17. The Bas Ayin (ח"מהדו הוספות) taught that if a person doesn't believe that Hashem is with him even when he is at a low level, as it states (Vayikra 16:16) טמאתם בתוך אתם השוכן, "Who dwells with them amidst their tumah," he is an apikores. Hashem always loves Bnei Yisrael, His beloved children, and waits for them to return to Him.
It is well known that lighting a candle li'iluy nishmas is a great favor and segulah and benefit, for the neshamah and for the person who lights the candle. It states (Tehillim 119:105) דברך לרגלי נר and we take a message that the primary נר is דברך, when one studies his divrei Torah which is לנתיבתי אור, sheds light on one's path.
Reb Chaim Kanievsky zt'l said in the name of his father, the Steipler, that when he was young, his father, Reb Chaim Peretz would wake him early every morning to learn with him Bas Ayin, to teach him mussar and yiras Shamayim.
I heard a clever idea from a respected person. In the middle of the year (not exclusively on the 12th of Kislev) when one encounters nisyonos with guarding one’s eyes, and fights his yetzer hara, closes his eyes and avoids seeing what he shouldn't, he can make a Bas Ayin seudah (to celebrate that he guarded his עין בת, the pupil of his eye). He can make a seudah with music, drums and dancing, and be happy that he succeeded in overcoming the yetzer hara, and he can praise Hashem. Such a seudah is certainly also mesugal for yeshuos b'ruchniyus and b'gashmiyus, miracles beyond the rules of nature.
Rebbe Shlomo Karliner zt'l said, "The reason yungerleit don't grow in our times is because they don't recognize the greatness of their good deeds. After walking in the street and passing this nisayon, we can come home and break out in a dance (Tehillim 30:2), דליתני כי 'ה ארוממך, "I will exult you Hashem, for You have raised me."
By the akeidah it states (Bereishis 22:6) בידו ויקח יחדו שניהם וילכו המאכלת ואת האש את, "And he took into his hand the fire and the knife, and they both went together." The Divrei Yisrael says that אש, fire, represents yiras Shamayim, and מאכלת, the knife, represents parnassah. The pasuk says יחדו שניהם וילכו המאכלת ואת האש את, that the fire and the knife go together, that yiras Shamayim and parnassah go together. Because according to the amount of yiras Shamayim one has, that is the degree of parnassah there will be.
Humility without Losing Hope
One of the central themes the Bas Ayin teaches is humility. He wondrously finds lessons in humility from the parshiyos of the Torah and from various Chazals, and studies the subject of humility from many angles. One important lesson he teaches is that a person must be cautious that his humble feelings don't cause him to lose hope. The Bas Ayin said that this lesson is found in the words (Devarim 4:9) לך השמר רק. It is known that Chazal say that רק is an expression of מיעוט, excluding or limiting something. The Bas Ayin therefore explains that רק is an expression of humility, when one feels limited and imperfect. He translates the pasuk as follows. רק, your humble feelings, לך השמר, be cautious with them so that they don't cause you to lose hope.
