On Shabbos, the 12th of Kislev, is the yahrtzeit of Rebbe Avraham Dov Auerbach zt’l, the Bas Ayin. The wisest of all men, Shlomo HaMelech, teaches (Mishlei 25:27), אכל כבוד כבודם וחקר ,טוב לא הרבה דבש, "Eating too much honey isn't good, but searching out the honor of the righteous is honorable." The Meiri explains that honey is sweet, but too much will make you sick. When it comes to praising tzaddikim, though, there is no limit to how much you can discuss. The more you praise tzaddikim, the better because when people hear the praises of tzaddikim, they aspire to follow in their ways.
His Ways
Towards the end of the Bas Ayin's life, he moved from Avritz, Ukraine, to Eretz Yisrael. He arrived at the Chaifa port in Eretz Yisrael on Rosh Chodesh Elul and planned to leave for Yerushalayim immediately. However, the people of Tzefas wanted him to be with them, and the Bas Ayin agreed to stay with them until after Simchas Torah. On Hoshanah Rabba, the Bas Ayin heard a woman tell her son, “Yerachmiel! Bring down the carpets from the roof. Tomorrow Yidden will bentch Geshem, and their tefillos will certainly be answered, and it will rain strongly. All the carpets will get wet.”
It was this conversation that persuaded the Bas Ayin to remain in Tzefas, and he didn't move to Yerushalayim. He said he wanted to be among Yidden who believed in the power of tefillah with such certainty.
The Bas Ayin hardly ever attended levayos in Tzefas, but once, a levayah passed his home, and he walked with the niftar until the burial. Everyone wondered why he did so. The niftar seemed to be a regular Yid, and no one knew anything special about him. The mystery was soon resolved.
In those days, the niftar was put into the Arizal's mikvah before the burial. When the niftar was brought to the mikvah, the chevrah kadisha noticed that the surface of his legs was black, and they asked the almanah about it because they needed to know how to prepare him for the burial, and this is the story she told:
When he was younger, working as a merchant in chutz le'aretz, he endured many difficult tests, and it came about that he was about to marry a non-Jewish woman. A barrel of hot coal was placed in the center of the wedding hall to heat the cold hall. During the wedding celebrations, his heart filled with fear of heaven, and he jumped into the burning coals. The non-Jews at the wedding saw this and concluded that the groom was insane. They shouted at him and threw him out of the hall. "That is how he saved himself from the aveirah; since then, he is black from the burns."
The Bas Ayin said that he saw a column of fire in front of this man’s coffin, so he joined the levayah. The Gemara (Kesubos 17.) says that this honor (that fire goes before the niftar) is given to only one or two people in each generation. That means he is so holy that no one has the right to come too close to him. He merited it because of this mesirus nefesh.
When the Bas Ayin lived in Avritz, a meshulach from Eretz Yisrael would annually come to Avritz to collect money, and the Bas Ayin would always ask him about how life was in Eretz Yisrael. Once, the meshulach said, "What can I tell you? Even the stones of Eretz Yisrael are like diamonds!” This statement inspired the Bas Ayin to move to Eretz Yisrael.
One day, he met the meshulach in Tzefas, and the meshulach asked the Bas Ayin, "Isn't it as I told you? Isn't Eretz Yisrael wonderful?” The Bas Ayin replied, "It definitely is. Everything you said is true. However, I don't see the stones of Eretz Yisrael resembling diamonds.” The meshulach, a tzaddik, replied, "Those who have pure eyes see it". The Bas Ayin secluded himself in a room for several days and didn't let anyone in. He served Hashem there until he reached the level to recognize that even the stones of Eretz Yisrael are diamonds. He came out and made a seudah for his chasidim to celebrate this achievement.
Anavah – Humility
When the Bas Ayin left Avritz to travel to Eretz Yisrael, many of his chassidim accompanied him to the port of Odesa. The Rebbe was already on the ship, and his chassidim asked him, “How can we maintain our connection with you?” The Bas Ayin replied that Chazal tell us that we connect with Hashem when we practice Hashem's attributes. "As Hashem is compassionate, you shall be compassionate..." "Similarly," the Bas Ayin said, "if you emulate the middos I excel in and have trained myself in since my youth, we will be united. Even when we are miles apart, we will be connected as though we are face to face. I have three primary middos that I trained myself to be cautious with since my youth. They are never to speak lashon hara, never to tell a lie, and to be distant from gaavah. If you also take on yourselves these three attributes, we will remain united."
Indeed, these three midos are primary themes in his holy sefer Bas Ayin.
The Earthquake and Saving Tzefas
There was a tragic earthquake in Tzefas and Teveria on the 24th of Teves, 5597/1836. The houses in Tzefas were built on a slope, one next to the other, and their foundations were weak. When the earthquake hit, the foundations collapsed, and the houses fell. About two thousand Yidden were niftar, and many more were wounded.
The Bas Ayin was in his beis medresh davening Minchah when the earthquake began, and the walls shook. Some people wanted to rush out of the beis medresh, but the Bas Ayin instructed everyone to gather around him. Most of the dome roof collapsed, and the four walls fell, but around the Bas Ayin, the ceiling remained intact, and miraculously, they were all saved.
During the earthquake, the Bas Ayin threw himself to the ground and davened. The Bas Ayin explained why he prayed while lying on the ground: "I saw that the stones were falling sideways, not downwards. It was like one wall was throwing stones at the opposite wall. I understood that this meant the samech mem (the Satan) was executing this disaster. When this occurs, the only protection is total humility. That's why I fell to the ground."
The Bas Ayin, his chassidim, and all survivors of the earthquake in Tzefas tried to save as many people as they could from under the rubble. It was raining and cold, but they had to save lives, and there were niftarim who needed to be extricated and brought to their burial.
Then, the question was where to go. Most of the homes were destroyed and rebuilding them would be very costly. Many rabbanim thought it was time to leave Tzefas and move to Yerushalayim. Most of the Prushim communities did so. However, the Bas Ayin toiled and succeeded in re-establishing the Jewish community in Tzefas. He sent people to chutz le’aretz to collect money. The city of Tzefas was rebuilt, this time on top of the mountain instead of on the slope, with space between each home.
Chessed and Salvations
In the year 5601, there was a plague in Tzefas. The Bas Ayin became ill and was sick for a few days. He requested that his student, Reb Shmuel Heller zt'l, visit him before his demise, as he wanted to share the secrets and profound lessons he had heard from his teachers. However, Reb Shmuel Heller's family was afraid to allow Reb Shmuel to visit the Bas Ayin because the Bas Ayin was ill with the contagious plague. Reb Shmuel Heller always regretted that he lost this opportunity.
Before his passing, the Bas Ayin proclaimed, “I'm the last victim of this plague. After me, no one will die.” And that is what happened. His demise brought atonement to the people of Tzefas, and the plague ended.
One year before Pesach, the gaba'im wanted to paint the beis medresh. The Bas Ayin asked them to hold off until after Pesach. He explained that erev Pesach, the homes are topsy-turvy, and there can be friction at times. "Where will the husbands escape if the beis medresh is locked due to renovations?"
He writes (Chukas חקת זאת י"א ה"ד), “I heard from the Berdichever Rav zt’l, who said in the name of the Magid of Mezritch that a שווה גזירה, gezeirah shavah, means that when your fellow man is suffering from something, you should feel his pain exactly as he feels it.” גזירה, the gezeiros and hardships of your fellow man, שווה, you should feel them equally. The primary gemilus chasadim, kindness you can do for your fellow man, is to feel his pain as though it were your own. This is alluded to in the word אחד because ת"דל - ח"א means you should feel you are the אח, brother, ת"דל of the poor.”
The rav of Tzefas, Reb Shmuel Heller zt'l, served as the city’s doctor for his parnassah. But to be a doctor, he had to study medical books written in foreign languages. Once, during Shacharis, he saw the goyishe letters (of his medical books) before his eyes. He realized that being a doctor disturbed his avodas Hashem, so he stopped pursuing this field.
A man became ill and went to Reb Shmuel Heller. Reb Shmuel told him that he wasn’t a doctor anymore. The sick person went to the Bas Ayin, complaining that he didn’t have anyone to go to because Reb Shmuel Heller didn’t want to treat him anymore. The Bas Ayin called for Reb Shmuel Heller and put his hand over his forehead. From then on, Reb Shmuel didn’t see the goyishe letters, and he once again served as the doctor of Tzefas.
Tzaddikim are greater after their passing (Chulin 7). Therefore, the great tzaddikim, who brought salvation to people during their lifetime continue to do so after their passing.
We've read some stories of the Bas Ayin's chesed. He surely continues helping the Jewish nation, now from heaven and his holy grave, especially on his yahrtzeit.
The Seudas Hilulah
Some years ago, there was a Slonimer chassid in Tzefas named Reb Shlomo Gross z’l. He sold kerosene for his parnassah but barely earned a living. On the night of the Bas Ayin’s yahrtzeit, Reb Shlomo davened at the Bas Ayin’s grave. That night, the Bas Ayin came to him in a dream and said, “I appreciate that you davened at my grave, but why didn't you make a seudah for me?" In the morning, Reb Shlomo Gross gathered ten people, and they made a seudah in honor of the Bas Ayin. He couldn't afford to make the seudah alone, but he put out a white tablecloth, and each person brought something to the meal. At the seudah they discussed divrei Torah and stories of the Bas Ayin. After the seudah, Reb Shlomo bought a lottery ticket and won a huge sum of money.
