noach

The posuk says, ויבא נח ובניו ואשתו ונשי בניו אתו אל התבה מפני מי המבול : Noach, and his sons,and his wife,and his sons' wives with him,went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.
Rashi explains why it says מפני מי המבול : because of the waters of the flood. It should have said that he went in because 'ה told him to. He says that even Noach was מקטני אמנה; he believed, and he didn't believe that the flood would come, so only when he was forced in by the waters, did he enter the תבה.
Asks the באר יוסף, how can we say Noach was lacking in his trust of 'ה after we said that Noach was completely righteous and was told straight from 'ה that he was going to bring the flood, & then he worked for 120 years building the תבה. Could it be that he lacked trust in 'ה?
There's another posuk that says ואתה קח לך מכל מאכל אשר יאכל ואספת אליך והיה לך ולהם לאכלה : take for yourself from every food that is eaten and gather it for yourself that it shall be for you and them as food.
There are a couple of questions on this posuk. First, why does it say take for yourself from every food...? It should have just said take from every food. Also, why does it start with "take for yourself" & then end with "it shall be for you and them as food"? Shouldn't it have said take for yourself and them?
The ש"ך & תפארת יהונתן answer, that if Noach had to bring along food to feed all the animals for an entire year, even one hundred arks wouldn't have sufficed to carry all the food. So 'ה made an enormous miracle and told him to prepare food just for himself, and with that little bit of food there was enough for him and everyone in the תבה for the full year.
That's why the posuk says take for yourself, for he only took food for himself, & then it says for yourself & them, for that food will be enough for you & them.
We see from here how much trust Noach had, that he went into the תבה with thousands of animals and almost no food, completely trusting 'ה. So again, how does Rashi say he was מקטני אמנה?
The באר יוסף says, in truth, Noach knew and believed that if the people wouldn't do teshuva the flood would come. There was no doubt in his mind. However, he thought that since 'ה had given an extra seven days as a last attempt for the people to do teshuva, 'ה, in his infinite mercy, would keep pushing it off until they actually did teshuva, & wouldn't have to bring the flood. Therefore, he waited as long as he could to go into the תבה.
Now if that's the case, why does Rashi call him מקטני אמנה? He had complete faith, he just thought 'ה would give more time.
Answers ר יצחק ווארקא, that the way to read the Rashi is not that Noach was מקטני אמנה, but rather that Noach believed in the קטני אמנה & thought that they would do teshuva. Therefore, he didn't believe that the flood would come. He waited until the last second, hoping the people would repent, showing us that it's never too late to do teshuva & even if we wait until the last second we can always come back!

bereishis

The posuk says:ומעץ הדעת טוב ורע לא תאכל ממנו כי ביום אכלך ממנו מות תמות from the tree of knowledge good & bad don't eat from it for on the day you eat from it you will die. And immediately following, the next posuk says: לא טוב היות האדם לבדו אעשה לא עזר כנגדו it's not good for man to be alone, I will make him a helper alongside him.
We need to understand this. Why right after 'ה commanded him not to eat from the tree of knowledge, did he say he needs a helper? Before he had a restriction he didn't need a helper. The מוהרי"ץ answers that we see by Shabbos we don't allow one person to read alone by candlelight, but if there are two people there then it's allowed for each one will remind the other that it's Shabbos. Here too, as long as there was no command not to do something, he didn't need a helper to help him to stay away from sinning. Once there was a commandment not to eat, he needed a helper to keep him from sinning.
How ironic that the one person that was put there specifically to stop him from sinning, is the one who caused him to sin. How can we understand that? Wouldn't he have been better off without her?
The posuk says: ויהיו שניהם ערומים האדם ואשתו ולא יתבששו they were both naked, the man & his wife, and they weren't embarrassed.
Rashi says they didn't know between good & bad. They had no evil inclination until after they ate from the tree of knowledge. That's when the evil inclination entered them. All the commentators ask on Rashi, if before he ate from the tree of knowledge he didn't have the evil inclination, then why would he eat from the tree of knowledge? What would cause him to rebel against 'ה?
Also, chazal tell us that the whole job of a person in this world is to overcome the evil inclination, so how could it be that אדם didn't have one initially?
Answers ר' חיים וולאזין, that even before the sin, אדם had the choice & will to do good & bad, but the difference was that the evil wasn't inside of him; it was an external force personified by the snake that had to outwardly convince him to sin. It was only after the sin that the forces of evil are part of our very being, & our job is to combat them.
We know the punishment of the snake was that dirt will be his food & the punishment of man was that he will have to work hard for his food. On the surface it seems that the snake got the better deal. His food is abundant and always around, while man has a hard time getting his food. They answer that the reason 'ה gives him his food with no effort, is because he's distancing himself from him; he wants nothing to do with him. However, man, whose quest for bread is a daily struggle, is because 'ה wants man to come to him asking for his help, bringing himself closer to 'ה, constantly trying to rectify the original sin.
Maybe this is why he needed חוה there, for in order for a person to gain that closeness to 'ה, he has to have the constant trial. He has to be able to fight off his evil inclination, be it internal or external. He needs to have the desire to do bad, so that he can choose to do good. So yes, this first time around חוה caused him to do bad, but in order for her to rectify her sin, she will always be there to push him to do good. Had אדם been alone, maybe he wouldn't have sinned this time, but who knows what would have happened next time. Without a wife there to help you turn back, we might never get that closeness to 'ה that's the essence of our very existence. We learn from here to not to be afraid to ask for help & when someone pushes us to do the right thing, embrace it!

vezoz haberacha / hoshana raba

The posuk says ויעל משה מערבות מואב אל הר נבו; Moshe went up from the plains of Moav to mount Nevo & 'ה showed him the entire land of ארץ ישראל, & said to him, this is the land I promised  אברהם, יצחק & יעקב that I would give over to their children. Look at it, but you're not going to enter.
Rashi says that 'ה showed it to him so that he would tell אברהם, יצחק & יעקב that He fulfilled his promise to give the land to their children.
How does Moshe see the promise fulfilled? If he believes 'ה that he's going to bring them in, why does he need to see the land? And if he doesn't, then how does showing it to him help?
We see a similar thing when 'ה gave Moshe the לוחות. He said to him, go down from the mountain; your people are sinning. Moshe takes the לוחות, goes down, sees them sinning, then breaks the לוחות. Didn't he believe 'ה? Why bother taking them down to begin with if he's just going to break them?
The last Posuk in the Torah says אשר עשה משה לעניני כל ישראל; what Moshe did before the eyes of the whole Klal Yisroel
Rashi says what it's referring to is that he made sure to break the לוחות before their eyes. However, isn't that obvious? We just said he saw them sinning & then broke them, so of course it was before their eyes!
The שפתי חכמים says that it should have just said לבני ישראל. Why does it have to say לעניני כל ישראל?
Maybe the reason it says לעיני is to teach us that Moshe had to do it in front of them. He had to go down to them to see firsthand what they were doing wrong.
Similarly, over here, of course Moshe didn't doubt 'ה. However, how could Moshe tell the Avos that 'ה fulfilled his promise without at least seeing the actual land firsthand, the same way he wouldn't admonish the people before he actually saw them doing wrong with his own eyes.    
The פוניבז' משגיח used to say that the same way the עשרת ימי תשובה are days to reflect & turn, and better our ways, and יום כיפור is the seal, so too are the ten days from יום כיפור until הושענא רבה and הושענא רבה is the ultimate seal.
Now if הושענא רבה is the ultimate seal why don't we fast and daven like on יום כיפור ?
Maybe it's like we're saying here that the days from ראש השנה until יום כיפור were the days for us to reflect & repent, but now in the next ten days 'ה comes down, says the פוניבז' משגיח to see if we are really doing what we said we would on יום כיפור, without the fasting and davening. Just seeing how we act in our daily lives. Then once 'ה sees firsthand that since יום כיפור we're busy doing the mitzvos and bettering ourselves, He will put the final seal on a great year for all of us!

succos

The Posuk says כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל בהוציאי אותם מארץ מצרים; the reason we sit in the succah is because 'ה housed us in succahs on the way out of mitzrayim. Rashi says that the succahs we're referring to are the ענני הכבוד
We all know the famous question.
If we're commemorating going out of mitzrayim, why don't we have succos in nissan, when we left mitzrayim? The חידושי הרי"ם gives an interesting answer. He says that the mitzva is למען ידעו; that we should know what happened. The mitzvah of succah requires knowledge. Throughout most of the year people have many sins, and we know that a person doesn't sin unless a רוח שטות comes over him. So throughout the year we're considered lacking the knowledge to perform the mitzvah of succah properly, but after rosh hashana & yom kippur, when we're free from sin, we have the דעת to perform the mitzva of succah in the ultimate fashion.
Asks רבי אליהו גוטמאכר, normally, by mitzvos we say that they don't need kavana. However, by succah we see that this mitzvah requires special kavana. Why over here do we need to know the reason for the mitzva?
The אלשיך says over the following mashal.
The רמב"ם, as we know, was a great doctor who divided his time between the palace of the king as his private physician, & his home, where he studied the Torah. When he would go from his house to the palace, all the sick people would line up along the way and he would instruct them on a remedy to cure their sicknesses.
One day as he was going, there was a man standing with all the sick people, who was obviously healthy. The רמב"ם asked him, why are you standing here with the sick people ? The man told him, I'm a teacher of small children, and recently another rebbi moved into town & took my livelihood away; I was hoping you could help me. The רמב"ם said, I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm a doctor; I help sick people. The man told him, you help people to eat & sleep. I can't eat or sleep - I need your help. I can't eat for I have no money, & I can't sleep because I worry about my family. The רמב"ם said, if that's so, then you too should be cured of what ails you, and told him to take one melon, and make sure to take care of it so that it will last a long time. Time went on & nothing happened. The man was discouraged but still cared for the melon.
Winter comes, & the king gets sick. The רמב"ם is summoned and concludes that the only cure is a ripe melon that was ready to be pulled from the ground in the summer. They searched the land to no avail. The schoolteacher hears about this & brings the melon that he's been caring for, to the king. When the king is completely healed he makes a big party & gets up and asks the man to name his reward. The man is so excited! Finally, he can get what he's been wanting. He says, please king, let there be no one else allowed to teach children in this town except me. The king says, that I can't give you for it's my day of happiness. On my day of celebration I won't do anything that would be harmful to anyone.
The man leaves dejected. The next day when the רמב"ם leaves his house to go to the king, the dejected schoolteacher is on the line again with the sick people. The רמב"ם asks him, why are you here again? The man tells him what happened at the king's party. The רמב"ם says, you fool! Why wouldn't you ask him for 100,000 gold coins which he would have gladly given you & you wouldn't have to teach again?
The אלשיך says, we learn from here that if a person has a request to ask of someone, you have to pick the right time. If it's a time of joy & happiness, then ask for something good. If you need to ask for something that even though it might be good for you, is bad for others, wait until it's a time of anger, then ask for what you need. Based on this, says רבי אליהו גוטמאכר , the days of succos, when we're commemorating the עני הכבוד that 'ה made to protect us from all harm, is the time that's most opportune for us to ask 'ה to protect & lookout for us for the whole year. That's why we need to know the reason for the succah, so that we know what we could be asking for. Just like 'הprotected us then, he will protect us throughout the generations. All we have to do is ask at the most opportune time, when we're free from sin. Now is when 'ה is בשמחה, so we merit the ultimate protection!

yom kippur

The posuk says לכפר על בני ישראל מכל חטאתם אחת בשנה this is for you as an eternal decree to forgive the jewish people for all their sins once a year.
Why did the Torah write once a year only by יום כיפור? All the other holidays also come only once a year.
The gemara asks, why was the death of מרים recorded next to the parsha of parah aduma? To teach us that just like parah aduma is mechaper, so too is the death of a tzadik mechaper. Why was the death of אהרן next to the בגדי כהונה? Just like the בגדי כהונה are mechaper so too is the death of a tzadik
We see that we can have a day like יום כיפור- a day that's mechaper more than once a year.
The mishnah berurah says, that at least in the days between rosh hashana and yom kippur, one should do like the zohar says and before he goes to sleep take an accounting of his deeds & do teshuva.
There's a story told about the chafetz chaim one יום כיפור night. After everyone went home from shul, he stayed. One of his students wanted to observe him, so he hid under a bench to see what his rebbi would do when he was all alone. The chafetz chaim saw that he was alone so he began to make an accounting of everything he did the whole year, month by month, week by week, day by day, then hour by hour. After he finished his accounting he had one hour out of the whole year that he didn't know what he did with.
He started crying bitterly, rebuking himself, saying yisroel meir, yisroel meir, what's going to be with you? What did you waste an hour of your life on? Chazal say that you can acquire your world to come in one hour, & in that hour 'ה gave you life, health, sustenance, healthy children etc, how could you waste it!? That was the chofetz chaim, crying over one hour; what can we say........
On our question of why it says once a year,הגאון רבי יעקב חריף מוילנא explains with a mashal of a man who was very sick, who had to travel to the big city to an expert doctor. They rushed to get him there with no stops along the way, however, if he had an attack along the way they would have to take him to the local doctor to control it until they could get to the big city so that he wouldn't die along the way . Similarly, when the jewish people are going through the year, and the sins aren't too bad, when יום כיפור comes they do a wholehearted teshuva; then we can make it from one יום כיפור to the next. However, if the sins are very grave, then we can't make it straight to the next יום כיפור & we get sent a day with the death of a tzaddik or similar tragedy. That's like יום כיפור in the middle of the year to propel us to do teshuva. This is what the torah is saying, that now, on יום כיפור, we should do real teshuva so that it will be just once a year & we won't need any more days like יום כיפור. If we could learn a little from the chafetz chaim how to examine our deeds & account for our time, & not waste it on frivolous matters, maybe then we will make it from one יום כיפור to the next with no stops in between, and possibly the time we don't waste will be the hour that will grant us eternity!

Wishing everyone a גמר חתימה טובה

haazinu / rosh hashana

The posuk says, קל אמונה ואין עול צדיק וישר הוא; a trustworthy G-d with no injustice He is righteous & upright. The אוצרות התורה asks, what is the praise that we're giving 'ה that He's אין עול? We wouldn't even praise a person that he doesn't harm other people unjustly, so what's the great praise that 'ה doesn't harm unprovoked? 'ר ישראל סלנט explains, in normal circumstances, if a person commits a crime, and goes before a judge based on his crime, he's sentenced . If he's sentenced to a long jail time, it not only affects him, but his family as well. Even if his aging parents whom he supports, would come to court to ask for leniency, or his wife, children, or close friends would beg the judge, it would be to no avail; the court wouldn't waiver. One gets punished based on his crime. However, the judgment of 'ה is not like that. His judgment is אין עול; without any injustice, He takes into account all the mitigating circumstances, and won't punish unless everyone who would be effected deserves it. ר אליהו לופיאן says, based on this, that a person should surround oneself with friends & loved ones in order to be saved on the יום הדין, for the more people you affect the better your chances for a good judgment. In the סימנים on ר"ה night we say שירבו זכויותינו - that our merits should be increased. The ספר תורת חיים asks, what kind of request is that? Either we have merits or we don't. If we want them increased we have to go out & do mitzvos, & then we'll have more. We can't ask 'ה to give them to us - how can he give us merits?
Based on the explanation of אין עול, maybe we could say that what we're asking 'ה when we say שירבו זכויותינו is that He give us the ability to positively affect many people, whether it be spiritually or materially. As the סבא מקלם says, don't live just for yourself! The more people we affect the better our chance of getting a good judgment. There's a story told about the רב מפונביז. When he was sick in the hospital, he called over some of his influential talmidim to ask if there was anything he could do for the klal, such as to open a new yeshiva or the like. The talmidim asked him, why is the rav asking us this now? Wait until you're better and then do it. The rav answered, now that I'm in a state of פיקוח נפש, I need to do something for the klal, and then I'm sure I'll be healed. So too with us, coming into ראש השנה, we need to make sure we're doing things for the klal, getting involved, helping people, affecting as many people as possible to ensure that we merit a year of health, wealth & happiness!
Wishing everyone a כתיבה וחתימה טובה!!