbitz Torah with great mesirus nefesh. He lived in Lakewood, and yet he slept in Queens, away from his family. Tremendous mesirus nefesh for his talmidim. Every talmid for him was like a ben yochid. Every talmid was like an individual talmid, as if that would be his only talmid. And he was mamish yet pride in the hatzlachah, in the same way that a father takes pride in the hatzlachah when a son is matzliach, when he grows in Torah u'shamayim. Father has tremendous simchah, parents have a tremendous simchah. So too, he was the type of a rebbe that took pride in the individual success of each and every talmid. So vadeh it's a tremendous loss, and I can only reiterate that which our gaon, Rav Meir Shapiro, the Lubliner Rav, who also lost a talmid. Unabach passed away very young at a young age, and he pointed out, and he quoted the famous pasuk that we say Yom HaNoraim, Haben yakir li Ephraim, you are so dear to me. Ki midei dabri boi, whenever I speak about you, zochor ezkerenu od, I'll always remember him. The Remeir Shapiro, you know what the pasuk is saying: Haben yakir li Ephraim, Ephraim, you Yiddish kind, my son, you are so dear to me. Ki midei dabri boi, because when I talk about you, zochor ezkerenu od, I remember od how much more you could have accomplished. This was a hesped that Remeir Shapiro said regarding a talmid who was so young, and ממילא he bemoaned the fact that had he lived longer, how much more the world could have been neheneh from him. Zochor ezkerenu od, I remember the od. I'm reminded of the fact that what we have lost, we've lost tremendous, tremendous potential. And that certainly can be said about Rav Aaron, who also left this world at a very young age. And ממילא we say the same thing, ki midei dabri boi, that when we speak about him, zochor ezkerenu od, we're reminded how much more he could have accomplished, how many more talmidim he could have raised, how many more talmidim he could have spread the word of Torah all over and bring about the tremendous koach that he had in kiruv, the ahavah and the love that talmidim had for him, and he in fact had for them. So I conclude with the following: Everybody is aware that when we are at a bris, the bracha that Klal Yisroel gives the baby after the bris, and this is a bracha that Chazal incorporated, and we say, K'shem shenichnas labris, the same way that this baby was zocheh to have this bris and to come into Klal Yisroel, we say, ken yikones l'Torah, l'chuppah, ul'maasim tovim. The Rebbe once pointed out and said, you know what the kavanah of the bracha is? The following. The kavanah of the bracha, because you know at a bris we say that zeh ha-katan gadol yihyeh. We say that this katan, be'ezras Hashem, should become a gadol. The truth is, this hashkafah of zeh ha-katan gadol yihyeh, a person should incorporate this hashkafah into his entire life, which means that every person, no matter how great he is, should realize that it's not the end of the line, but rather he still has a chiyuv to continue to grow. And therefore, no matter how great he is today, he still is a katan l'gabe tomorrow. And when tomorrow he becomes greater, he still will be a katan l'gabe the next week and the next month. The idea of zeh ha-katan gadol yihyeh should be a tafkid, should be a mission throughout the entire life of a person. And therefore we say the following: K'sheim shenichnas labris. The same way, certainly when now he's a baby, and we say zeh ha-katan gadol yihyeh, kein yehi ratzon. This bracha of zeh ha-katan gadol yihyeh should not stop now, but kein yehi ratzon, l'Torah, l'chuppah, ul'ma'asim tovim. Throughout his life, throughout his entire life as he continues to grow, we should always, he should always live with the hashkafah that zeh ha-katan gadol yihyeh, that no matter what madreigah I've achieved, I'm only a katan, and I still need a bracha that zeh ha-katan gadol yihyeh, continue to work upon myself to be able to continue to grow more and more. And certainly, this is what we have seen.

That as the weeks and the months went by, he himself continued to grow and was able to be margish and to see the gadlus, how the gadlus of Reb Moir is continuing to sprout and was able to be a gadol marbitz Torah byeser seis uvyeser sois. And certainly now that he's no longer here, avada he is a greater gadol, because we all know that Chazal have told us, Gedolim tzaddikim b'misosam yoser mibechayeihem, that tzaddikim after misa are even greater than bechayeihem. So the entire life, entire life of Reb Aaron, the idea is that a person should always remember that no matter how much talmid chacham he is, realize that you will still have the potential to become greater, and don't stop working on yourself. But zeh hakatan gadol yihyeh, that should be, rabosai, the banner, that should be the mission, that should be the goal of each and every talmid chacham and each and every Yid. So my bracha is, of course, that yeiratzon, Reb Aaron should be mamshich, should continue to be a melech yosher, should continue to be mispallel on behalf of his choshuve rebbetzin, who was always so loyal to him and very much dedicated to his avodah. She has a tremendous chelek in his harbotzas haTorah, and she should continue to daven for his wonderful family, for all the children, bizchus to kol tuv vtoiv. They also need shidduchim, should have shidduchim, bimatzliach in each and every way. They should all be healthy and well, and of course he should be davening for his talmidim, those that he loved so much and they loved him, and for the entire Klal Yisroel, should be zoche to yeshuos, refuos, and nechamos, and bezras Hashem to the geulah sheleimah bimheirah byameinu, amen. I would like to call upon the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi ... to say a few words. ... as the emes chiddush nisin, bichlalnis kein zman of his peidim. שלושים יום לפני החג, קושקיין, נכנסין. נאר, טאג פון א יארצייט איז a ריברדיג זמן פון אבלות. בעצם, אבער דער ערשטע יאר, זמן פון אבלות, איז א שווערע צייט, דאס איז אבלות, מתאבלות. אבלות פארשטייט מען דאך, בעצם י״ב חודש איז על אביו ואמו, אבער דאס איז בעצם א זמן פון אבלות. אז דער ענדיגט זיך דער יאר, איז גייט מען ארויס פון דעם זמן פון צער, פון אבלות, פון די הפסד, און מ'גייט צו דער בעצם, דער נצחיות, דער גאנצע עולם הזה איז דאך דומה לפרוזדור, דער עולם הזה איז נישט דער תכלית. היום לעשותם ומחר לקבל שכרם. אז מ'רעט וועגן ידידינו, רב אהרן, זכר צדיק לברכה, איז דאס בעצם א דמות, עפעס צו גיין צו יום טוב. די שמחה וואס מ'געזען, שמחתו על פניו, די שמחה, מ'גרעט די שמחה וואס קומט ארויס פון תורה, שמחה פון א תלמיד חכם, די תורה וואס איז געווען אין אים, און דאס ארויסגעבראכט די שמחה. דאך געגאנגען שידוך, שווערע תקופות, אבער אלעמאל געווען די שמחה. אז די שמחה איז מלאבט, רב שך זאגט אז די תקופה, זאגט דער פסוק, זאך ווערטער, נישט יעדער טאג איז געהאט א שווערע טאג, אבער ער האט געוואוסט אז מ'לעבט מיט די נצחיות, זאגט ער, דאס איז דער חילוק. א היר בית איז קומען צוזאמען, און זען די קצוות, נסיונות, דער תירוץ פון רבי עקיבא, זיין טרעפן מיט די אלע אידן. דער עולם הזה האט נישט דער... דאס, דער צער וואס מ'גייט דורך אין עולם הזה, דאס נישט... דאס האט נישט קיין חשיבות. די חשיבות איז טאקע מיט די תורה און די מצוות. בריתאקיץ, דאס געמאכט די אידלקייט במידות, ונושא בעול, ויפשט את הצוואר, אבער די שמחה. דאס איז זאך זיך מיינען אז טאקע די תקופה, בפרט חג הפסח, קומט צו טאקע די שמחה, וואס רבונו של עולם זאל זיך קלייבן צו זיין עבדי ה', דער שמחה. אז עבדי ה' איז נישט קיין עול, וואס איז אין לך בן חורין אלא מי שעוסק בתורה, דער אמתע חירות. צו ווערן טאקע עבדי ה', דאס איז א זאך וואס זיך מיינען אז מען קען טאקע אויפלערנען, מען דארף ארויסנעמען די תקופה. אז ער איז געגאנגען די יאר, טאקע געווען א שווערע יאר, אבער יעצט, אז ער טאקע ער איז האט די מוח לקבל שכרם, ער איז, ווי מען זאגט, אין א ליכטיקן גן עדן. עס איז ליכטיג פון די גאנצע אלץ, וואס ער געטון זיין גאנצע לעבן, יעצט איז ליכטיג, ומזה לבנו, אונדזער לב, דער עפן, אונדזער לב אין עולם הזה, צו זיין א לב טאקע פון א ליכטיקע גן עדן, מלב די ליכטקייט, ליכטקייט פון יעדע וואָרט פון תורה.

די תורה אור, דאס איז אונזער ליכטיקייט, דאס איז אונזער מזון און ברענגען צו די אמתע ליכטיקייט בעולם הבא. דאס זאל זיין זיין זכרון, זאל אונז העלפן מיט דעם צו קומען צו שמחה, שמחה על פניו, ... אפילו ... ... זאל ... מיט דער שמחה. די שמחה זאל זיין ... תורה און עבודה, ... זכות זיין, ונישן ניגאלו, ונישן עתידין לגאול. Father's rebbe, someone who we had discussed, to know. I grew up around the Rosh Yeshiva for many years. I want to call upon the rebbe's rebbe, just a few words. I don't want to be mearech. I know there's a schedule, a lot of people, a lot of ... that are coming here tonight to speak l'zechoy of Yedidi, אהובי, יקירי. It's hard to believe I'm coming into this beis medrash and he's not sitting here. I don't come here too often. ... I spoke with the Levaya. Shloishim. I want to say my hergesh is, the sefer hachinuch calls the kohanim meshorsei Hashem. Kohanim, shevet Kehuna, meshorsei Hashem. That's kedushas kehunah. Kedushas kehunah is meshorsei Hashem. The Maharan, zechus tzaddik livrachah, wasn't a kohen, but he was a meshores Hashem. He was moiredike, habotz koach v'habotz haTorah. He was a cholush. I don't know exactly what his physical matzav was, what was his situation health-wise, but I know he was a cholush. You saw it on him, he was a cholush. And the madreigah was habotz haTorah. Moiredike, moiredike haflogah, the hours that he kept, traveling, and how he carried hundreds of talmidim on his pleitzes. It's unbelievable. It doesn't seem to me that it was a gashmiyusdige koach. It was the koach that he had al mishorsei Hashem, and he felt that that was his tafkid, how he did his sheirus laKadosh Baruch Hu. By being mechazek Yidden, he had a psak koach on the gantze eidah of Yidden, a moiredike eidah kedoshah of Yidden, that he was meroymem them. A great deal, a great deal. But regarding mesirus nefesh, I don't believe that it was with menshlache koiches. Even a gezunte mensh should be able to produce what he produced, in kamus uve'eichus, b'shois, traveling more than a night, the yevaita being away from home, in golus, remembering every few nights a week. I just want to say a short ha'orah. Bais HaLevi has an arichus in Parshas Ki Sisa, and he's me'apeleh, he moira ha'orah, as a peleh. He says that we find in Parshas Pekudei, in every pasuk, כאשר ציווה ה' את משה. He says that was a tikun the chet ha'egel, not only b'ma'aseh, that was a tikun the chet ha'egel in the ketomed eigen seichel. That was the shoresh of the chet ha'egel, that Yidden felt, the dordei felt, they have gevaldige hasagos. Moshe nishda, they're going to do with their own seichel. And the Mishkan was a kaparah on the chet ha'egel. So there was a hafke'ah, a hafke'ahte bchinah, כאשר ציווה ה' את משה. That's how he put away, in the melachas haMishkan, he put away his own hasagos. He was yodea l'tzaref osiyos, he had a gevaldige hasagos.

But he put away his own hasogos, and he did the hiskashrus of Moshe. And he is daity, heavily by Levi, having a horah. The kshesiv Hashem es Moshe shteit after the begodim, vezunder, only on the begodim, heavy posuk. It's not going in Parshas Vayakhel, it's the melachas haMishkan, the keilim, the Mishkan, the yerios, the Mishkan and the keilim, mizbeach laShulchan. Over there you don't find kshesiv Hashem es Moshe. It says over there, Betzalel asah. He did the whole melachas haMishkan. Each keli, shteit dort in the partim. The kshesiv Hashem es Moshe shteit by the begodim. L'choirah the begodim wasn't melachas haMishkan. L'choirah the begodim had a shaychus to kehunah. The begodim not have a shaychus with melachas haMishkan, l'choirah. It's not part of melachas haMishkan, the begodim. Begodim was l'tzorech avodah. It wasn't shafen the Mishkan; it was shafen kehunah. The begodim, the first begodim that were made, ot ufgeton kehunah, ot machanach the kohanim. The first kohanim were nischanach with the begodim. And that's what the pasuk says, kshesiv Hashem es Moshe. The horah want to be me'oirer, and I want to say a different remez, in the Chassidishe seder, kshesiv Hashem es Moshe. The Kli Yakar says in parshas Tetzaveh, atah Tetzaveh, you find loshon nochach, Moshe Rabbeinu is the yesod over here. Atah is Moshe Rabbeinu. It doesn't say tzav; tetzaveh, nochach. It's ibergehazt the ksivah, it's ibergehazt it twice, that Moshe Rabbeinu is the yesod, the hadlokas hamenorah. Because the ohr haMenorah had to come through hashpoah of Moshe Rabbeinu's ohr. Moshe Rabbeinu's ohr, nismala kol habayis kula ohr. And he had the ohr, b'emes his ohr was ohr haTorah. Meshech Chochmah says in the derushes, haMenorah degeyesod. Meshech Chochmah says that Moshe Rabbeinu remained in the madreigah of luchos rishonos. Luchos rishonos, Meshech Chochmah is mefa'er in the derushes, is mefa'er there that the luchos had was kasuv in the luchos, bein hashuros, bein ha'osiyos, was kasuv kol haTorah kula, kol mah shetalmid asid lischadesh me'rabo. Mashma, even a young talmid, fregt a kasha, a gute kasha, was on the luchos, was on the luchos. And the shviras haluchos, the second luchos didn't have, had only dases hadibros, the second luchos. The first luchos had kol haTorah kula. And Meshech Chochmah is mevayer that Moshe Rabbeinu himself, b'choysho, was the madreigah of luchos rishonos. He himself was luchos rishonos. He had in his moach was kasuv kol haTorah kula mamash. There was never such a thing again, that a basar va'dam should be luchos rishonos. It was only Moshe Rabbeinu that was left in the madreigah of luchos rishonos. I think efshar, l'aniyas da'ati, luchos rishonos was ma'aseh Elokim. The luchos acharonos was michtav Elokim, not ma'aseh Elokim. For this koach of kol haTorah kula. You needed maaseh Elokim. Chofetz Chaim writes in hafanot that the first yetzirah of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Adam HaRishon, even the baalei chayim, even the baalei chayim, the zro'im, the domemim, the tzomeach, the tzomeach, what the Ribono Shel Olam fashioned alein maaseh yadav has different chashivus and different shleimus and different kedushah. Luchos harishonos had to be maaseh Elokim. They couldn't be, even though whatever a Yid shafts, whatever a man shafts, is al pi the koach of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, yichudo yisbarach shemo, everything was koach. But the heilige Chofetz Chaim says, but the shutfim, even gimel shutfin b'Adam, avada the Eibishter's yetzirah, the Eibishter's koach, the koach of yetzirah of a person, but the shutfin, the ava heim the shutfin. Kol haTorah kulah needed maaseh Elokim. In derush haRan states, Moshe Rabbeinu was b'chinas malach, shein derush haRan. And he has arichus why it was needed for Torah, it was needed that it should be b'chinas malach. I always say, the Gemara says that Moshe Rabbeinu went up to mekabel the Torah, and the malachim said, Mah l'yelud ish beineinu? Didn't say that he's not a malach. They said he's a yelud ish. Vachsidim zavot, hagevorenen, hagevezene. Vachsidim einevus gevorah.

Chesed, the gevurahne, nisborer chesed, the gevurahne. As a Eludishe, as a gevurahne malach, an ish kein gevurahne malach. That was the taineh. Is ken zayn sheRabbeinu had to be a malach, to be maaseh Elokim, was b'derech nes, l'chanse was derech nes, a person not b'koach to make himself the madreigah of a malach, not shayach azazach. A person not b'koach to grester mensch, and bimashlim is gantze tafkid, he cannot become a malach. He needed maaseh Elokim, needed nes. Efshar ani ezdaiti, if he had to be luchos harishonos, he had to be a maaseh Elokim. That's why he had to be a malach, because the Eludishe of Moshe Rabbeinu were the shutfim, that couldn't become luchos harishonos. To become luchos harishonos had to be maaseh Elokim. One of the inyonim Klal Yisroel speaks about, v'atah tetzaveh, v'atah tedaber b'chochmah melev, ashivaleisiv ruach chochmah, v'yaasu es habegodim. Klal Yisroel says, b'dikunah, b'dikunah needed Moshe Rabbeinu, v'atah tetzaveh, v'atah tedaber. The ohr hamenorah needed Moshe Rabbeinu, the koach of Moshe Rabbeinu, the ohr of Moshe Rabbeinu. He was in the small, kol habayis ohri; he had a p'shutdige ohr, which is the ohr of kol haTorah kulah, that was Moshe Rabbeinu's ohr, the ohr of kol haTorah kulah. And the bigdei kehunah needed Moshe Rabbeinu. Ani ezdaiti, ka'asher tzivah Hashem es Moshe in Parshas Pekudei, that's gezogt gevorden af the begodim, nisht nur hamleches haMishkan. It's a heleke bechinah. Ka'asher tzivah Hashem es Moshe, Moshe Rabbeinu was the baal davar on the begodim. Moshe Rabbeinu is the baal davar on kehunah, because the shevet, it's had over, seder chinuch calls the kohanim meshorsei Hashem. Tesha'afa meshoras Hashem, he needed the koach of Moshe Rabbeinu, the oir of Moshe Rabbeinu, tesha'afa meshoras Hashem. I'm saying before, yedidi hayoker, Reb Aharon, zichrono livracha, is a botza Torah wasn't that with meshalchei koiches, bezachalus, in gezunt. It wasn't with meshalchei koiches. It was a koach Eloki, boruch Elokei Shem meshotach. We saw a lekus in him. We saw a lekus. It wasn't meshalchei koiches. And the Torah, the Torah brought him to a madreige, Moshe Rabbeinu had a koach tesha'af meshoras Hashem. Zayn Torah, dem gemacht far a meshoras Hashem. It was an eved Hashem, the meshoras Hashem. And that's how he was marbitz Torah, and that's how he was manhig this makom kadosh over here where we're standing, we're sitting. That's how he was manhig this makom kadosh, with the oir haTorah, and that was his koach. And on asking, beten, ... and on asking to be a melech yosher, his Torah mishpocha, Torah Rebbetzin. She was a medesly eminoi, kol yamov medesly eminoi, Torah kinder. All the children are Torah, Torah kinder, yekorim v'nachmadim, middos, yiras Shamayim, mamish nachmadim. On asking to be a melech yosher, mispalel for the kisei hakavod, they should have hatzlacha, gashmiyus u'ruchniyus, and mispalel for this makom, the bnei hamakom, the ones that are mechazek this makom, hamamshich. Mamshich hismokim, his oyrech is geblibene, the aner nisht, oysgeloshen, the oyrech is heh, and who was avegeshtelt heh, Reb Yosef Fond, Yosef Fond, shlita, and we see, and recognize him, and recognize him, gevaldige, gevaldige gadlus. He's mamshich, he was, I know, I know that he was yedid ne'eman, he was yedid ne'eman to Reb Aharon, he was very, very yoder to him. And he's mamshich the smokim, they should give him siyata dishmaya, and we should b'zoche to get together for simchas, and b'zoche to a kosher freilichen Yontif, and my yedidim, the children, all of them, yedid hanefshi, even though I don't see them enough, but mikoach my hiskashrus un so lange yoren to Reb Aharon, so many, so many years, he used to schlep steps to me in yeshiva when he had something to say, every so often, every once in a while, to chofshleppen b'siras nefesh, to come to tell me a guter zachen, to mechazek me, to mechabed me. They should all have...

Givaldige, givaldige, givaldige hatzlacha, simchas. You lift me nogea to simchas, choshve simchas. I'll try to be mishtatef, be'ezras Hashem. Mi zoicheh tzu a geulah shleimah, meheirah bimeinu, amen. Talks about the little aleph of Vayikra, and the Baal Shem brings down the reason why there's a little aleph is Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to write Vayikra, and because he felt that, you know, to brag about that he's got a pel pel HaKadosh Baruch Hu, that's gaivah, and he was anav mikol adam asher al פני האדמה. So he wanted to leave out the aleph period, so not negate that people should know he's in madreigah of Vayikra. And the Ribbono wanted to put in specifically that they should know who Moshe Rabbeinu is. So what did they do? They met the settlement on a little aleph. The kasha becomes, if a big aleph, most people would miss it. They'd miss the whole idea that he wanted to say Vayikra. But if you say a little aleph, then you're causing attention to that point. So then you're saying that's really, I want you to know that I was in that madreigah, that I was how big I was, the biggest gaivah in the world, more than if it would have had a big aleph. So what's the point that he had the little aleph? Because it's to teach us why did the takkeh keep it? To teach us that a person has to live up to his potential. Most of the koiches that Moshe Rabbeinu had. Obviously, we're from God. But one thing he put into it was that he brought it to fruition. He brought it into the madrigah of going, became his derech. He lived up to his potential. That's the main idea. And we learn from there that a person's obligation in this life is to live up to his potential. The potential is God-given. That's not his. The Ribono Shel Olam gave it to him. But you have to live up to your potential. Reb Avram was a young man. I remember as a talmid yet in high school when he first came, in ninth grade. And he learned, I don't remember how many years, but he was by us, considered himself a talmid in the yeshiva, he considered himself my talmid, and we were very proud of him. But he was a talmid. No one expects too much or knows too much what's going to happen with your talmidim in the ninth grade. And so I don't remember how long he stayed, but whatever it was, it was enough to have a good foundation of who he became. And lemaaseh, he used up all his koiches. He's a rav in Lakewood. He was Rosh Yeshiva in Queens. He had to deal with Chazak. He was a person who we can say lived up to his potential. And I think that's the point that we want to see and understand, that we have to learn from him, that we have to live up to our potential. We should have a lot of nachas from his memory, and yehi zichro baruch. Hagaon HaTzadik, Rabbi Mordechai Wolkin, alav hashalom, had so much influence and effect on our community. He taught so many talmidim, and he brought them to such a high level. We all owe him a tremendous respect. And I think one of the highlights we can get from Rabbi Wolkin is his love and his warmth to each and every one, either it was a talmid chacham or a talmid, or even a baal bayit. Any person who came in contact with him felt this ahavat Yisrael that was burning in him, and felt how he's connecting to him. And he had also the power and the unity, the unique power to unite the group and put them as one group, make them well connected with ahavah ve'achvah. And this is something that we see that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai wanted from his talmidim to do. So I would like to read it from Zohar, Kadosh, Parashat Ki Tisa, daf kuf tzadik. Zohar says as follows: Once Rabbi Shimon came to visit...

To the group, to the chavurah, to the idrah, and he saw, Chama ben Pappos, siman. He saw on the face that they were just dealing and learning about ahavat Hashem to Israel. So Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said as follows: אמר, עולו בני קדישין, עולו רחימין דמלכא. Look how Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai called his talmidim. He calls them, עולו, come in, בני קדישין, בני קדושים. עולו רחימין דמלכא, come in, ahuvei HaMelech, the king's beloved, beloved of Hashem. עולו רחימין דילי, come in, my beloved, ahuvim sheli. עולו רחימין אילין באילין, come in, רחימין, ahuvim, elu be'elu. They love and respect each other. דאמר רבי אבא, כל אילין חברייא דלא רחימין אילין לאילין, any group of talmidim that they don't love to each other, they don't have each other, they don't respect each other, אסתלקו מעלמא עד לא מטא זמנייהו. Bar minan, bar minan, they're going to get out of this world before their time. Very dangerous. This is what happened to talmidei Rabbi Akiva. Right before Pesach, we know what happened. Right after Pesach, we all doing the laws of aveilut, נוהגים מנהגי האבלות because of the loss of talmidei Rabbi Akiva, 24,000 talmidim, שלא נהגו כבוד זה בזה, they did not respect each other well enough, to their madrega, they did not respect each other. So, therefore, says Rabbi Abba, bnei chavraya, chavraya kedisha, they're supposed to love each other and to respect each other. Kol chavraya b'yomei de Rabbi Shimon, richimu denafsha v'rucha ahavat b'hadayhu. The group of Rabbi Shimon, the whole days of Rabbi Shimon, all his life, they had tremendous love and respect to each other. Richimu denafsha v'rucha ahavat nefesh v'ruach was among them. U'vegin kach, bedara de Rabbi Shimon, beitgalya ahava. Says Zohar Kadosh, that's the reason that in that generation, Rabbi Shimon's generation, they were zoche to seudot haTorah beitgalya. So many seudot Torah were giluyim at that time. Because of what? Because of the love and respect that they have among each other. You know that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is a student of Rabbi Akiva from the last five talmidim. After Rabbi Akiva lost the 24,000 talmidim, halach etzel rabotenu shebadarom, and he taught five talmidim. One of them is Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. So Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai got from Rabbi Akiva the entire Torah, ve'ahavta l'reacha kamocha, ze klal gadol baTorah, who says that? Rabbi Akiva says that. And mainly, Rabbi Akiva was teaching it over to the last five talmidim, because the Torah that we have nowadays is from the last five talmidim. We don't have the Torah of the first 24,000. So amar Rabbi Akiva, ve'ahavta l'reacha kamocha, ze klal gadol baTorah, we got from these last five talmidim of Rabbi Akiva. This is what Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai says over here. Especially when it comes to talmidei chachamim, when it comes to a group of a kolel, a group of yeshiva, when they're sitting learning together, they should have tremendous kavod and tremendous love to each other. בעבר אמר בשמעון, כל חבריא דלא רחמין אילין לאילין. If, chas v'shalom, the group, they don't love each other, they don't respect each other, גרמין דלא להך באורח מישר. They're causing themselves not to go in the right way. They're not going in the right way. Why? The Shechinah is not there. When Hashem Yitbarach sees the chaverim, the chaburah, they don't respect each other, Hashem is not staying there. Shechinah is not staying there. And you can see it as a father, if you see your children are fighting each other, you get very hurt. You don't want them to hurt each other. If you feel that one of them is putting down the other, little kids, little kids, it still hurts. But if they're adults, if they're mature, if you see your older boy, your older son, 21 years old, is insulting his brother, 19 years old, as a father, you get insulted, you get hurt. Why are you insulting your brother? Why are you not respecting him? So HaKadosh Baruch Hu is our father, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Shechinah is there with us. Shechinah is with us, among us, especially when we're learning Torah. This is even be'achid. Shnayim, נכתבה מלאה בספר הזיכרון, ויקשב ה' וישמע ויכתב ספר זיכרון.

This is what the Gemara only found. In asarah, it's a special madrigah. So there's a group of people learning Torah, Shechinah is there with them. And when Hashem sees that they are fighting each other, they disrespect each other, they're insulting each other, there's no love, there's no unity among them, so that is, chas v'shalom, causing Hashem to get out of this place. Hashem doesn't want to stay there. If Hashem is not staying there, if Shechinah is not there, there's no siyata dishmaya, there's no berachah, there's no success, there's no hatzlachah. And how are they going to go in the right way if there's no siyata dishmaya? The whole success of Torah and Yirat Shamayim is the siyata dishmaya. That's what the Gemara says. The Gemara says, Vayaas adam sheyiskaymu bo divrei Torah. Vakesh, chachamim, mi she... lok megirsa, siyata dishmaya. להחזיק שמעתא על ליביה, siyata dishmaya. Sefarah, זה לחדודי. לחדודי זה מרבה ישיבה, מרבה חכמה. But to be able to absorb what you're learning, לאוקמי גירסא, you need siyata dishmaya for that. לעסוק לשמה, to ... that's called l'orach meshar, עליבא דהלכתא, that's siyata dishmaya. That's not up to me how much I'm going to learn. I need siyata dishmaya for that. And בקש רחמים, from Hashem, to be zocheh for siyata dishmaya. So if there is ahavah v'achvah, if there is kavod among the group, among the talmidim, so there is siyata dishmaya there. The siyata dishmaya there, Hashem is there with them, Shechinah is there with them. Chas v'shalom, if Shechinah is leaving, גרמין דלא להך בורח משם. ועוד, דאבדים פגימו בה. That's already causing a pegam in the Shechinah. דהא אורייתא רחימו ואחוה וקשוט אית בה, קודשא בריך הוא ואורייתא חד הוא. That's a pegam in the Torah. This is, if they don't love each other, that's a pegam in the Torah. Why? Because the whole Torah, the entire Torah, is ahavah ve'achvah u'kshot. The Torah is built from these three main foundations: ahavah, which is chesed; achvah, which is gevurah; u'kshot, which is tiferet, titen emet l'Yaakov. Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. The whole Torah is Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov: chesed, gevurah, tiferet. Avraham midat hachesed, Yitzchak midat hayirah, midat hagevurah, Yaakov midat hatiferet, midat haemet. Titen emet l'Yaakov — that's Torah emet, keneged Yaakov. So that's the entire Torah, because Yaakov includes — in Yaakov includes Avraham and Yitzchak. So look what the Zohar says: Avraham rachim l'Yitzchak, Avraham loves Yitzchak; Yitzchak l'Avraham, Yitzchak loves Avraham. Mitchabekan da b'da, they like hugging each other. Yaakov tarvaihu yachidan b'rachimu uv'achvah. Yaakov gets both, on both sides, from Avraham and from Yitzchak. Both of them holding Yaakov, b'rachimu uv'achvah, b'ahavah uv'achvah. So rachimu comes from Avraham, the love comes from Avraham. Achvah comes from Yitzchak, that's yirah. And yamin v'smol are mechubakim, im semolo tachat l'roshi v'yemino techabekeni, kilulim da b'da. So this is a kind of a shiluv, a combination of love and yirah. That's called achvah, and there is a emet which comes with Yaakov. Yaavin ruchaihu da b'da. They are giving a spirit one to another by respecting each other, by loving each other. The helping each other, my wisdom helps the others. The wisdom of others helping me. That's called yahavin ruhayu dabeda. There's a shemtov Moshe Rabbeinu, ve'altzatam ruchacha aleihem. From Moshe Rabbeinu's spirit, he was ma'atzil to his, to the zekenim, to Yehoshua and zekenim when he was somech them. So that's kind of, they are ma'atzil to each other, from ruach to ruach, more wisdom or chokhmah. There's more success this way. That's the whole idea of learning b'chavruta, that one is helping each other. Another, it's another level of hatzlachah that you cannot do by yourself. But if there is ahavah ve'ahvah ve'emet among the chavurah, so they are achieving this. They are able to get this siyata dishmaya. So therefore says, Chavraya kehahu dugma itzerichu. The chavurah should be like Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Each one of them is supposed to be like, with love and kavod to the others, like Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. They were connected and together. Mashpe'im zeh lazeh. Ve'la me'abad pegimu. So I feel, Rabban working, he had this tremendous koach to put the chavurah together.

Ezraos Kulel. When he was there, the Rav Chabura felt this special ahava ve'achva ve'emet among them, how there is kavod one to another, how there is kavod to the Rav, how is the kavod from the Rav to the talmidim. This high level of ahava ve'achva ve'emet that he was able to implant into the group wherever he was, that's something very unique to him, very special to him. And now that we come to the year yahrzeit of Baron, I think we all should learn from his hanhagot of his ahavat Yisrael, to learn from him how to respect each other and how to love each other and how to be just in a position of be mashpia and giving and mechazek and encourage the other, just helping, giving from myself to the others with ahava ve'achva ve'emet, and to respect as much as we can each other. To learn from him, I was amazed by him every time I met him, the tremendous kavod, the tremendous ahava, the tremendous chamimut that he gave you, that he made you feel like the most welcome person in the world by him by that moment. This special kind of behavior, to make everyone feel special, to make everyone feel beloved and encourage everyone and help everyone, that's something we're supposed to adapt and learn from him. And iratzon these words will be zechut for his neshama by us learning from his ma'asim. It should be melitz yosher for us, for his family, for all his talmidim, for Klal Yisrael, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is going to... מבטל פומאס, מבטל מעמו ישראל כל גזירות קשות ורעות, מבטל מחשבות שונאינו, ויפר עצת אויבינו, וישלח לנו משיח צדקנו, ויגאלנו גאולה שלמה ברחמים, ובנין המקדש, עיר ציון תמלא, ונזכה בעזרת השם השנה לאכול מן הזבחים, מן הפסחים, בירושלים הבנויה, נזכה לגאולה שלמה, אמן ואמן. This is the greatest rule of the Torah, the number one rule in the Torah is, וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ. Zeh klal gadol means there's got to be a klal katan. And what is the klal katan? Kedoshim tihyu. What made the Rosh Yeshiva of Tels so unique? Was the fact that he was not only a tremendous, tremendous talmid chacham, and a person with a heart that truly cared for every single person that he came across. Rabbi was a real talmid chacham, a real gaon, a real Yid, always looking to help people, always with a smile, always positive. But his smile, his love for every single Jew, is something that I've never seen before in my life. Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Rabbi cared about every single Yid as if they were his own child. My Rabbi, Rabbi Aaron Walkin zatzal, had such a mastery over so much of the Torah. Our Rebbe's yediot baTorah was so vast, there was no topic in kol haTorah kula that was too big or too small. He knew everything.

What a great talmid chacham. Our Rebbe was a tremendous charif, and his charifut would be appreciated in the greatest of yeshivot. My Rebbe, Rav Aaron Walkin zatzal, was not a Kohen, but he was definitely an Aharon. He resembled the quality of Aharon HaKohen, who was ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. There's no soldier like the Jewish soldier. I may add, because there's no heart like the Jewish heart. There's nothing like Yisrael, mi k'amcha Yisrael, goy echad, we are one nation b'aretz. He was always, always positive and happy to teach us. Anything he taught, Chumash, Gemara, Halachot, I just want to hear more of it and more of it and more of it. To stay the whole week in Queens while his family was in Lakewood showed us what real, real mesirut nefesh was. He taught me how to learn, and most importantly, to love learning. Torah transforms a person to be an adam hashalem, not an adam, not a mensch. He wouldn't stop. He would continue and he would tell us, You got to continue. You have to be marbitzei Torah. My Rebbe, he had real ahavat Yisrael. In front of the Torah, he used to cry. He used to cry on behalf of Klal Yisrael. He felt for others deeply, so much so that he would literally cry with you. He needs to not only think of himself. But he needs to think of the klal and even the rest of the world goyim as well. That's what made Rebbe so unique and so different than the rest. How much we all changed ever since we met the Rav, and that's all thanks to our walk-in. Thank you, Rebbe. The way he taught me to look at the good of every single person will stay with me forever. And I can say he changed my life for the good. And this is the kind of person that we had the schus to have in our lives, somebody that just kept on giving to us and giving to us and giving to us. Sad that he left us too soon. I will definitely miss him. We should keep on carrying his name on and making him proud. He is one that will forever be with me. I love you, Rebbe. We miss you. Zeghrtadiglimrxa.

Levitalic levracha. And we long to see you bezrat Hashem soon when Mashiach comes. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.