va'eira

The Posuk says ויאמר משה לפני ה' הן אני ערל שפתים ואיך ישמע אלי פרעה. Moshe asked 'ה, I have a speech impediment how will Pharaoh listen to me? Hashem tells him, don't worry you're going to be a lord over Pharaoh & Aaron will be your interpreter.
Why did Moshe have to have a speech impediment and need to have an interpreter? As 'ה told moshe when He first appeared to Him, "who is the one that gave a mouth to a person or made one mute made one see or blind is it not I, 'ה?"
Why didn't Hashem just cure him?
The Posuk says Hashem said to Moshe, tell Aaron to take his staff & stretch his hand over the waters in Mitzrayim to change the waters to blood.
Rashi says Aaron had to hit the water & not Moshe  because the water protected Moshe when his mother put him in the river.
The שיטה מקובצת brings down a Gemara that says, "the well that you drank from, don't throw stones in it". Something that benefited you, don't disparage. Don't pay back kindness with evil.
The ריף says that if that's how we have to treat inanimate objects that have no feelings, how much more so do we have to be cognizant of the feelings of our friends & the people around us whom we benefit from.
Maybe this is how we could understand why 'ה didn't just cure Moshe & let him go to Pharaoh alone. He needed to have Aaron there to do the talking. Moshe grew up in Pharaoh's palace; he lived there, and Pharaoh fed him & took care of him.
The same way he couldn't hit the water that protected him to start the דם, he couldn't be the one to talk to pharaoh, who had cared for him to start the Makos. Even though they're about to destroy his whole country, a Rasha still deserves some Hakaras Hatov. 
It goes without saying how much more so we have to recognize the benevolence of 'ה who gives us all good & who always takes care of us, that we shouldn't do anything that is abhorred by Him, and do only good, to somewhat repay his abundant kindness!

shemos

The Posuk says, ויגדל משה ויצא אל אחיו וירא בסבלתם; that Moshe grew up & went out to see the hardships of his brothers.
Rashi says that he went & saw his brothers' pain & really took it to heart.
The Medrash takes it a step further, and says he felt so bad that he went around helping whoever he could with the backbreaking labor.
The Parsha continues with 'ה telling Moshe that He sees the pain & suffering of the people, hears their cries and it's time to take them out & bring them into the land of Israel.
Hashem tells Moshe, go to Pharaoh & take my nation out of Mitzraim. Moshe says who am I to go to the king and to take the Jews out of Mitzraim?
Rashi says that Moshe was saying, I'm not worthy to be the one to take them out, and even if I'm worthy, what merit do the Jews have to be taken out of Mitzraim?
Hashem answers, it's not coming from you it's from me & I will be with you. As far as the Zechus, when the בני ישראל come out they're going to accept the Torah.
I heard a fascinating insight from R' Shmuel Berenbaum. What's the back & forth between Moshe & 'ה? Hashem just told Moshe he wants to take the בני ישראל out & Moshe, who cared so much about them is now second guessing 'ה when He says He wants to take them out?!? Moshe should have been jumping for joy! Not looking for excuses why they shouldn't be taken out. And what's ה's answer? That they're going to get the Torah.
How is that a Zechus to go out of Mitzraim? Are we rewarded for futures?
R' Shmuel says that what Moshe was really asking was what merit will the בני ישראל have that once they're taken out of Mitzraim they'll still remain Jews? When they were oppressed & forced together they remained Jewish, but if they're free to do as they please who says they'll remain Jews?
On that 'ה said don't worry. When they come out they're going to accept the Torah & the Torah is what is going to keep them as Jews. As we see throughout the ages, the ones who stuck with the Torah through thick & thin remained steadfast as Jews, while the ones who didn't are unrecognizable as Jews. 
So what 'ה is telling us is that the only way to ensure the survival of the Jewish people is by accepting the Torah & really living  it and making it an integral part of our very being!

vayechi

When Yaakov says his final words to his sons,the Shevatim, he tells Reuvain פחז כמים haste like water.  Rashi says on that, just like water flows quickly, Reuvain was quick to get angry, so he lost the 3 main extras that came with the Bechora: פי שנים, כהנה & מלכות the double portion,the kehuna & the malchus. 
The Ohr Hachaim says that immediately the מלכות was given to Yehuda, the פי שנים was given to Yosef, & the כהנה was up in the air until someone deserved it. What was so special about Yehuda & Yosef that they took over the בכורה?
The Posuk says, the ברכה that Yaakov gave to Ephraim & Menasha was that the Bnei Yisroel would bench their children that they should be like Ephraim & Menasha. Why is that? We know when we bentch our daughters we say they should be like the אמהות. Why wouldn't we bentch our sons to be like the אבות? 
The Sefer חכמת המצפון says in the name of רב אברהם זלמנס that being that Menashe was the Bechor, by right he should have had preference in all areas. When it came to the Berachos, Yosef set him up to have Yaakov's right hand on him as he should have. With that came being first for the דגלים, & for the חנוכת הנשיאים. 
But then Yaakov switched his hands & lowered his status to be under his younger brother. Imagine the jealousy that could have caused to have your little brother taking what was rightfully yours. Look at what the jealousy between Yaakov & Eisuv caused, as well as  by Yosef & his brothers. There the brothers' jealousy almost caused Yosef's death! 
But what did Menashe do? Nothing! Not then & not later; he just accepted it without a word! That is why Yaakov wanted us to bentch our kids to be like Ephraim & Menashe. He wanted this Mida to be transmitted to K'lal Yisroel that there shouldn't be jealousy, anger or resentment between us. 
As the Rosh says, "Don't put jealousy in your heart for this is an evil for which there is no cure". What Yaakov wanted was that we should only have love for one another no matter what. 
Chazal say that everyone admitted that Yehuda was fit to be king. Not only that, but we're called יהודים after Yehuda, and he was to have the Moshiach come from him. 
The Targum Yonasan says Yehuda got all of this because he admitted to his wrongdoing with Tamar which was a public Kiddush Hashem.  
Maybe this is why Yehuda & Yosef were chosen. Yaakov is telling us  what's most important:  peace, harmony, & to be able to admit you're wrong or to look the other way when someone hurts you. This is what we want to give over to our children - a ברכה that even though its really hard to ignore when someone hurts you, they should be able to do it because there is no greater ברכה than love & harmony. If we could learn to live like that, then there will be peace and happiness in K'lal Yisroel!

vayigash

ויאמר יוסף אל אחיו- אני יוסף-ולא יכלו אחיו לענות אותו כי נבהלו מפניו
The Medrash says on this Posuk, woe is the Day of Judgment; woe is the day of rebuke. Just as the brothers weren't able to answer Yosef who was the youngest of the Shevatim, how much more so will we be unable to answer Hashem when He will rebuke us.
Rav Isaac Sher asks where do you see that Yosef gave them any Tochacha? All it says is that he raised his voice and cried. Not only didn't he give them Tochacha, he had everyone else leave the room so his brothers wouldn't be embarrassed. Where do you see the rebuke that the Medrash says they couldn't answer him?
The Posuk says later on that Yosef sent his father 10 donkeys laden with all the good of Mitzrayim. Rashi says the best of Mitzrayim is referring to aged wine.
Egypt isn't known for its wine, so what was Yosef trying to tell Yaakov by sending him aged wine?
The Mayana Shel Torah says he was trying to relieve his father’s worries, that just like the wine in the jug is old & unchanged, so too Yosef even though his outside looks different since he's now the viceroy of Egypt. He still retained his upbringing and is unchanged on the inside.
R' Shloima Alter says that wine ages & gets better as it gets older, but that's only if the wine starts out good. If you use bad wine to begin with, it will just spoil. So too an older person who is good now it’s because he started out good and got better with time.
Maybe that's what the lesson was for the brothers too. We see that over time Yosef remained good & steadfast in his service of Hashem. Just like aged wine, therefore it must be that he started out good too, and what the brothers thought he did wrong obviously wasn't wrong. Yosef was right!! As now they realized that his dreams did indeed come true. Therefore, even though the Shevatim were so convinced to begin with that what they did was right, with the two words, "Ani Yosef" their world of self righteousness was shattered. Yosef didn't have to rebuke them or even say anything but those two words. Everything was clear to them at that moment. So too says the Chafetz Chaim, at the time of Moshiach, when Hashem says the words, "Ani Hashem" for all the world to hear, the reasons for all our sufferings & long standing Golus will be crystal clear with just the two words of “Ani Hashem."

mikeitz / chanuka

Yaakov tells his children,שמעתי כי יש שבר במצרים רדו שמה ושברו לנו משם ונחיה ולא נמות " I heard that there is food in Mitzrayim; go down & buy some so we will live & not die."
The Orach Chaim says that the reason for the double lashon of "we will live & not die" is to instruct them of the importance of effort; if they won't go down, then they will die here & not live in Olam Haba as well, for not even trying to save themselves. However, if they put in the effort to go down & get food then they will live here & in the next world.
The Parsha starts with ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים " It was at the end of 2 years".
The Klai Yakar says, being that the Torah doesn't tell us when these 2 years started, Chazal say they started from when Yosef asked the wine maker to remember him to Pharaoh. After that Yosef was stuck in jail for another 2 years for not relying on 'ה.
Why was Yosef punished for trying to save himself while the brothers would have been punished for not trying to save themselves?
The Gemara says מאי חנכה & goes on to explain how the Yevanim came into the Heychal & were Mitamai everything. After the Chashmonaim won the war, they found one jar of oil that lasted for 8 days instead of 1, so the next year they made a Yom Tov to commemorate the נס.
The Maharal asks why this is the only time you find that we make a Yom Tov because 'ה made a נס that enabled us to do one Mitzvah. Normally we make a Yom Tov when we were saved from being destroyed. Even as we see in Al Hanisim, there's no mention of the oil, only the miracle of the war.
He answers that the miracle of Chanuka was really of the Chashmonayin winning the war, but since that could have been attributed to normal means 'ה made the נס of the oil which you could only interpret as a נס, to show that the whole war too was won by a נס.
So maybe its the same thing here too. There are 2 different types of Hishtadlus. One is when you make an effort, & even though you know that all you get is coming from 'ה, it looks like the norm. You can't just sit & wait for the bread to come to you - you have to put in some effort & then 'ה will make it happen. The other way is by doing something that would never happen without an open miracle, like asking a Mitzry who hates jews to put his life on the line to get him out of jail!! That would never happen without 'ה pulling the strings.
Like the Medrash says that the only reason the winemaker even spoke up at all was because he thought Pharaoh was going insane & with another king he didn't know if he'd be replaced, so he spoke up only for his own benefit!
Maybe this is how we could understand what Yosef did wrong; relying on someone like that is an act of desperation says the Chazon Ish & someone like Yosef who has complete faith in 'ה should never act out of desperation, but should wait for 'ה to perform the miracle for him. It's only in normal times that we have to put in our Hishtadlus, but in desperate times all we need to do is have absolute faith in 'ה!

vayeishev

The Posuk tells us that after the brothers put Yosef in the pit they saw a caravan of arabs coming &Yehuda said לכו ונמכרנו לישמעלים וידינו אל תהי בו let's sell him to the arabs; let our hands not be on him.
When Yaakov gives the berachos to the Shivatim in Parshas Vayechi, he praises Yehuda that he sold him instead of killing him. רב אייזיק שר asks, why does he praise him for that? The Gemmara says that to be sold into captivity is a fate worse than death. It also says that when one is a slave he's likely to sin, & its worse to cause a person to sin than to kill him. So why is Yehuda praised for selling him?
Rabbi Diamond asks, why when Potifar's wife grabbed his clothes, didn't Yosef just grab them back before he ran so she wouldn't be able to prove anything?
The Torah is teaching us a very important lesson says רב שר. When a person is faced with a decision to make, & he's not sure what to do, & there is no turning back, what you have to do is step back & let the pieces fall into place like 'ה wants them to. So what Yehuda was doing was saying וידינו אל תהי בו that our hands shouldn't be in it; let's sell him so there's no chance we'll do anything irreversible to him, & let 'ה take it from here.
Maybe that's what yosef was thinking too when he didn't want to take the extra second to grab his clothes back. He had to get right out so as to be sure he wouldn't sin. As for the accusation that now there was proof, he would rely on 'ה & do nothing.
So the Torah is teaching us here that sometimes it's better not to think into things too much. Take yourself out of the equation & cast your burdens on 'ה & He will work things out!

vayishlach

The Torah tells us that when Yaakov was on the way to meet Eisav he took his wives & children & all his possessions across the river. 
Then the Posuk says ויותר יעקב לבדו that Yaakov was left there all alone. 
Rashi says the reason he was alone was because he forgot some small jars so he went back to get them. 
The Gemmara in Chulin says we see from here that צדיקים חביב עליהן ממונם  יותר מגופם that Tzadikim value their money more than their lives. 
Reason for this is because they won't steal so they need to make sure to keep what's theirs. 
R' Aaron Kutler explains that even though Yaakov was very wealthy at the time, since maybe sometime in the future he might need these jars & he wanted to stay far away from theft, he went to get them so he wouldn't be tempted later on to steal. 
Now how are we to understand this that yaakov had to go back to get the jars so he wouldn't be tempted to steal? How could we even think that if he didn't have something he would steal to get it?!?
Rabbainu Bachaya say the reason Yaakov went back was because those jars that he left were the jars that the children drank from & In order that the children wouldn't be put in danger by not drinking on the journey, he put himself in danger to get the jars. 
So maybe this is how we could understand what the Gemmara is teaching us, that of course, no matter what Yaakov wouldn't steal, but if he wouldn't have gotten the jugs so the kids could drink, & they would have been in a life or death situation, then he would be tempted to steal to save the kids. 
So Yaakov is teaching us that you have to look ahead &prepare yourself so as not to put yourself in a situation where you could be tempted to sin even if know you could justify it later!

vayeitzei

The posuk says סלם מצב ארצה וראשו מגיע השמימה A ladder was set earthward & its top reached heavenward. 
The Yismach Moshe says that the ladder is a metaphor for man himself-that man was created from earth & put on earth מצב ארצה & he has a neshama which is heavenly מגיע השמימה.  
The Chafetz Chaim says that man is similar to a ladder because on a ladder you don't stand still; you go either up or down. So too, a person is either going up or down -  you don't stay in the same place. 
The posuk says ויקח מאבני המקום וישם מראשתיו He took from the stones of the place & put them around his head. 
Rashi says the reason he did that was to protect himself from the wild animals. 
The obvious question is how is putting rocks around his head going to protect him from the animals? The rest of his body is still exposed?!?
The Saba from kelm says this is teaching us that a person's health,parnasa & all he does is really the result of hidden miracles, & all our efforts by themselves would be meaningless if it wouldn't be the will of 'ה.  We just have to put in the effort to do our part & 'ה will make it happen. 
Rav Lieff says that one person can be on top of the ladder & one person on bottom, but if the one on top is on the way down & the one on bottom is on the way up then the one on bottom is on a  much higher level than the one on top he is climbing closer to 'ה 
So maybe this is what the Saba from kelm is saying. That all we have to do, even if we're on the bottom, is just to take small steps; to make that little effort to go up & then 'ה will take us all the way to the top!

toldos

ויתרצצו הבנים בקרבה
And the children clashed inside of her. 
The Medrash Rabba says that when Rivka would walk by a yeshiva Yaakov would try to get out. 
The Bais Halaivi asks why would Yaakov want to leave when we know that a Malach teaches babies the whole Torah when they are in the mother's womb? Isn't it better to learn from a malach then go to yeshiva?
R' Maimon Elbaz asks why did Yaakov have to trick Eisav into selling him the Bechora? Why couldn't 'ה just make yaakov come out first?
Similarly, you could ask why couldn't Yitzchok have seen Eisav for what he was, & give the brochos to Yaakov outright?
The posuk says Eisav says to Yaakov,
הלעיטני נא מן האדם האדם הזה
Please pour into me that very red stuff. 
But later on in the Parsha when he brings his father food he just says father, get up, unlike Yaakov who said to his father please get up. Wouldn't it have made more sense for Eisav to say please to his father than to his brother??
Also, why was he asking for red stuff? The stuff was lentils & after they're cooked they're no longer red.
So the Chavas Yaer says that the way you translate נא over here is not please but raw. So what Eisuv was saying was give me that raw red stuff! He couldn't even wait for it to cook before he ate it. We see from here that Eisav's motto was instant gratification - no waiting. He wants it now & with no effort; just pour it down my throat. 
This is the opposite of Yaakov. For this reason R' Elbaz says Yaakov had to buy the Bechora. 'ה wanted to see if Yaakov really wanted it & was willing to sacrifice for it!
This really answers the Bais Halevi's question. The reason Yaakov wanted out even though he was learning with a Malach was because he wanted to do it on his own. He didn't want to be spoon fed by the Malach. 
Same with the Brachos; since he got them by risking his life for them they have much more meaning than just getting them for nothing. He's teaching us that to maximize our lives we have to work hard & not take the easy way out!

chaya sara

כי אל ארצי ואל מולדתי תלך ולקחת אשה לבני ליצחק
To my land & my birthplace you shall go & take a wife for my son for yitzchak. 
Avraham tells Eliezer to go back to his hometown and find a wife for Yitzchak. 
Why was Avraham so insistent that Eliezer take a wife for יצחק from his family? Didn't 'ה just tell him in לך לך to leave his family? 
The Posuk says Avraham says לא תקח אשה לבני מבנות הכנעני אשר אנכי יושב בקרבו "don't take a woman for my son from the daughters of the Canani that I'm living in their midst"
The Chasam Sofer asks, if he wouldn't be living among them, then he could take from them? why is living among them a reason why יצחק couldn't marry them? 
Then a few Pesukim later he says even if she won't come with you -פן תשיב את בני שמה " no matter what, don't bring my son there"
Which means that even if he would have to go find a less appropriate shidduch, that would be ok as long as יצחק doesn't go back there. R' Moshe asks, why was he so adamant that יצחק not go back there under any circumstances?
He answers that Avraham is teaching us how important our surroundings are & how we have to try to be close to Talmiday Chachamim. We see that even people like יצחק & רבקה who were on such a high level,could be affected by their surroundings Avraham was worried that if they would live out there with no positive influences around, they would come to fall from their great level. 
That's why he said under no circumstance could they live there but had to stay close to him. 
Similarly says the Chasam Sofer, the reason that he couldn't take a Canaani girl was because he lived amongst them. If the girl came into his house he could have a positive influenced on her,but once she was around her family again, all that she learned by Avrham would be lost. 
That's why he said take from my father's house & bring her here so that she'll be surrounded by positive influences instead of the negative influence of her family.  
That could be what 'ה was telling him too when he said to leave his father's house - to go away from the negative influence of his hometown.  
He felt that as long as he brought the girl to him & took her away from the negative influences into a home of positive influences, he was really doing what 'ה had told him to do ; to take people & bring them closer to 'ה! 

vayera

ויטע אשל בבאר שבע ויקרא שם בשם ה'
Avraham planted a tree & called out in the name of 'ה.
Rashi says that from this Posuk we learn that Avraham had an open house & fed all the people who came by & taught them about 'ה.
But when the Torah tells us about how  Avraham fed the Malachim it goes through every detail of how he did it & what he gave them & that he was rewarded based on how he served them.
R' Tzudok asks, wouldn't it have made more sense for the Torah to give us details on how Avraham performed chesed for actual people & how he got them into the fold to believe in 'ה than to tell us details about Malachim that didn't need his hospitality & the whole thing was just a show?
The Posuk says that Avraham told the Malachim to wash their feet.
Rashi says that he didn't give them the water himself but he had someone else do it & because of that his children would be given water from a messenger & not directly from 'ה.
R' Moshe says that we see from there that the main part of doing Chesed is not  the outcome,  but the work that goes into it. That's why he should have brought the water to the Melachim himself.
Similarly says R' Tzudok, the reason the Torah told us about Avraham's hospitality only by the Malachim was to teach us that even though Avraham's chesed to the Malachim was unnecessary & pointless to them, for him it was pure Chesed & that its the work & the intent that's in your heart that 'ה cares about & not if you actually accomplish something or not!

lech lecha

The Parsha starts with לך לך מארצך ה' telling אברהם to go to the land that He's going to show him.  
When he gets there the Posuk says ויהי רעב בארץ that there was a hunger in the land & אברהם went down to Mitzrayim.
Rashi says that אברהם's Nisayon was that 'ה told him to come to this land where there's a hunger from which he's forced to leave & his Nisayon is not to second guess 'ה.
The Ohr Hachaim says that the reason 'ה gave him the Beracha of ואברכה מברכיך is because he followed 'ה even without knowing where he was going; he didn't question, he just followed 'ה.
So why does Rashi say that his Nisayon was to leave the land 'ה told him to go to? Maybe his Nisayon should have been to stay there & wait for 'ה to take care of him. The same way he went there with blind faith he should have stayed!
The Ramban takes it a step further & says that going down to Mitzraim was counted as an עון for אברהם for he should have known that 'ה would save him from death.
רב יחזקאל לוינשטיין.
offers an insight into why אברהם went down to Mitzrayim instead of staying.
Had אברהם stayed 'ה would have definitely taken care of him, but by doing that he would have been relying on an open miracle. If you rely on that & 'ה performs it for you, then you really have no doubt as to where your bread is coming from, so trusting in 'ה is easy.
But if you do things the normal way & you put in the effort & do what would be considered the right thing to do, & then things work out, it's easy for you to think that your  effort payed off & you did it yourself.
In that case it's much harder to say that it all came from 'ה!
That's what אברהם wanted - to strengthen his Emunah by doing things the normal way & then attributing it all to 'ה.
That's why rashi says that his Nisayon was to leave the land to go to where there is food, to act in the normal way & at the same time strengthening his Emuna by saying that everything came from ה!

noach

The Parsha starts out with אלה תולדות נח these are the offspring of Noach
Last week we ended with נח מצא חן בעיני ה that Noach found favor in ה's eyes
The Medrash Rabba says that we put the 2 Pesukim together that the reason Noach found favor in ה's eyes was because of his offspring.
According to that though, why does the Posuk interrupt with נח איש צדיק before it tells us who is children are ?
Says the בעל אפריון that if it's not publicized that someone is a Tzaddik, he'll have a very hard time influencing people, but if someone is a known Tzaddik, people will be much quicker to listen to him.
The Torah is telling us over here that even though Noach was a known Tzaddik to the people of his generation, he was still like the Posuk continues את האלקים התהלך נח that Noach only walked with 'ה & didn't go out & try to influence the people of his generation. He was a Tzaddik but only for himself.
At the end of the Parasha where it lists the names of the offspring of Shem it says that Haran died in Ohr Kassdim & on that Rashi brings down the Medrash how Avraham was thrown into a fiery furnace by Nimrod because he broke his father's idols.
R' Shmuel Birnbaum asks, isn't it odd that the first Nisayon of Avraham Avinu, one where he risked his life & would have been killed had it not been for a miracle, doesn't even get mentioned in the Torah?
& he answers that the reason the Torah didn't mention it is because for a person to be willing to give up his life for a cause isn't that unusual. You see it all the time; people go into battle knowing they might die but feel the need to fight for a cause, so to be willing to die for a cause doesn't need to be mentioned. On the other hand, to LIVE for a cause is much harder. Imagine how Avraham must have felt when he knew he had to go home & tell his wife he just sacrificed their only child and to live with that his whole life- that's a challenge. So maybe the Posuk is teaching us that the reason Noach was saved was only for Avraham who did what Noach didn't do; he reached out to the people & lived his life teaching others how to live their lives doing everything for 'ה & even when it might seem like things don't make sense, you do the right thing & 'ה will take care of the rest!