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) רק השמר לך. 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, השמר לך, be cautious with them so that they don't cause you to lose hope.
It states (Vayikra 21:1) לנפש לא יטמא בעמיו, "Let none [of you] defile himself for a dead person among his people." The Bas Ayin (Emor) teaches that בעמיו is gematria ענו, and the pasuk is saying that you must be cautious not to make your soul tamei due to your excessive humility, which can cause you to feel down and can prevent you from serving Hashem, chalilah. You should comfort yourself with what Hashem says (Devarim 14:1) בנים אתם לה' אלקיכם "You are children of Hashem, your G-d." And just like a father has compassion on his children like they are, so will Hashem have compassion on us and He will accept our service as it is.
This is hinted at in the following pesukim (Vayikra 21:1-2) לנפש לא יטמא בעמיו כי אם לשארו הקרב אליו לאמו ולאביו ולבנו ולבתו ולאחיו, "Let none [of you] defile himself for a dead person among his people, except for his relative who is close to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother..." As we wrote above, בעמיו is gematria ענו, humility, and the pasuk is a warning that we shouldn't let humility knock us down and cause us to lose hope. The pasuk continues and lists the family relatives. The Bas Ayin explains that this means we should remember that we are a child of Hashem, like a relative to Hashem, and Hashem loves us immensely. With this awareness, we won't lose hope. We will know that whatever we do for Hashem is precious in His eyes.
One shouldn't become tamei due to anavah. Rather, he should remember and rely on his closeness to Hashem, Baruch Hu, with all kinds of closeness, for He is our Father and calls us His children. There are other expressions of קירבה, such as wife (see Yirmiyahu 2:2) and daughter (see Shemos Rabba 52:5), because of Hashem's immense love for Yisrael.
The Bas Ayin (Vayeira ד"ה המכסה) explains the pasuk (Bereishis 18:21) ארדה נא, "I will descend now [to Sedom]..." The Bas Ayin explains that the pasuk means that Hashem will go down to the resha'im of Sedom to arouse them to do teshuvah. Hashem told this to Avraham, so he should know Hashem's immense chesed and compassion that He doesn't want the punishment of resha'im. As it states (Yechezkel 33:11) חי אני נאם ה' אלקים אם אחפץ במות הרשע כי אם בשוב רשע מדרכו וחיה, "Say to them: As I live, says Hashem, I do not wish for the death of the wicked, but for the wicked to repent of his way so that he may live."
Hashem said (Bereishis 18:21) ארדה נא ואראה הכצעקתה הבאה אלי עשו כלה ואם לא אדעה. The Bas Ayin says that this means that if they do teshuvah, כלה, Hashem will remove the aveirah entirely. And if they do teshuvah, but not completely, אדעה, Hashem will remove the sin slowly with yesurim.
With this conversation, Avraham learned a great chiddush regarding the extent of Hashem's compassion for His creations who sin before Him. Not only is Hashem's hand open to receive those who return to Him, but Hashem Himself also arouses their hearts and calls them to do teshuvah before Him. However, Avraham still thought that when Hashem arouses people to teshuvah, it is solely when the community does teshuvah. He didn't know that Hashem would accept the teshuvah of an individual. This is the reason Avraham davened that even if there were only ten tzaddikim in each city, and there were only a few people who were doing teshuvah, it should be enough and Hashem should accept their tefillos and teshuvah, and Hashem agreed to his requests.
This portion of the Torah is written to teach us the potential of teshuvah. Hakadosh Baruch Hu waits for every individual to do teshuvah. And even if his sins are very significant, like the sins of Sedom and Amorah, chas v'shalom, his teshuvah is still accepted. Furthermore, Hashem will arouse him from heaven to do teshuvah.
The Gemara (Sotah 44:) says, "When someone speaks between the tefillin worn on the arm to the tefillin worn on the head, he returns [and doesn't go out to] war." The Bas Ayin (beginning of Tzav) explains that the tefillin worn on the arm, near the heart, represents a humble, broken heart. And the tefillin worn on the head represents the uplifting feelings of hope, and trust in Hashem's compassion and love. One can't interrupt between the two tefillins. This means that after one has a humble heart, he must immediately strengthen himself with the awareness that he is still precious to Hashem and Hashem desires his service. If one interrupts between these two matters, he returns from the war. He isn't able to stand in the war against the yetzer hara. The only way to win the war against the yetzer hara is with a mixture of a broken heart combined with courage and trust in Hashem's compassion.
Eichah ends with the pesukim השיבנו ה' אליך ונשובה חדש ימינו כקדם כי אם מאס מאסתנו קצפת עלינו עד מאד, "Return us to You, O Hashem, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old. For if You have utterly rejected us, You have been exceedingly wroth against us." And then we repeat, השיבנו ה' אליך ונשובה חדש ימינו כקדם, "Return us to You, O Hashem, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old."
We mention השיבנו, that Hashem should bring us back and accept our teshuvah, and we say this twice. The Bas Ayin (Va’eschanan) explains that this represents two types of teshuvah. We first do teshuvah for our bad deeds. The second teshuvah is for our negative thoughts when we think that we have become disgusted in Hashem's eyes, r'l. So after we say כי אם מאס מאסתנו, that we feel that Hashem has rejected us and doesn’t want us anymore, we do teshuvah on this thought, and we repeat that Hashem should accept our teshuvah.
We quote, "[We do teshuvah] that we have so much humility until the heart is broken and we are disgusted with our life due to our many sins, and we lose hope. On this, we daven a second time, השיבנו."
May the merit of the Baal Hilulah protect us, and everyone should have brachos and yeshuos, b'ruchniyus and b'gashmiyus, amen.