JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Rabbi Chaim Walkin, the Mashgiach of Ateres Yisrael yeshiva in Jerusalem and one of the most prominent Mussar personalities in Israel, passed away Sunday morning at the age of 77.
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On Wednesday evening Rabbi Walkin, who had not been well in the last few years, lost consciousness and emergency medical services were summoned and succeeded in resuscitating him. He was taken to the ICU at Hadassah Ein Kerem in critical condition and passed away early Sunday morning. The levaya will be at 7 PM from his home in Bayit Vegan to Har Hamenuchos.
Rabbi Walkin was born in Shanghai in 1945 after his family had fled the Nazis to Japan and China. His grandfather Rav Aharon Walkin was the rabbi of Pinsk and author of Beis Aharon on Shas Bavli and other sefarim. His great-grandfather was Rabbi Moshe Dovid Landinsky, the rosh yeshiva in Radin. His uncle Rav Chaim Walkin whom he was named for served as the last head of the Volozhin yeshiva.
The entire Walkin family perished in the Holocaust except for Rabbi Chaim Walkin’s father, Rav Shmuel Dovid, a talmid of the Chafetz Chaim who was one of the organizers of the Mir escape to Shanghai. Rav Shmuel David headed the Jewish community in Shanghai, and was famous for his warmth and care of all the refugees. Upon arrival in the U.S., he founded a synagogue for the refugee families and provided for their needs. The Shanghai refugees were his closest familyuntil his death in 1979.
Rabbi Chaim Walkin’s family moved to the US soon after his birth and he studied at Yeshivas Rabbi Chaim Berlin and at the Telz yeshiva in Cleveland. The story of the youthful Holocaust survivor who had been born in China and arrived in the US made headlines in the American media and when he was naturalized at age 8 his picture appeared in the New York Times and Herald Tribune as “the boy who survived the war and received American citizenship.
After his marriage he settled in Jerusalem and studied at the Mir yeshiva under Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, who had been with his family in Shanghai.
After studying at the Mir yeshiva, Walkin was appointed as a Ram at the Aish HaTorah Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem, and later at Ohr Israel Yeshiva in Petah Tikva. During the 1980’s he was active in Petah Tikva together with the city rabbi Rav Baruch Shimon Salomon in organizing demonstrations against Shabbos desecration. The two rabbis were placed on trial and given suspended sentences.
In 1989, after the death of Rav Meir Chodosh, the Mashgiach of Yeshivas Ateres Israel, Rabbi Walkin moved back to Jerusalem and took the position of Mashgiach at the yeshiva, serving there until his passing. Rabbi Walkin also served as president of the Shuvu educational network.
Rabbi Walkin developed his signature method in line with the teachings of his rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz, with emphasis on personal attention to individual students in groups of six to eight students at a time and short lectures with a clearly defined message. He espoused a way of education through cooperation and not via harsh methods.
Rabbi Walkin authored a number of sefarim, which were translated into English and other languages under the title “The World Within.”
May his memory be blessed.