Rebbe Rebbe

ME: Shalom Rabbi Walkin, thank you for agreeing to give our readers a very generous look into your family and work. Rebbi comes from a very well-known and illustrious line of great Torah scholars. Can Rebbi begin by giving our readers some context?

R.A.W: Sure. I grew up in Queens even though I was born in Brooklyn; my family moved when I was one years old. My grandfather was a Rav in Crown Heights and my Bris was in Crown Heights. I had the good fortune of having Rav Moshe Feinstein zt’l as my Sandek.

I grew up in Kew Garden Hills and my Grandparents lived in Kew Gardens. We eventually moved there to be closer with them. However, though I was born here, my family ac- tually originated in Europe. My great-grandfather was the Pinsker Rav, and my Grandfather was the Lukatcher Rav. My father was born in Poland before World War II. During World War II, the family relocated to Shanghai.

ME: The Pinsker Rav is an extremely reputable title, Can Rebbi please elaborate a little more on his great-Grandfa- ther?

R.A.W: Yes. He was a great Talmid Chaham, and actually his last job in public life was the position of Rav of Pinsk.