Memory Lane: The Worka-Otwotzker Rebbe

By Y. S. Gold

Rav Yaakov Dovid Baruch Kalish, a scion of Vorka, was named for one of his holy ancestors. He was born on 20 Elul, 1905, in the town of Falenica, a suburb of Warsaw. His father was Rav Avrohom Moshe of Falenica, a son of Rebbe Simcha Bunim Kalish of Worka, who was one of the first Rebbes of the Polish dynasties to make their way to Eretz Yisroel. 

Rav Simcha Bunim was known for his ardent pursuit of emes, and his disdain for the slightest sniff of ga’avah. During his 19 years of leading the chassidus, he brought many souls close to Hashem, and had a large following. But his heart was in the east. He made his way to Eretz Yisroel with great mesirus nefesh, and was only allowed by the Turks to remain there for a short time. He did make it back there towards the end of his life, and was niftar there. His kever is one of the landmarks on the old cemetery in Teveria. 

Born into such an illustrious line, Rav Yaakov Dovid Baruch absorbed the Torah and the holiness from a young age. He was a gifted child, and spent his energies learning Torah. He acquired semicha at a young age from Rav Shlomo Dovid Kahana, the rov of Warsaw. In addition to this, he quicky mastered the Polish language, and his father would often send him on missions to Polish government officials on behalf of their brethren. 

Upholding the Tradition 

A newspaper article from Merkas Chasidei Worka announced to the Yiddish readers in New York that a scion of the holy dynasty would be arriving and that everyone should make their way to a kabbolas ponim which would be held on Henry Street on the Lower East Side. 

Arriving in America, the Rebbe settled in Far Rockaway, which was where most “bungalow colonies” were situated in those days. When it emptied out following the summer, chassidim of the Rebbe assisted him in purchasing a home at the corner of Chester Avenue and Louisa Street, on the edge of Boro Park, and this is where the shtiebel was located for close to forty years. 

A number of families who were Vorka chassidim from before the war gravitated to the Rebbe, and the generations of their families retain fond memories and recollections from the presence that the Rebbe was in their lives. 

In addition, there were a number of relatives—from both the Rebbe’s own side, the Vorka einklach, as well as the Rebbetzin’s Sokolover relatives—who were drawn close to the Rebbe. They would have sedorim in learning with him, and otherwise spend time in his presence. 

“The Rebbe was a massive talmid chochom, and a phenomenal ba’al darshan,” recalls one admirer from those days, a cousin of the Rebbe. Before kiruv was a buzzword, the Rebbe’s beis medrash welcomed all sorts of people, and he was mekarev many people to Yiddishkeit. 

During the 1982 Lebanon War, Menachem Begin sought the support of his American brethren. The newspaper Davar wrote that Begin was disappointed in the lackluster Aliyah numbers, save for one person who pledged to move, The Worka-Otvotzker Rebbe. “The Rebbe is departing from his chassidim and his acquaintances, and is making his way to the holy land in these days. He explained his move as simply following in the ways of his ancestor, Rav Simcha Bunim of Otwotzk who went up a century earlier. Asked whether wartime was the right time for this move, the Rebbe replied that, to the contrary, now is the time to strengthen our brethren in Eretz Yisroel.” 

The Rebbe did indeed make it to Eretz Yisroel in 1982, and hoped to revitalize the Vorka chassidus there. Alas, he was niftar only one year later, in the winter of 1983. He was interred in the old beis hachaim in Teveria, a short distance from his illustrious grandfather, Rebbe Simcha Bunim of Otvotzk. 

He left behind an illustrious family of bnei Torah who take pride in their heritage, and a legacy of Torah and chassidus in Boro Park of yore.