Today is February 1, 2026 /
Today is February 1, 2026 /
Today’s online Torah study is dedicated by Yehuda Wurtzel l’ilui nishmas his dear mother Bernice bas Avraham ע”ה whose yahrzeit is on the 12th of Shevat.
To make a dedication, click HERE.
Yahrzeit – 12th of Kislev (5601/1840) – The Bas Ayin, HaRav Avraham Dov Ber b’Rav Avraham of Ovritch, was born in 5525 (1765) in the Ukrainian town of Chmielnik. He married the daughter of the Rabbi of Ovritch and served as Rabbi of Ovritch for nearly forty years before traveling to Eretz Yisrael at the age of 70.
He was a close student of HaRav Nachum of Chernobyl, the מאור עינים zal, and of Rav Levi Yitzchok of Barditchev, the קדושת לוי zal, and was a leading chassidic rebbes of his generation.
em>“Bas Ayin” is the title of his commentary on Chumash. When he arrived in Tzfas he became the leader of the Chassidic community while living in peace with the Perushim (followers of the Vilna Gaon), and their leader, Harav Yisrael of Shklov zal.
His koach ha’tefilah became widely known during the Great Earthquake of 1837. On that horrific day, tremors shattered the walls of Tzfas just after the community had gathered in the shul for Mincha. Screaming in panic, congregants fled toward the doors, but the Bas Ayin shouted: “Come to the Aron Kodesh if you want to be saved!”
As everyone turned and gathered at the Aron Kodesh, the Bas Ayin threw himself on the floor, weeping and praying. Most of the shul’s structure collapsed into rubble. But miraculously, the area surrounding the Aron Kodesh and the Bas Ayin remained intact. To this day, one can visit that shul and see clearly where the original surviving wall intersects with the rebuilt sections, a testament to the miracle that saved dozens of lives while thousands of people in Tzfas and the surrounding countryside were killed.
Then, three years later, in 1840 (5601), a deadly plague began to claim many lives in Tzfas, but the Bas Ayin promised the community that he would be the plague’s final victim.
On the 12th of Kislev, the Holy Bas Ayin returned his soul to HaShem and, exactly as he has promised, the plague stopped. He was laid to rest in the ancient cemetery of Tzfas, near the gravesites of the Beis Yosef and the Alshich Hakodesh.
Jewish communities throughout the world mark the yahrzeit with seudos l’ilui nishmaso, zechuso yagen aleinu.
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