Sheloshim for Rav Aharon Walkin zt”l: Talmidim Remember His Torah, Humility, and Care for Every Yid

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Uvayom hashvii shavat vayinafash. Many years ago, I heard my Rebbe, Reb Zechert Tzadik Livracha, say the following word. He was speaking about his grandmother, aleha hashalom, Rebbetzin Tzivia Wolkin. Chazal say on this pasuk, Uvayom hashvii shavat vayinafash, on the words vayinafash, on the seventh day he rested and he breathed, vayinafash, literally. Chazal say, vai of the nefesh, that from here we learn literally, woe, oy, that the neshama is gone. Chazal say that from here we see a hint that there's a neshama yeseira, that there's an extra neshama that a person gets on Shabbos, and when Shabbos is finished, the neshama leaves. And Rebbe asked, If you want to teach us about the neshama yeseira, why do you have to give it to us in a pasuk which talks about the end of Shabbos, when the neshama leaves? It should be a hint in the word where Shabbos comes in, then the neshama comes. And he said, because unfortunately many people, when Shabbos comes in, they don't feel they have the neshama yeseira. They don't feel it. And it's only throughout the entire Shabbos that they're learning, eating, drinking, enjoying, when the Shabbos is finished, all of a sudden they feel something different. They feel a change, and they realize, Oy, I had the neshama, and it's gone. And I feel this is a very, very appropriate statement about my Rebbe as well. We had such a precious neshama in our midst. He was our neshama yeseira, and all of a sudden he's gone, and all of a sudden now we're realizing how much it is that we're missing. I, my colleagues, with the members of our shul, many of the people in our community, we thought we understood how precious and how important he is. We thought we understood how much we should value him. But I think now that he was taken so suddenly, and now we're left with this huge void to fill and such a huge painful loss that we have to walk with, all of us in our hearts. Now we understand what we lost. Now we're starting to understand what we lost. And to describe my Rebbe, it's not possible, not for somebody like me. But I can only say one thing, that I felt, and I'm sure other people felt this as well, that when he was speaking to whoever, whichever person he was speaking, that person was made to feel like he was at the center of his heart and the center of his mind, as if there was nothing else that existed for him. He only cared for that one person. He only davened for that one person, that his happiness made him happy and his suffering made him suffer. And even though many people, myself included, we all knew that, of course, it can't be. He's a father, he's a husband, he's a rav of a shul, he's a rosh yeshiva, he's a kollel. But somehow in our minds we thought, of course, yeah, but I'm in the center. I'm the main, I'm the most important thing. I'm his ben yochid. I'm his main project. I'm the one that matters to him the most, because that's the feeling that he gave to every single person. As if we were at the center of his heart. I joined the kolel to learn under Rabbi Walkin about 20 years ago. I was just starting college, and a good friend of mine, who saw that, you know, I was coming here and there, but I wasn't really learning regularly, he asked me, Why don't I come on Sunday? I said, Where? He said, There's a Chumash shiur. So I started to attend. That was my first introduction to Rebbe, and from that it became more and more frequent. I started to come more often whenever my schedule allowed, and I became a regular. And even though all the people in this kolel were people that were learning already from a long time, and they were going to yeshiva, and I went only to a kiruv school, but he took me with open arms. And because of his smile, and because of his warm comments and his encouragements, every question that I would ask and every comment that I would make, he was meshabeach. He praised it as if, you know, I was one of the top guys over there. I kept coming back, and that's how he built me, and that's how he built many other talmidim, and that's how he had a kesher with so many other baalei batim as well, because of his warmth, because of his smile. Everybody remembers that huge smile that he had, the smiling face like a shining sun. Rebbe was an expert in building talmidim, both in teaching us how to learn and in yiras shamayim and in mussar that he taught us, and it's—

Something which I feel again, vay of the nefesh. We didn't value it. I didn't value it at the time. I thought it's only a kiruv kolel, how much already could we be knowing? It only left when the Rebbe moved to Lakewood and he wasn't able to come as regularly. And then after some of us moved on to other places, then we realized how much we gained through this unbelievable person, through this talmid chacham who taught us how to learn, who taught us values in mussar, that many of us became rabbanim, many of us became fine, fine bnei Torah, that people would not believe that, no, that we were baalei teshuva, that we came from some places that a person wouldn't be able to describe as a ben Torahdikah home. But this person took us out and like a father gently molded us and built us and instilled in us yiras Shamayim, sense of yashrus, and sense of being mechaveirim. And it's hard, hard to describe how much we gained from him, and at the same time that we didn't even realize it. We thought that, you know, it's just a shiur. We thought that it's just a Chumash shiur. The community is going to be reeling for a long time to replace such a person. To find another person like Rebbe is going to be, I don't think it's going to be possible. The job that he did, we all thought, like I thought I was at the center, we all thought that Queens was the center of his projects. Certainly the kollel, he had his community here and he started out here. And now after his petirah, all these pictures are coming out and all these videos for all the other mosdos he was involved in, in Lakewood and throughout the different states in America. And now we understand that really this person had such a huge heart. He said, such a huge mind and such a huge heart that he had so much room in his heart for so many people. Everybody was in the center. Everybody was a focus in him. And anytime there was somebody that he could be mesameach, that he could be mechazek, that he could somehow strengthen in his learning, he could see how he could help him, his heart was open. He was ready to help. I'll share a personal incident. Just, I remember going with my son before his bar mitzvah to get a bracha from Rebbe. He lived not too far from where I live right now, in that apartment. And we walked in, and he was in the middle of learning, of course. And when he came in, he said, Oh, Rafi, what are you doing here? I said, I brought my son for a bracha. I was already thinking, what's he going to say? What kind of a bracha? He asked my son, Tell me, how are you doing in yeshiva? Great. You turning bar mitzvah? Great. He put his hand in my son's hand, and I said, I want you to give me a bracha. My rav is asking my son for a bracha, and my son right away blushed. I want you to give me a bracha. You're going to be a big tzaddik. You're going to be a big talmid chacham. I need a bracha from a person like you. And instantly my son was already smiling. He was a goyen. My Rebbe was a goyen in how to connect to people, how to bring out the best in people. And that's something that, be'ezras Hashem, we, his talmidim, those that had the chance to be next to him, especially during the last few years when he started to shine again, to shine his unbelievable light and brilliance, those that were able to see it firsthand, to try to recreate and try to do to other people, to carry on his legacy. It's a tremendous loss for his family, for his parents, for his brothers and sisters, and for his chashuve rebbetzin, for his children. And we are very, very thankful. I am personally very thankful for the 20 years that I had a kesher with him, and for the fact that they were able to share him with us, even though it was a very difficult relationship because he had to stay in Queens and only came back to Lakewood a few times. And in the younger years, we used to come over to Reb Moshe's house and Nami used it as our bais medrash, as our hotel, and they were so giving, the entire mishpacha, the entire Wolkin mishpacha, was always so giving and so unassuming. And it's something that Klal Yisroel will always carry a debt to, especially our community will always be indebted to them. We should be zoche, just like this neshama was taken from us, be'ezras Hashem we should be zoche to a yom shekulo Shabbos. We should get him back to be able to see him smiling, to see Moshiach Tzidkeinu bimheira b'yameinu, amen. So the mishpacha gave me the privilege of speaking about Rebbe zatzal, and I really feel that it's time to be emor. Acharei mos kedoshim, it's time to be emor. Although the truth is, I could have spoken about Rebbe for hours b'chayav, mibereishis, from the first time that I met him until the end of his vayechi. However,

To encapsulate Rebbe in five minutes is poshut impossible. It's not shayach, not shayach. So what to do? So excuse the demonstration, but this is what I would have done b'chayav. Whenever I had a shaila, I would pick up the phone and call 347-205-5182, and this is what it would sound like. Hello, Rebbe? Shapsele, how are you? Baruch Hashem, and how's Rebbe? Ah, gevaldik, gevaldik. Couldn't be better. What can I do for you, tzaddik? You know I love you like a son. Thank you, Rebbe. Rebbe, just a quick shaila. Sure, sure, I have all day for you. Thank you. They'd like me for me to speak about Rebbe for five minutes. What should I say? All right, all right, it's all good, it's all good. Just make people happy. Should I say over Rebbe's Torah? Nah, nah, they're tired, they're tired. Say a quick maiseh. So, thinking that that's what Rebbe would have wanted me to say, I'm just going to try to say a quick maiseh. However, b'hakdamah to that maiseh, I would just want to bring out one nekudah and then to hear the maiseh. Rebbe used to say over many times from common mekoros that the mem-ches Kinyanim of the Kinyanei Torah are neged the days in between Pesach and Shavuos, the 49th day being the day to be mesaken and to be kolel all the mem-ches Kinyanei Torah together. According to the counting of the Medrash Shmuel, the 24th kinyan is the kinyan of kabolas ha'yisurim. Mi mekabel yisurim b'ahavah. Rebbe said over many years ago, b'sheim the Netziv, in one pshat in Pirkei Avos, by the Aseres Nisyonos shenisnaseh Avraham Avinu, he was masbir from the Netziv what a nisayon is, what's the pshat in a nisayon. And the Netziv says in that pshat that it's to be mechaper on nisyon and yisurim, is to be mechaper on the ganze dor, to be mechaper on the entire generation. Rebbe was masbir then, how is it mechaper? It's mechaper because when other people see the tzaddik in the matzav of yisurim and being mekabel it b'ahavah, they become better mentioned, they're mechuzak, they become better mentioned. And therefore, through that, through the fact they become better people, that's the kaparah. That's the kaparah for the generation. Rebbe told this over then, the maaseh when he came to Reb Yaakov Toldiano zatzal, and he saw at that time Reb Toldiano was very, very shvach and very sick and mamash in pain. And Rebbe started crying, and he said, Rebbe, referring to his Rebbe, Rebbe, what can we do? And Reb Toldiano had asked him, What's the problem? Why are you crying? And he said, Look, look, look, Rebbe's in so much pain, Rebbe's in so much tzaar. So he said, Adarabah, if he would have the chance to be bocher in these yisurim, to choose these yisurim, he would have chosen them, because it brings him closer to the Eibishter, kirvas Elokim li tov. Rebbe internalized this yesurim fully, and Rebbe lived it this way. And I'd like to bring it out with this one maiseh. With this maiseh, you see that Rebbe was not only mekabel yisurim, his yisurim; he was mekabel Yenem's yisurim. And not just being mekabel Yenem's yisurim, but he was mekabel Yenem's yisurim more than Yenem felt his yisurim. Rebbe felt it more than him and was mekabel it more than the person himself. And I'll share with you this maiseh. This maiseh happened on a different Erev Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas Tzav, not Tav-Shin-Pei when it was Rebbe's petirah, but Tav-Shin-Ayin-Daled, when my son Eliezer Tzal was niftar in his sleep. The doctors had tried to do what they could to see if they could revive him. They found themselves unsuccessful in doing so. And when that was finally confirmed, I felt I needed a lot of chizuk, and I called up Rebbe. And again, I'll demonstrate like I did before. It went something like this: Hello, Rebbe? Shabbosel, how are you? Does Rebbe have a chair? It's okay, it's okay, I'm fine, I'm fine. What's doing? Rebbe, I really think you need to sit down.

It's fine, it's fine. What happened? What happened? Rebbe, I'm at the hospital. My yingo didn't wake up this morning. Shabboselah, he tells me. Shabboselah. I, I, I have to get off the phone. I have to get off the phone. Right. That was not the chizuk that I was expecting whatsoever. Not at all. And I couldn't understand it. Rebbe, I'm a talmid. I'm so close to you, Rebbe. Nothing, not even one word. I just couldn't understand it. I got my answer several hours later by the levayah. I saw Rebbe there, and I went to Rebbe to speak. The groise Rebbe, Rebbe, the groise Rebbe. I want him to speak by the levayah. Who could speak? Who could capture the moment better than him? And to my surprise, Rebbe didn't want to speak. I came over to him, Rebbe, could you speak? He said, I can't speak. I can't speak. And I didn't say this, but in my mind I was thinking, Rebbe, how could it be? How could you? You always speak. You always know what to say. How could you not have what to say? And surprisingly, I got my answer right then and there. The next words Rebbe told me was, Shabboselah, I fainted. I fainted. I couldn't. I fainted. I couldn't believe it. Rebbe was mekabel. Rebbe felt my yissurim more than I felt my own yissurim. Rebbe felt my yissurim more than me. So nisht nur Rebbe mekabel yissurim, ala momenta shmeicha, masev panim yafos, his yissurim. He's mekabel yenem's yissurim. The Yomim Tovim is mekabel. Rebbe, who's going to be mekabel our yisurim now? Rebbe, who can we call when we have a shaila? Who are we going to ask? Who can we call? And if Rebbe were here, I think Rebbe would say, Shapsele, what do you mean, call the Eibishter? He's always available. Call the Eibishter. Ask the Eibishter. ... with the Eibishter. Yizibaruch. It's been 30 days since my Rebbe, Rav Aaron Walkin, zicher tzaddik v'kadosh livracha, was taken from us. You know, every Shabbos and every day, I sit and I reminisce. I think about all the moments we had together and how special of a person Rebbe really was. You know, sometimes when you have somebody with you every single day, you don't appreciate who you're around, whether it's your spouse, whether it's your parents. Rebbe was somebody that was larger than life. I saw him for years, every single day. Not one day did I ever see him come in sad, upset, and he had plenty of things he was going through. Always a smile on. I used to ask him, Rebbe, you never get burnt out? You do so much, driving from Lakewood to Queens. I do it one time, you know, I have to think about it ten times. Traffic. He didn't even have a GPS. I said, Rebbe, you don't get burnt out? He tells me, This soldier never gives up. He used to look at himself as a soldier of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. The gedulah of Rebbe was that not only he was a massive talmid chacham, the amount of Torah that he knew, mareh mekomot, and any topic I ever spoke to him about was unbelievable. But the way that he was able to treat every single person and to come down to people's levels was something I've never seen. You know, the Gemara talks about Bet Hillel, Hillel HaZaken, that they asked him, What is, if you had to summarize the Torah in one sentence, what would it be? And Hillel answered that caring about a person, v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha, caring about another person is the main focal point of the entire Torah. The entire Torah is a commentary to figure out to get to this point. That is what Rav Aaron Wolkin was. The way he cared about every single Jew, every single person, he always told us.

You have to respect other people. The way he respected other people, never spoke bad about anybody. I've never seen such a thing in my life, for years. Never ever spoke bad about anyone. The way he cared about every single person. Random people coming in from the street, whispering something in his ear, a certain sorrow that they're going through. He used to stop it, start crying, tears coming down from his eyes. The way he cared about his talmidim. He used to call me every day, Shachris, what's going on? Where are the boys? If he used to hear something in my voice, maybe something was wrong, he used to call me later on in the day, Maish, is everything okay? What's going on? The way he cared about me, I didn't understand. It was—I've never seen such a thing, how a person can care so much about another human being. And the reason is that Rebbe didn't live for himself. He lived for us. And, you know, I'm still going through a period of shock, because this was something very tragic. You know, the pain for me personally is yet to come when I walk through the doors of the yeshiva and I don't see him there anymore. And like the Shabbos when I had a question to ask, and I thought to myself, this is a perfect question for me to ask Rav Wolkin. And it's going to be not an easy period, but I know that if Rebbe was here davening, the way he davened, crying in tears here, that under the kisei hakavod, Rebbe will be on melitz yosher and cry in tears the heavens apart for not only me, but for all of Klal Yisrael, for each and every one of us. The way he cares about every single other neshama of Klal Yisrael was something that cares and cared. About every single neshama in Klal Yisrael was something that I've never seen before. He used to come into yeshiva every single day. His smile, his excitement was like it's the first day, but he was doing this for years and years and years. Rabbi, I want to tell you thank you. You've changed my life in ways that I don't even know. I didn't think I can change, and I'm sure you knew that I could change, but in ways that were unimaginable to me. The way I raise my kids, the way I deal with my business, the way I run my life, everything changed because of Rabbi, because of you. I want to thank the rebbetzin. I want to thank the children for giving me the opportunity and all of the Queens community, especially where the Rav spent so much time in the last days of his life. So much Torah, so much kedusha, and it really is all thanks to you. B'ezras Hashem, we should only share in good news, and we should be zocheh for Mashiach to come, and Rabbi to get up and techiyas hameisim with that excitement and get ready to serve HaKadosh Baruch Hu with the new Beis HaMikdash, bimheirah b'yameinu, amen. Shlomo HaMelech in Mishlei writes, Ba'alotz tzaddikim rabah tiferes, uv'kum resha'im yechupas adam. When the tzaddik is exalted, when the tzaddik is high, then there is splendor, there is much splendor, there is beauty. Uv'kum resha'im, but when the wicked one is standing, yechupas adam, fault is found. Says the Rabbeinu Yonah, the way of a tzaddik is that he is mechabed u'mefa'er kol adam. He is mechabed u'mefa'er kol adam. He sees the honor, he sees the beauty, he sees the splendor in every person, constantly praising, constantly looking up at people, constantly seeing the beauty in others. That is the natural way of a tzaddik. A rasha, the wicked one, is the other way, finds fault in everyone. If you feel good standing next to a person because he sees the beauty in you, you know you are standing next to a tzaddik. Harav Wolkin zatzal saw the beauty in every person. Every student, every rabbi, every person saw the beauty in each and every person and brought out the best in each and every person. That is a true sign of a tzaddik, tohei zechro baruch. I was asked to say a few words for the zechut of our Rebbe, Rav Aaron Wolkin zatzal. I've had the privilege to sit in his shiur for many years, and I'll tell you, he was not a kohen, but he was Aharon.

He loved every single member of Klal Yisrael. Personally, when I would ask him a question, he would make me feel like I'm the only one in the world. I felt so good and so comfortable. He was so real. There was no echad b'peh v'echad balev. A real, unique individual. Whenever he would come to our yeshiva, Yeshivat Shaarei Tzion, he would walk in. Whenever he sees talmidim, he started crying immediately, and the boys didn't understand why is the rabbi crying. He would hug them. So it did not matter who you are. If you're a Yid, if you're a Jew, he loves you. He cries for you. He davens for you. He teaches you. He was able to connect with all types of ages. He came to a first grader and he started speaking to him on his level. That inspired me. He came to Rosh Yeshiva. He spoke to Rosh Yeshiva on his level. No matter who you are, whether you were an adult, whether you were a teenager, you were able to connect to him. His dedication to teaching Torah, no matter what, no matter how many hours it will take him to come, he needs to teach Torah day in, day out. In the beginning, he would come from Brooklyn, which would take him some time, and then they moved to Lakewood. We as talmidim were afraid, will the rabbi come? He said, Don't worry, I'll be coming. And he would come. It took him so many hours, but no matter what, it was raining, it was cold, it was snowing, he would come and give shiur. He would walk into Beit Midrash as a lion. You would never think that a person that was in the car for three hours would walk into Beit Midrash like that. But because he had so much love of teaching Torah and having talmidim, it did not matter. There's so much that I could share with you, but unfortunately there's no time. One story I would like to share with you. Bedidi hava uvda. He calls me once and he tells me, you know, there's a family that's asking me to be a sandak, and I really don't want to. I don't think I'm raui for it. What do you think? In the end, after the give and take, he called me a day and a half after, and he tells me, you know, I made a decision. I'll take the sandak because they are asking me for a long time. They really want. Now, as we know, when the Rebbe would take the sandak, he would stay up the night before, learn Torah the entire night because he wanted that zechut of him learning to give over to the baby. So he calls me the day of the brit, and he tells me, you know, I'm already in Queens, and I think I should not be the one to take the sandak. And he gave me an explanation as to why. I think there's somebody else that's more raui. I really want to speak to the father. Can you give me his phone number? I said to him, Rebbe, but I don't know. I was uncomfortable myself. I gave him the number. The Rebbe called this person and he begged him, No, don't give me the sandak. You give the sandak to this individual, a chashuv rav that deserves it more than me. Even though the father really wanted, but he agreed. Now, can you imagine such a story where you're driving three hours from Lakewood, staying up at night the entire night, and then coming, and he says, The zechut of me giving over the sandak to someone else, that zechut will make sure that it will penetrate into your baby that he's going to be a tzaddik. I was witnessing the story that inspired me. I don't know if I would do it or anyone would do it. You get the kavod of being the sandak. People pay thousands of dollars for it. You give it away to somebody else after you not sleeping the entire night plus driving for hours. That, for me, inspired me personally and became a different person from that experience, just to show you how much love and dedication a Rebbe had. There's so much to say, but unfortunately we're limited by time. May we be zocheh to only see and hear good news. HaKadosh Baruch Hu took away our Rebbe because we are not raui to have him. He was too good. He was too real, or our dor did not merit to have such a tzaddik. So HaKadosh Baruch Hu said, I will take him up and he will protect us from up there. Be'ezrat Hashem, may we merit to see Mashiach coming and reawakening of our Rebbe, reconnecting with him. Amen.

Erev Tov. Good evening, everybody. B'shut, a chay verai. We are here this evening to remember, to discuss, and to learn how our great friend, and to a lot of you, the Rebbe, and for me a very, very long-time friend, maybe since 1984, Rabbi Walkin, Harav Aaron Walkin, zecher tzaddik v'kadosh livrachah. There's a lot to learn from him, a lot to admire about him, and with going at such a young age, he was surely taken by God as a korban tzibur. A korban tzibur means it's a sacrifice of the community, a sacrifice that he actually gave himself up for the community. He lived a life for giving to others. He lived a life teaching for others. He lived a life helping for others. He sacrificed his life. And now he was a korban tzibur, and his life was sacrificed, and he sacrificed his ultimate life for the sake of the tzibur. We know that when Hashem takes away a young tzaddik, It's not due to his sins. It's due to our sins. But there is a very important thing that we have to know that pertains to the halachot of korbanot. Korbanot is something that if you have the right intentions, when you bring the korban, the korban goes to your merit. It forgives your sins. It's an expression of thank you to God for all the good He does to you. Korban todah, shelamim, chatat. If you know why you're bringing the chatat and you repent for the sin, the chatat is a valid korban. It's beneficial to the person. He gains. He cleans himself from his sin. But if he doesn't, and he doesn't know why he brought the korban and he just brings it, there's no actual benefit that he has from bringing the korban. When Hashem takes from us such a beautiful sacrifice, such a beautiful tzaddik, such a beautiful friend, and I'm talking about since he was a teenager. He was always loved by his rabbis, loved by his peers, loved by his friends. And Hashem takes him away. It's only going to be beneficial to us if we learn from him and we get the message that he would have told us. And get the message of his life, then it's a korban that is an atonement for all our sins. Our nation is known as a nation, we say Friday night in the Magen Avot bidvaro, the Jewish people are called a am medushnei oneg, a nation that is satiated with pleasure, the nation of pleasure. What does it mean we're a nation of medushnei oneg? We saturated, we're full, we're fat from one thing, from oneg. It was known that the Vilna Gaon was very overweight, and he ate nothing. He was part of the am, this beautiful nation of medushnei oneg, that they were full from one thing, from pleasure. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot, the Mishnah that we're going to read in the perek of this following Shabbat, perek daled.

Mishnah Beitzah says, Hameiratz l'mitzvah kalah k'vachamurah. A person has to pursue going to do a mitzvah, a mitzvah kalah, an easy mitzvah, the same way he would pursue a difficult mitzvah. She'ein atah yodea matan secharan shel mitzvot, because a person does not know the reward of a mitzvah. The word yodea matan secharan shel mitzvot seems to not fit in to the text of the Mishnah. The Mishnah should have just said that a person should run after a small mitzvah, like a chamurah, an easy mitzvah, like a hard one, she'ein atah yodea secharan shel mitzvot, because you don't know the reward of the mitzvah. What does it mean, yodea matan secharan shel mitzvot? Says Rabbi Tzvi Volozhiner that really, a person that does a mitzvah should have to pay Hashem for each mitzvah that he could do, because it's not God who gains by a person doing a mitzvah; it's the person himself benefits by doing each and every mitzvah. So we would think to say, she'ein atah yodea matan secharan shel mitzvot, a person doesn't know how much by a person it's valued that he should really have to pay God for it, because you don't know the benefit that you have from every mitzvah. The reward for a mitzvah is another mitzvah, says the Mishnah: Schar mitzvah, mitzvah. You know why? That a person that realizes how enjoyable a mitzvah is, he automatically has an enjoyment that he wants to do another mitzvah. And the enjoyment that he has from one mitzvah causes him to do another mitzvah and another mitzvah. And I want to take this thought a little bit deeper. There is a major difference between somebody wants to do something and somebody that enjoys what he's doing. A person that wants to do something is a decision based on a calculated idea. I want to go to work because I got to support my family. I want to go to work so I have money to go on vacation. But it's not really something that I naturally want. When it comes to something I naturally want, I cannot explain why I want to do it, why I enjoy doing it. Enjoyment is a feeling that cannot be rationalized because we all have different enjoyments. Some people get a thrill from a cyclone. Some people get a thrill from fishing, and some from food, and others from sport. But the minute these enjoyments are over, we feel something missing in our lives. We're dizzy. We're tired. We need a vacation from the vacation. When we come back from one vacation, a week later we're starting to stop planning for our next vacation. For six months I'm working, and I'm working for one purpose: to go on vacation. The minute the game is over, the sports announcer is discussing what's going to be with the next game. Because the minute the enjoyment of the game is over, the minute the food you ate is done, you're lacking that enjoyment and you feel something missing in your life. And that tzon is something that you made with a calculated decision. Oneg is something you do natural, something that you naturally love. We are a nation that we don't need anything to give us enjoyment. The tzaddik that serves Hashem, he has that feeling of enjoyment of what he does 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.

He doesn't need vacation. He doesn't need something to occupy him on a daily basis. He's filled with serving Hashem. The Chazon Ish says that every single minute of the day he feels like he's serving Hashem because every minute is decided what Rav Chaim would tell him to do at that minute. Rabbi Walkin enjoyed naturally what he was doing: learning, teaching, doing mitzvot. He never did anything in his life because of ratzon, because he had to make a calculated decision, what am I going to benefit from this? Because his life was living for the moment, the moment of serving Hashem, the moment of being mechazek somebody else. The excitement he had is one of a kind. He was very unique in his enjoyment of learning, in his love for people, his love for mitzvot. Everyone has challenges in life, and he had challenges too. But he realized that to be a servant of Hashem was an opportunity to be satiated with oneg, with pleasure. We're an am medushanei oneg. We have an option, a desire to be full of pleasure, and only us as a nation can be full of pleasure. And you know the reason why? Because we have Torah and mitzvot. If something is not a 24/7 pleasure, it is impossible to be satiated with oneg. The only nation in the world that's an am ha'oneg. We're in our homes at this current moment. We can't even get together in shul. We can't get together in yeshiva. So the people that have to stay home and they have nothing to do, the video games are coming out of their minds already. They can't go to the restaurants. They can't go to the movies. They can't watch sports. Their life is empty. They don't want to go back to work. They want to go back to work maybe to get busy. They want to go back to work because they want to go on another vacation. But they feel empty now. A real Torah Jew, a real Torah Jew, he has what to do in his house 365 days a year with nobody there, and he could be happy. If he does another mitzvah, he does another chesed. Rabbi Wolkin would just feel bad for everybody else that had to stay home. But he could stay home. He has his Gemara, he has his Tanach, he has his Rashba. He's missing nothing. He doesn't need nothing. He's the most excited person. He's the happiest person. You know why? Because he has whatever he needs where he is. We're an am ha'oneg. Now that we gave him as a korban tzibur, the lesson of his life was to be extremely b'simcha from avodat Hashem, to be excited serving God. If we're doing a korban tzibur, that we gave him up, and Hashem took him as a tzaddik, the message that we have to learn is enjoy learning, enjoy serving Hashem, love learning, love serving Hashem. And that's all he was. There's nothing else you could say about him. He loved God, he loved people, and he was excited 24/7 about it. And that's his whole day. That's all he lived for: his family, they should be ovedei Hashem, his kids, his students, his friends, just to make another guy happy, just to be happy in serving Hashem. We should all be zocheh to learn from him, to have that excitement in life, to know what it means to really be happy with serving God, to be an am medushan oneg yir'eh zichro baruch. I learned so many things from my Rebbe, Rav Avraham Wolkins, zatzal, from his Torah knowledge.

From his love of every Jew, even strangers, from his dedication. But the thing that stood out the most for me, how the Gemara says that gadol shimusha mi'limuda, it's greater serving the tzaddik, serving the Talmid Chacham, than just learning from him. And there was a story once where I was in a certain situation with another person. It was very heated, a lot of back and forth. I didn't know how to go about the situation. I wanted to go and get advice from Rebbe. He gave me great advice. He told me to, no matter what is said, no matter what is thrown at you, you have to learn to keep your composure. You have to do the right thing. And it was tough to swallow. It's very hard to do. But later that day, I was in yeshiva, and Rebbe was in the back of the room. I remember nobody was paying attention. Only I was paying attention. How some random person came in and was speaking to Rebbe and had a whole conversation, and things got escalated. And this person was throwing a lot of insults and yelling, very uncomfortable talk was being thrown at Rebbe. And Rebbe was just Serene, calm, listening, nodding his head, not saying a word. And it went on for many, many minutes. And I was, I was, I was shocked to see what was going on. The person finished, the person left. I came over to Rebbe, and Rebbe said, You see? This is what I'm talking about. This is what I meant. Exactly what I did, that's what you have to do. And that happened on a daily basis with the Rebbe. He was such a tremendous person. Being around him, you would change. I changed completely how I speak to people and how I treat people and how I treat strangers and how my whole ben adam l'chaveiro was uplifted just by being around Rebbe. He would say that sometimes you wouldn't understand exactly what he was talking about. How is he so happy all the time? How is he so positive all the time? He would say, If you hang around me long enough, you'll understand. So that greatness that just flows out of him, that is so contagious, that was—I never experienced such a thing. It was unbelievable. It was out of this world. And many times, I remember he would come to me and tell me privately, You know, I come from so far and I have to work so hard. But it's all worth it. You know why? Because I come to spend time with you guys, with you. I come to spend time with you. You're my student. I have you. It was worth it all for you. The whole yeshiva was worth it just for you. And I know that he said that to every single one of us. And I know that, and I felt it, that he really made everyone feel like that. And we were so connected to him. We were so open to receive from him. And it wasn't necessarily what he said. It was by how he said it and how he acted. And his actions spoke even louder than his words. It's very hard to believe that our Rebbe is no longer with us. It's very surreal that he—we even saying zichrono livracha. To us, he was life and energy and everything. What can we say about Rebbe is that he accomplished something that not many people I know in my life did. He was a figure of a rav and Rosh Yeshiva, a Rebbe, a father and a therapist, and anything that you can believe that a person possibly can do, he was able to do that. He was able to—

Sit down to a person and find a key how to speak to him and find out what his problem is. He was able to put his finger on it very quickly. He helped me personally on many different levels, and it's hard for me to put my words in two, three minutes to say what exactly, how, because I think there can be volumes and volumes written about what Rebbe stood for, what he did, what he said, and how he put the queens together. I believe that Rebbe is responsible for the Torah queens. Many, many of the rabbanim in Queens, the young generation have learned by him once or most of their lives. He was a leader in terms of a rosh yeshiva. He gave shiurim on the highest caliber. He also, anybody who was already a rav in a shul, he was constantly there to help us, to guide us how to properly deal with the kehillah. He used to tell us his own personal issues in his kehillah so we can learn and how to deal with issues, how to look at life. He used to teach us how to look at life, how to deal with life, how to deal with difficult people, how to deal with students, teachers, politics in life. He told us very much he was very against politics. You should stay away from all political life. You should love all Jews. And he was more of a fatherly figure to everyone, and everyone took his loss very, very to heart. It was very shocking and unbelievable. We never saw it coming. We never experienced such a thing. When I met Rebbe, I thought, I'm going to be with him my whole life. He's going to be my Rebbe for life. And now we're just at a loss of words and emotions as to what's... What's going to be next? Who's going to fill in such huge big shoes? Yehi zichro baruch. Our Rebbe was a very special man. About him we can say, במקום שתמצא גדולתו, שם תמצא ענוותנותו. That in the place where you see his greatness, in that very place you can see his humility. Our Rebbe was a giant in Torah. He had a charifut that would be appreciated in the greatest of yeshivot, and nonetheless he decided to join us, a community in Queens, leaving his high place in Lakewood and joining us in Queens to uplift our community. What a zechut it was for us to learn with our Rebbe for many years in the kollel and in the yeshiva. How many baalei batim our Rebbe would learn with on a daily basis. I remember I would walk into the yeshiva, tens of talmidim around him, around his table. He wasn't just giving high-level shiurim; he was giving shiurim also to pshutei ha'am, to regular baalei batim who were קובעים עיתים לתורה. What a tremendous zechut it was for us to get to have known our Rebbe, Harav Valkin, zichrono livracha. Before Moshe Rabbeinu passed away, he asked HaKadosh Baruch Hu, he said, יפקוד ה' אלוקי הרוחות. He says, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, please, you should establish איש על העדה, a person upon the community. And Rashi explains to us, what does that mean, איש על העדה? It means a person who is going to understand each and every person, and he's going to be able to speak to him in his own language. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells Moshe Rabbeinu, yes, exactly. Go choose Yehoshua, איש אשר רוח בו. And it says in the Sifri, what does it mean, Ish asher ruach bo? It says that Yehoshua knew how to speak to each and every person based on his level, based on when he was standing, and based on his understanding. And so too our Rebbe, our Rebbe, alav hashalom, he was able to speak to each and every person based on where he was holding. He wouldn't judge people. He would talk to you based on you, your wavelength, which is a tremendous, tremendous find, the metziyah that we had in our yeshiva. And now this metziyah, our Rebbe, was taken away from us. I remember our Rebbe would constantly say, Just learn and be happy. Don't be busy with all the politics. Don't be busy with everything else. Learn and be happy. And this is what he personified. When we walked into the kollel in the morning and throughout the day, he would go shiur after shiur after shiur, going up in level, first to the baalei batim, then to the chevra in the yeshiva, and then to the chevrei hakollel, and he would go mechayil el chayil continuously, each according to his level. And he would constantly say, Learn and be happy. Don't be busy with anything else. Yehi zichro baruch, v'tehei nishmato tzerurah b'tzror hachayim. Our dear Rebbe, you are truly missed by all of your talmidim.

I relatively recently joined Rabbi Walkin's koll. I didn't know him for so long, but the one unique quality that I came to admire was the amount of time that he gave to our community. In general, you'll notice that the Gedolim were very, very cheap on their time. I think there's two reasons. One is because they understood the value of time, and number two is because they understand that there's so much to do. They love learning, and for a talmid chacham, every minute is so precious that it's one of the most difficult things, is to give time for others. There's a constant battle between, do I learn more or do I give of myself to the people around me? And that quality I saw in Rabbi Walkin. Rabbi Walkin was moser nefesh to an unimaginable way. The amount of time—he'd drive me from Lakewood, and he wouldn't sleep. He would be constantly meeting with people, davening for people, giving shiurei Torah in different ways. And especially when he has to give up his time from his learning to give shiurim that are not on the highest level, that's even more difficult. He was a tremendous talmid chacham, and he would be able to give shiurim on a very, very high level. But he would, for us and for the people, for the balabatim and for the kollel, people who are weaker than he was, he was there, and he, I'm sure, was in a constant battle. But he won over that, no, for the people, to make people happy, to be there for the balabatim. He said that it's better that I'm there for them and not for my own personal learning. As we approach the 30-day passing of Rosh Yeshiva. It's difficult and very different to know that we've started this zman without the Rosh Yeshiva present. He was the life of the yeshiva. He was the life of the kollel. He was our rebbe. He was our Rosh Yeshiva. He was our father. He was everything to many of us. I remember speaking with him the day before his passing, and time and time again during the conversation, he mentioned how he wants to reach out to the avreichim. He wants to speak with them. He wants to give us another shiur before the zman officially comes to an end for our Chodesh Nissan bein hazmanim. But for the first time, just he wasn't able to. He was just that weak from the virus. I remember speaking with him a few days before also, and the week before that, he reached out to myself. We didn't speak since Purim, the day after Purim, but we got to speak a little bit also as far as what's going to happen after Purim. Are we going to restart the zman? How are things going to be? And he told me that he'd call me Sunday night and we'd discuss how things are going to be. So he called me that Sunday, and I remember I expressed to him, I said, It's not that I don't want to be there. I said, I don't know if I'm going to be able to. I expressed to him I wasn't sure at the time if the other avreichim were going to be able to make it. And he told me, since the shuls are closed and it seems like the yeshivas are going to be closed, we're going to close also. Everyone's going to learn from home. And bezras Hashem, we'll have shiurim, whatever it is, somehow through the phones, through online, Zoom, obviously we know in all these different things, there was going to be different ways. Little did we know that he was going to get sick, and little did I know the night before was going to be the last time I would speak with him. He's taught us so many things that it's hard to put it into a two-, three-minute clip. But one of the big things he spoke about, and it's things that rabbis are speaking about now, and I know they've spoken about it in the past, was we have to be more careful. Everyone was careful what they're going to take in. Don't touch your mouth. Don't touch your eyes. They were so concerned about what's going to come into their mouth. People, he always told us, and this was before the virus even existed, you have to be careful what comes out of your mouth. At the time when the virus began, everyone knew that there was something by touching your mouths and other openings, you can contract the virus. But the Rosh Yeshiva was so big, so makpid. He was so careful when he spoke, made his best efforts not to speak lashon hara. It was such a big thing for him.

That even for us, have racham, careful what we say. Don't fall into the politics, because by falling into it, you're bound to speak things that shouldn't be spoken. Love each other, take care of each other, and just learn. Learn, learn, learn. This was one of his biggest messages to us. It doesn't matter how, everyone according to his own strength, according to his own level, you open up your sefer and you learn. And slowly but surely, you'll grow. The day I met Rebbe was one of the most important moments in my life. So many years I was searching for truth, and for joy, for peace, and for love, for hope. Someone who believed in me, like I believed in myself. Someone who can give birth to my dreams. Rebbe did that for me. First time I met him, I told him I didn't grow up religious, and I don't know how to read Hebrew. I never read a page of Gemara in my life. I don't know halacha, but I want to become a rabbi. Can I do it? And I remember he looked at me with the most serious face and a big smile, and he took me by the hand and he said, David, do you want? And I said, I do. He said, okay, so let's do it. That was the beginning of our relationship. And ever since then, he was not only a rabbi for me, he was a father figure and a best friend and a brother and like an angel who protected me at all times. There's no words for Rebbe. He was something that was out of this world, mamash. And I love him so much, and I have such a big place in my heart for him. And I thank Hashem every day that I met him and that he taught me everything that he did. And in four short years, he taught me more than anybody could teach me in my whole life. Not just the things that he said, but how he was, the love that he had for Jews, the sincerity that he had and the truthfulness and his search for truth, his humility, his incredible ratzon, his incredible will to overcome everything. And I'm gonna miss him. And it's weird because it feels like he never really left, because his presence is so big and so palpable and it's so much in my heart, and I'm sure this is the same for everyone. But I just want to say, Rebbe, I love you so much, and I hope I make you proud. And mamash, you saved my life. I'm gonna miss you so much. Thank you for everything. I love you. What is the greatest rule of the Torah, the number one? Rule in the Torah is, V'ahavta l'reacha kamocha. Ze klal gadol means there's got to be a klal katan. And what is the klal katan? Kedoshim tihyu.

What made the Rosh Yeshiva zatzal 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. Rabbi cared about every single Yid as if they were his own child. My Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon 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, Rabbi Aharon 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 mayed because there's no heart like the Jewish heart. There's nothing like Yisrael, mi ka'amcha Yisrael, goy echad b'aretz. 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 mesirus nefesh was. He taught me how to learn, and most importantly, to love learning. Torah transforms a person to be an adam hashalem, 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 Rabbi Walkin. 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 zechus 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, Rebi. We miss you.

He will always be in our hearts and our memories. Valoharon walkin, zekher tzadik livrachah. Zekher tzadik livrachah. 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.