Memory Lane: Rav Yitzchok Waltman

Rav Waltman served as the rov of Anshei Lubavitch of Boro Park, as well as at Knesses Yisroel of Boro Park, which was located on 42nd street (today serving the Skver and Viznitz kehillos). 

The Rabbonus of Pinsk

Rav Yitzchok was born to his father Rav Aaron in the famed city of Pinsk in the year 1860. Not much is known about his childhood, but he married his Rebbetzin Esther –a native of the town—in Pinsk in the year 1884. Following this, he became the Rov of the town of Horodnya, in that same vicinity of what is Belarus today. 

Later on, he was appointed as a Rov in his hometown. In the Sha’ar blatt of his sefer, he notes: “and afterward [I was accepted as a Rov], in the third section of my birthplace of Pinsk.” 

One must understand that Pinsk was one of the most prestigious cities in prewar Jewry, and always had tremendous rabbonim. Karlin, which was a suburb of Pinsk, had its own Rov. And the city itself had a number of different Rabbonim, ostensibly in different areas of the town. While the different ‘zones’ of the Rabbonus are not known to us, we do know the following:

Rav Yitzchok Waltman came to Pinsk around 1900 and served there until his departure, in 1923. 

Borough Park 

The Waltman’s arrived in America in 1923—the single children, as well as some of the married couples. Yankele, the eldest son, was already an established businessman in Pinsk, and as we see from local newspaper articles following the passing of his father, he was involved in communal life. 

An anecdote of his early days in America—attesting to his piety and his honesty, as well his caliber—is related by a grandchild: Right around the time of his arrival, he was offered $500—an astronomical sum in those days—to give a hechsher on salt. It could surely have helped his family, newly arrived immigrants, as they were getting settled here. But since he felt that salt did not need a hechsher, he would not take the money. 

As is indicated in the shaar blatt of his sefer that he published before his passing, his rabbonus in Boro Park actually began at another shul—in this very same section of Boro Park, not far from the shul on 42nd Street—Congregation Anshei Lubavitch, which, as we have documented in the past, was located at 41st Street and 12th Avenue. They took over the shul in 1922 after Beth El vacated it in favor of their grand shul at 48th Street and 15th Avenue. It seems that Rav Waltman’s arrival in 1923, he assumed the position as official rov of the newly revitalized congregation—having just gone from a small shteeble to a grand shul.  

A few blocks away from there, the Yidden of this section had established Knesses Israel/Hebrew Community of Boro Park, organized in the year 1912, and around 1925, he joined them (we know that Rabbi Elya Simpson took over Anshei Lubavitch in 1928. Perhaps they went without an official rov in these interim years). In 1926, he authored the sefer Siach Yitzchok, a collection of derushim. Its publication was noted in the Torah journals, and its contents have been quoted by others. He also authored another sefer, Netzer Mato’ai, which we cannot locate. 

Rav Waltman was niftar on 25 Shevat 1938. Tributes of condolences were published in the Pinsker newspapers in honor of his son Yankele who supported the poor of the town through ‘tomchei Aniyim’, ‘linas hatzedek’, and others.