15. Some years ago, there was a Slonimer chassid in Tzefas named Reb Shlomo Gross z’l. He sold kerosene for his parnassah but barely eked out 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 in my honor?"
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. He donated a portion of it to the Slonimer Yeshiva and requested that the yeshivah use the funds to pay for an annual seudah in honor of the Bas Ayin.
Reb Shlomo Gross specified some conditions for the seudah: There should be a white tablecloth, divrei Torah, and stories of the Bas Ayin should be repeated, so the seudos would resemble the seudah he made on the day he had his salvation.
This tradition continues until today in the Slonimer Yeshivos and is still funded by a portion of the money Reb Shlomo Gross won on the Bas Ayin’s yahrtzeit.
Thousands of people had their yeshuah because they made a seudah in the Bas Ayin's yahrtzeit. We will bring just a few:
On the 12th of Kislev, a few years ago, a tragedy occurred in Jersey City, New Jersey, when murderers entered a Jewish supermarket with weapons. There were casualties, r'l. We received a letter from one of the people who was saved:
Y. B. Goldberger writes that he owns a travel agency, which he runs together with his brother, who lives in Union City, New Jersey. One day, he met one of his clients in Jersey City. The plan was that after the meeting, his brother would drive in from Union City to Jersey City, and they would meet in the grocery to discuss some business matters. But that morning, his brother called him, saying, "We are having a seudah here [in Union City] in honor of the Bas Ayin. Perhaps you can come here, and we will discuss business here?" That arrangement saved them because it kept them away from the site of the attack.
A similar story occurred with a chashuver yungerman who lives in Jersey City. He planned to go to the grocery that morning, immediately after shacharis, but when he saw that there was a l'chayim in the beis medresh, in honor of the Bas Ayin, he decided to stay, and they spoke about the baal hilulah. That is when the shooting began. The seudah, in honor of the Bas Ayin, saved him.
An older bachur (his younger sister had already skipped him and gotten married) used to go to a cheder occasionally to work as a substitute. (He was the only bachur left from his class, so he sometimes left yeshiva to work in the cheder.) One year, on the 12th of Kislev, he was subbing at the Sadigura cheder in Bnei Brak, and during recess, there was a seudah in the rebbes' room. The bachur was inspired at the meal, and he announced so everyone could hear, "I accept on myself that if I find my shidduch before the 12th of Kislev next year, ד"תשפ, I will bli neder sponsor a seudah next year."
The melamdim told him, "Why don't you request to be married by next year, the 12th of Kislev? Why do you limit it to only getting engaged by next year?" The bachur corrected himself and said that if he is married by next year's yahrtzeit, he would pay for the meal. Soon after this kabbalah, he forgot about the whole matter. He became a chasan in Iyar, and they began looking for a date for the chasunah. From heaven, it was arranged that the chasunah should be scheduled for Thursday, the 11th of Kislev. The chasan took out his notepad to mark down the day of the chasunah, and he found in his notebook what he had written months before – that if he gets married before the 12th of Kislev, he will sponsor a seudah in honor of the Bas Ayin's yahrtzeit.
We heard the following story from the baalei maaseh, who lives in Tzefas with many children. Every year, their home seemed to become smaller and smaller. For a long time, they searched for an apartment that would be roomier for them. They toured many for-sale homes, but for one reason or another, they never found what they sought. As the Bas Ayin's yahrtzeit was approaching, in the year ב"תשפ, they read in these kuntressim about the segulah of making a seudah in honor of the Bas Ayin. The family made a kabbalah, bli neder, that if they find a home before next year's yahrtzeit, they will sponsor a yahrtzeit seudah in the Bas Ayin's honor. Baruch Hashem, during aseres yemei teshuvah, they found a suitable apartment, and the price was reasonable. Only, they would first have to sell their old home, so they can have funds to buy the new apartment, and they were having a hard time selling their old apartment.
At the beginning of Kislev, the owners of the new apartment informed them that if they didn't come up with the money in a few days, they would sell their apartment to others.
On Friday, the 8th of Kislev, days before the Bas Ayin's yahrtzeit, the family made another kabbalah. They promised that if they succeeded in selling their apartment in time to continue with the purchase of the apartment they wanted to buy, they would make another seudah in honor of the Bas Ayin the following year, on the Bas Ayin's yahrtzeit, ד"תשפ.
On Sunday, a Yid from Bnei Brak came to see their apartment, and he agreed to buy it! (It was truly hashgachah pratis that he came to see their home. He had come to Tzefas to meet with a specific real estate broker in Tzefas, but the broker wasn’t feeling well that day and couldn't take him around. Someone else took him around, and he told him about this apartment. The other broker wouldn’t have brought him there, but Hashem arranged it that their home should be sold in time.) The sales contract was finalized on the yahrtzeit, the 12th of Kislev!
It is worth noting that the baalas habayis told her neighbors and friends about the wonderful hashgachah pratis they experienced in the buying and selling of their apartment, and the miracles that occurred after they made a kabbalah to make a seudah in honor of the Bas Ayin. Some of her friends also wanted to buy a new home, so they also made a kabbalah to make a seudah in honor of the Bas Ayin, and they also had their yeshuos.
I heard a story from a mashgiach of a renowned yeshivah in Eretz Yisrael. I know this person well. He came to Tzefas after Succos, in the year ג"תשפ, and went to kivrei tzaddikim. He came into the cave where the Bas Ayin is buried. When he was there, he remembered his nephew, a good bachur, who was already in shidduchim for many years... He hadn't planned to say it, but from heaven, the words came out of his mouth. He said that if the bachur becomes a chosson before the yahrtzeit, he will make a seudah on the yahrtzeit in honor of the Bas Ayin. After saying this, he realized how unlikely it was for this to occur. For years, this nephew was in shidduchim, without success. How could it be that in just six weeks, he would be engaged? But it occurred. Two weeks later, the bachur became a chosson. The kallah was very young;
