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בס"ד ראש השנה

We say in סליחות - כדלים ורשים דפקנו בדלת …which means that we were like paupers when we knocked on your door, Hashem. We also say mean poor men. The רש and דל open up your gates…Both– פתח לנו שערcorresponding months of the year that are “poor” are תמוז and אב. The we have ,שם אדנות of the מלוי says that when we take the בני יששכר4 x 3 = 12 letters which correspond to the twelve months אלף דלת ..The letter א corresponds to Nisan, ל to Iyar, ף to Sivan, ד to Tamuz, to Elul and so forth with the next six months. Here we see ת to Av, and לthat Tamuz and Av is דל. The month of Elul turn the דל into דלת. The writes that every month has a mode. Tamuz has the mode of ספר יצירה of רש The month of Elul turns the .עשיה and Elul is שמיעה Av is ,ראיהTamuz and Av into שער. (The bed of Og was ערש ברזל and so the ערש of Av became the שער in Elul). Therefore says the בני יששכר the month of Elul is the door and gateway- דלת ושער into the new year to come. After the battle of סיחון ועוג, Moshe thought that maybe the vow that Hashem made prohibiting him from entering א"י, would be annulled – are the two letters that ת and ע The letters .ואתחנן אל יה-וה בעת ההואrepresent Elul.

A yid must strive in becoming תמים, which Rashi interprets as humility- to what we really) לא -The more we say no .לא לו is אלול The word .ענוdon’t need), we come closer to לו, to Hashem =תמים תהיה910תשרי= .The more a yid thinks he isn’t, then he really is, and the more a yid thinks he is, he really isn’t. The Parsha ends with the mitzva of עגלה ערופה, where we learn the mitzva of escorting guests. We are now escorting the year out, and we should be able to say ידינו לא שפכו את הדם הזה, that the year was not wasted, not a חלל. This is accomplished by connecting to the beginning of the Parsha, to be שופטים and שוטרים of our past and future deeds, and do an honest חשבון הנפש.

The שער המלך says that Elul is Yosef, the sixth month corresponding to the sixth sefir of יסוד. The concept of קבוץ נדחים is also the ענין of תקון .זרע לבטלה– gathering all the holy lost sparks that were spilled ,הבריתThe בעל התניא says that in Elul the king is in the field מלך בשדה, meaning that the Almighty is assessable to all in Elul. The famous pasuk in ישעיהו speaking of the final redemption, is very connected to Elul and

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ונדחים והיה ביום ההוא יתקע בשופר גדול ובא האובדים The first part .ר"ה is very connected to the month of Elul when we blow the .. בארץ אשרshofar the entire month, and we strive to gather the lost sparks ובאוהשתחבו in Tishre קבלת המלכות Then comes the .האובדים…ונדחים

ה-וה בהר הקדוש בי"םיל which is ר"ה on בראשית ברא- א בתשרי = בראשית =הר הקדש בירושלם1202אלה-ים= . Elul is the month of בנין י"ם. In the

future the ערל, referring to the נוצרים and the טמא, referring to the Muslims will not be allowed in עיר הקדוש י"ם as it says in the הפטרהה-וה עמו גאל יכי נחם It also says .נב:א–כי לא יוסיף יבא בך עוד ערל וטמאכי ירחיב יה-וה את similar to what’s written in the Parsha י"ם is Tamuz and Av which will be redeemed in הרחבה Included in this .גבלךthe future את גבלך=456ותכל= - -שרית עם אלה-ים ועם אנשים ותכל=

=תמוז אב456 The Gemorra uses the word דרך when it comes to marriage, for example it’s the דרך for the איש to seek out his mate. If one is פוגם in the sanctity of ברית, this could have an effect on the שידוך. Rebbi Nachman brings a pasuk in א לאם ו פרשת- חיי שרה

חריו - ר"ת אלולאלכת לתאבה האישה that one who wants his wife to follow him, and be an עזר כנגדו, he has to be נזהר in the ענין of Elul.

The חז"ל tell us that the חטא עץ הדעת was on ר"ה in the tenth hour. Most of ר"ה was before the חטא, when אדם הראשון was on the level of which was ,למעלה מן הדעת in the place of דעת higher than ,עד דלא ידע read עזרה When .קדם the day of ,גן עדן is the day of ר"ה Therefore .גן עדן told נחמיה all the yidden were crying. The prophet ,ר"ה on משנה תורהthe yidden not to cry ה-וה היא מעוזכם אכלו משמנים ושתו יכי חדות משלח מנות and send gifts to those who are lacking (similar to ,ממתקיםon Purim). Rosh Hashana and Yovel are one concept, and we learn that we blow with a שופר on ר"ה from יובל, when even the lowest yidden return to their roots- קדם.

The פסוק says אור זרוע לצדיק לישרי לב שמחה showing that only a ישר could be happy. תשרי are the letters ישרת, the month of straightening out. Elul is connected to מילה, the cutting away of the ערלה, the רע. We already said that Elul is כנגד גד, who was born circumcised. Tishre is connected to פריעה, revealing of the crown- גלוי העטרה (that is revealing Hashem’s Malchus). עמלק says that he is the ראשית. Amelek is the שער50עץ Haman in building the .טומאה of הנון Amos, wanted to bring the yidden into this 50th level of יה-וה מלך 620כתר = טומאה -לעולם ועד =יה-וה מלך יה-וה ימלוך

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On ר"ה, we accept Hashem as king, over every part of our existence, and become totally subservient to His will. This is what we should have in mind when hearing the shofar of the ram’s horn which comes from the .the greatest act in history of total subservience to Hashem ,עקידת יצחקWhat Avraham did on the way to the עקידה, by turning off his logic, and relying on אמונה alone, was like Adam before the חטא- the level of is from the ram that ר"ה The shofar that we blow on .עד דלא ידעAvraham sacrificed. The Gemorra asks why we blow the shofar, and answers כי חוק לישראל הוא. It’s a- חוק that is above reason. We live in a generation of no logic, where we don’t understand what’s going on. This generation is the נסיון of the עקידה, where we just have to do, w/o putting so much thought into it. A goy doesn’t understand the level of עד .Amalek says that there is no hope, and don’t waste time trying .דלא ידעBut we get up early, getting ready for the time of קדם - קדם ידעתי Yishmael had twelve children, the twelfth he called .דעת before , מעדותך They are .קדמוני was also called נחש and the ,קדמוני Esav is called .קדמהall trying to prevent the yidden from reaching the level of קדם.

On both Rosh Hashana and Purim there is no הלל, since there is no need for הלל. The מגילת אסתר is a tremendous praise of Hashem, and so the because) ר"ה - ספר חיים וספר מתים פתוחים לפניך On .הלל is the מגילהof the חטא עץ הדעת), and the שופר is the הלל. We don't read the Megilla on Shabbos, and we don’t blow the Shofar on Shabbos for the same reason- היינו טעמה דשופר היינו טעמה דמגילה. Both the Megilla and the Shofar accomplish the same thing, the exalted praises of the Almighty. David HaMelech, the seventh of the Ushpuzin, and Shabbos, the seventh day, and Tishre, the seventh month, are all מלכות, the seventh sefira. The word שופר stands for the acronym of לאנהואש ררע פורש ש which means the root of a bitter herb. The inference is that the Shofar can eradicate the depth of bitterness and all sin, and bring a yid back to his roots.

Amalek and Yishmael are trying to prevent us from returning to our roots, as we see that ישמעאל built a mosque on our בהמ"ק. In both Parshios, משפטים in Adar and כי תצא in Elul, we read of the mitzvah of we are returning to ר"ה is really about. On תשובה of what ,השבת אבידהour roots –יובל. Every wedding is also a השבת אבידה. The son of the and said that חתונה of a שמחה the Mittele Rebbe, spoke of the ,בעל תניאthe soul of the חתן וכלה are one in heaven. Then they split when they are born, and have to search for their "אבידה". When they are reunited with

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their mate, there is great joy, as they returned to their source. יה"כ is the יום חתנתו=920בעשר לחודש= , when we are reunited with our creator. The

last of the שבטים, Dan would collect all the lost articles. The last month of the year, Elul is this same concept. In תהילם קכו:ב it says -

נהרלשוננו וינו פחוק ש which are the ר"ת שופר, hinting that the blowing of the שופר brings שמחה.

In the month of Elul, we are striving to remove ourselves from all where we go out of כי תצא -The name of the Parsha hints to this .טומאהall impurities, and come to יה"כ pure. When we were coming out of that is when Amalek attacked. At ,טמא and trying to remove the ,מצריםthe end of this Parsha, the Torah speaks of remembering what Amalek did to the yidden בדרך בצאתכם ממצרים. In both the beginning and the end of the Parsha, the leaving- צאתכם is stressed- in Iyar, when we were preparing for and on the way to מתן תורה and also here when we are preparing for ר"ה. This is when Amalek attacked. The way to battle Amalek is to go out of the טומאה. By Amalek it says אשר קרך בדרך, which one peshat is that Amalek tries to cool us off from our enthusiasm of both קבלת התורה and the New Year. By Amalek it says ואתה עיף ויגע "you’re tired, go back to sleep", but Rosh Hashana is a day of awakening and excitement. There is a pasuk in Tehillim צב:טו that says that even though we are getting older and more “kvechy” עוד ינובון בשיבה, we דשנים ורעננים יהיו= keep youthful and rejuvenated דשנים ורעננים יהיו

=ראש השנה861 .

The opposite of אשר קרך is total אמונה, like Avraham on the way to the .for three days did not ask a single question or have a single doubt עקידה is believing in what doesn’t make sense, and that we don’t see אמונהclearly, whereas כפירה is laughing at things that is even seen, and joking about it- לצנות. Amalek attacked on the דרך, as it says אשר קרך בדרך. The Ari Tzal says הנותן בים דרך, Hashem made a pathway in the ים סוף, is the pasuk that refers to Elul. The שם סג added to the מלוי of אה-יה is Hashem .ר"ה ויה"כ Elul is the pathway to get to .דרך=224=161 + 63paved a new road to תשובה. Also in Adar, Mordechai and Esther paved a new path. מרדכי are the letters מדריך and also the letters דרך מי or ( =מי 50 דרך נ ), who also gave us a new דרך to Teshuva- בים, in the middle of this contaminated confused world. Elul is the way to get out of the ים, Elul being the מקלט of time - . ויזנב בך=מקלט179נהפוך הוא=וAmalek tries to instill in us that we’re worthless, and have no self-

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esteem. The חידא says that שונה is Esav, and אויב is ישמעאל, which is a worse קליפה. On both days of ר"ה we read of the מפלה of ישמעאל. The first day of ר"ה, we read of Sara saying גרש, get him out of the house. This is the secular Muslim. On the second day of ר"ה, we read of עקידת and this is the religious Muslim, after Yishmael did teshuva. This ,יצחקArab claims he’s the בכור, he’s the יחידה, however the עקידה disqualifies קח נא since the pasuk says ,הוה אמינה which was a ,יחידה as the ישמעאל …את בנך את יחידךOnly a yid has a יחידה, the fifth level of the נשמה. The Yishmaelim daven five times a day, and planted their mosque in the מקום המקדש, the will פרס This is the Galus of today- The prophets say that .מקום היחידהbe around making trouble, at the end of days. The way to nullify the פרס=is when davening or making a Bracha to look in a ,פרס of קליפה. ספר

The שופר has the power to bring back the furthest yid- Through our .שמים who is “far” from בקצה השמים ..משם יקבצך ה" אלקintensifying the mitzva of צדקה, we will be זוכה to the אורי on ר"ה, and the ישעי on - אורי + וישעי613תריג=יה"כ= . Another acronym of אלול is-

פניךלויבך אלתת והצילך ל , that Hashem will save us from our enemies in the merit of our purity. In pasuk כג:יב it says והיה לפנות ערב which one peshat is that it’s talking of Elul, ירחץ במים a yid cleanses himself and enters the new year clean- וכבא השמש. According to the שער המלך, Elul is Yosef which goes with all the tikunim (תקון הברית) that רבי נחמן brings. According to the יערת דבש, Elul is Asher where yidden had to travel four days to the portion of Asher, and four days back to get oil for the eight days of Chanuka. We must increase in עשיית מצות and also in =מהדרין מן המהדרין713תשובה= olive oil– הידור מצות . We shouldn’t have to wait till חנוכה to do teshuva, as it says תהיה לראש ולא לזנב, where

=לזנב89חנוכה= , but we should start on the ראש, that is Elul.

What Avraham did by the עקידה is a huge יצא, teaching us the lesson that we should do more than what we are מחויב to do. The whole test of Avraham wasn’t even a command, as Hashem said to him, נא, please. After this huge test, Avraham could have just left, but he demonstrated his great love for Hashem by untangling the ram and then shechting it. are in heaven. After Avraham was told אפרו של יצחק say that the חז"לnot to kill יצחק, what ashes are we talking about? The answer is that when Avraham did the מעשה שחיטה on the איל, he had all the כוונות as if

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he was shechting יצחק, and since Hashem considers מחשבה כמעשה, it was considered as if he did the שחיטה on יצחק. After this, Avraham designated the place as the מקום המקדש. The שופר comes from this ram that was really not part of the main test. This is our main מצוה on ר"ה –

=יום תרועה יהיה לכם857ויעקד את יצחק בנו= , which all comes from Avraham going way beyond what was expected from him. The Ramban says that because Avraham went the extra mile, Hashem will redeem us, even if we don’t deserve it- ויאמר בי נשבעתי נאם ה …

Elul is the month of building =אלול67בניה= . In Elul the second בהמ"ק began to be built. Everyone is building their בית נאמן after ט באב, and in the זכות of our building our personal homes and making ourselves receptacles for the שכינה, we will be זוכה to the Beis HaShlishi.

ובא לציון גאל =כי תבנה בית חדש1211ולשבי פשע ביעקב= . which means amniotic שפירה which means beautiful, or שופרא is שופרsac-a rebirth. The בני יששכר changed his name to שפירה, like the name of the מגלה עמוקות, in order to have such a holy name. The Ramban says that what Yovel accomplishes in the 50th year, שופר on ר"ה accomplishes on the 50th day (from י באב). All slaves were set free on ,יצה"ר we are set free from the ר"ה and on , יציאה-of the 50th year ר"הthat is if we did the proper עבודה in Elul נאחז בסבך 518מד=לית בו ווד י= is a complete and real gematria. The מלוי The Zohar says the .בקרניושנת היובל הזאת=יובל- like in תקון says that all yidden will have a רמב"ן

=ויאמר בי נשבעתי נאם ה1218 " Hashem swears that there will be a Yovel, a tikun for every yid. The mitzvah of השבת אבידה only works if there is no יאוש. Yovel doesn’t give up on any yid- =השב תשיבם לאחיך

=ויעלהו לעלה תחת בנו1128 .

On ר"ה we don’t say וידוי as not to give any ammunition to the שטן. The word שופר is the acronym of שטן ואין פגע רע. The Ari Tzal says we should say וידוי during מוסף between the תקיעות since there is no fear of the Satan- =השבת אבידה729קרע שטן= . Avraham experienced the שער נ by the עקידה. One reason הר המוריה was called so, was that this was where the קטרת was brought, which had the power to turn around, the power of teshuva. This is very relevant to the month of Elul, where all yidden are striving to change themselves. The eleventh ingredient in the =המן95חלבנה = is the foul smelling קטורת , which when together with the other ingredients gave off a pleasant smell. The קטרת has 368 מנים. The horns of the איל של יצחק not only gave us the שופר, but also the 368

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parts of the 368בקרניו = - קטרת . The nations could claim that Avraham would have never gone through with the מעשה שחיטה on his son, however the sacrificing of the ram disproves this. This turns out to be the real essence of the עקידה. In אמורפרשת it says that ר"ה is called יוםלזכר לכם עקידת says רשי where זכרון תרועה since the pasuk says הזכרון was the עקידה showing that the essence of the ,יצחק שקרב תחתיו אילsacrificing of the ram. Avraham was very psyched up when untangling the ram that was caught up in the bushes. The knife was called מאכלת, which is a fitting name, since we are sustained from the זכות of the .until today ,עקידה

The month of תשרי has the מזל of בתולה, as we are becoming the wife of the Almighty. The problem today is that people are too much into themselves. The more we כי תצא, the more we get out of ourselves, the more we experience the כי תבא, the coming close to Hashem. How could we not be happy when our sins are being cleansed and we are new? -

=לפני יה-וה תטהרו816ישיש עליך אלה-יך= . This is in the last הפטרה we read in the Shabbos before ר"ה. Hashem rejoices with us when we rejoice with him. We will be on the level of לפני ה" תטהרו after eradicating .עמלק

As we mentioned in פרשת אמור where it talks of ר"ה for the first time, it says שבתון זכרון תרועה, where רשי says שקרב לזכור לכם עקידת יצחק ?עקידה Is the sacrificing of the ram the main test of the תחתיו אילFrom here we see that it was. The fact that Avraham went much further than he was supposed to go, this is the זכות we thrive on until today -

=נאחז בסבך בקרניו518מד=לית בו ווד י . The בעל הטורים says that תבוא are the same letters as אבות, whose goal was to get as close as they could humanly get, to the Almighty. In Parshas פינחס it says of Rosh Hashana a day of ר"ה and so we have the question- Is ,יום תרועה יהיה לכם -blowing the shofar, or a day of remembering the blowing? The ירושלמי says that if ר"ה falls on שבת, then it’s a זכרון of the blowing, which comes out that the fact that we don’t blow the שופר on שבת ר"ה is from the Torah. Also the fact that this is the first time the Chumash mentions is when it falls on Shabbos. The Zohar says ר"ה shows that the main ,ר"הthat a מלוי is a real gematria, and here we see that the real שופר is when we don’t blow- - =ישרא פאו וין ש=964זכרון תרועה .

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The very first ר"ה after יציאת מצרים was on a שבת, and also Shavuos was on a Shabbos. The conquering of יריחו, the beginning of the כבוש it says that the yidden ,יהושע In the first perek of .שבת was on ,הארץsurrounded יריחו once every day, and on Shabbos they surrounded the city seven times. Seven kohanim blew seven שופרות, and the wall fell w/o one fatality. The only time that the Mishne calls ר"ה a י"ט is when it falls on Shabbos. The שופר which is needed to ממתיק דינים, is not needed on שבת, since there are no דינים on Shabbos דלית דינין דתקיפין . Also in קידוש, we say- ויכל אלקים, which we could read- ויכל, there is no שופר we accomplish what the שבת on Shabbos. On ,מדת הדין- אלקיםdoes, that is Hashem going from כסא דין to - כסא רחמים

=שבתון זכרון תרועה1722עו בחודש שופר בכסה ליום חגנו=תק , which is in the מזמור of the שיר של יום חמישי and has the acronym שבת. By the conquering of יריחו it says שבעה שופרות היובלים ….במשוך בקרן has the power to knock שופר The .מתן תורה a similar expression to ,היובלdown the barriers that prevent us from getting close to Hashem -

=שופר586ותפול החומה= . In יריחו, the shofar was used by the yidden to we have the ability to knock down the walls ר"ה Every .א"י enter- תבוא

=ונפלה חומת העיר910תשרי= . The shofar opens the gates and allows us to enter א"י and Jerusalem- תחי עולםפשאו ואשיכם רערים ששאו , which spell out שופר. Sins expel the yidden, but after we do teshuva, we reenter.

The word בראשית is א בתשרי, which is ר"ה, and it also stands for ורהתשראל ייקבלו שלקים אאה רראשונה ב , which is שבועות. On both days

we blow the shofar. Rav Sadia HaGoan says that one of the reasons we blow shofar on ר"ה is to remember מתן תורה. The word בראשית is also .which is Torah ,ברית אשIn the month of Elul, and on ר"ה we rectify the oversleeping that the yidden did at מתן תורה, and the negative השכמה at the time of the חטא ,ר"ה took place on עקידה by getting up earlier than usual. Since the העגלwhen Avraham passed his final test, and proved his total loyalty, the -therefore took place in Elul וישכם אברהם בבוקר

=וישכם אברהם בבוקר934חודש הששי= . The בעל התניא says that it was the is ר"ה We could say that .עקידה of the מעלה that was the אברהם of זריזותlike עולם הבא, and the getting there is the greater זך. We see that the was done only by the Kohen, but the actual lighting, the הטבת הנרות says from here we see קדושת הלוי The .זר was done even by a ,עיקר מצוהthat the preparation is even greater than the mitzvah itself. Elul is the

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preparation for ר"ה - תכין לך הדרך. The ירושלמי in ברכות says that Avraham was מהפך his יצה"ר into his יצה"ט, from the words לבבו, which was even a greater feat than of דוד - חלל לבי בקרבי, where he completely killed his יצה"ר-חלל is a corpse =ומצאתי 1119ויבן שם אברהם את המזבח= became the place of the future עקידה The place of the .את לבבו נאמן.and sins ,ע"ז was blown to prevent other שופר The .בהמ"ק

The fifth לשון of גאולה is =והבאתי424משיח בן דוד= . The main lesson of that we have to Hashem, who bestows us with הכרת הטוב is the ביכוריםall of our needs. This is really the main עבודה of all yiddishkeit. This had in blaming his אדם הראשון that כפוי טוב is a tikun for the הכרת הטובwife for the חטא עץ הדעת. Adam did teshuva on ר"ה, the same day as the sin, and so we begin the עשרה ימי תשובה on ר"ה. Now we are approaching the ראשית of the year to come. We must thank Hashem for all the good he so lovingly gave us in this past year, and ask him to repeat this good in the year to come. The Holy Land is described as the land flowing with milk and honey. Milk is connected to Shavuos, when it’s a custom to eat dairy products שבעתיכםבה-וה ידשה לח , which is the acronym for חלב, and honey is connected to Rosh Hashana =אב הרחמן

=דבש306 . The שופר is made up of two parts שו and פר. The =דבש=שו306 sweetens the מנצפך280פר= דינים (פר=( of ר"ה. The בהמ"ק is

the root of all sweetness in the world. Rosh Hashana is the מזבח of time- the מזבח that Avraham built was the place of the בהמ"ק. In Parshas כי which is usually read quietly and fast ,קללות there are ninety eight ,תבואas not to invoke any דינים. Many tzadikim read the קללות slow and loud, since they saw that these קללות are really greater blessings hidden inside them.

In the middle of the curses it says זכרתי את בריתי אברהם ואת בריתי יצחק. We see that it doesn’t say זכרתי by Yitzchak, since the אפרו של יצחק צבר say that when חז"ל .What ashes of Itzchak? He was not sacrificed .מונחAvraham took the ram and sacrificed it, he had all the כוונות as if he was sacrificing his son -תחת בנו. The עקידה is in front of Hashem, and so there is no need for זכירה. The merit of the עקידה is going to save us from all קללות. The רמב"ן says that ה-והיבי נשבעתי נאם , means that Hashem will always be with the yidden, and there will be a Geula, even if the yidden do not deserve it. The עקידה, according to most opinions happened on Rosh Hashana - =ויעקד את יצחק 857יום תרועה יהיה לכם= where Avraham took ,ביכורים is really the best example of עקידה The .בנו

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his first and his best, and brought it up to Hashem.

The very first light refers to the אור הגנוז, the Torah and אברהם, after 2000 years of darkness, and משיח. Every year we have a potential to see this אור. The י"ט of שבועות and ר"ה are very much connected. In the Torah they are written side by side, and both are intimately connected to the shofar blowing. Shavuos is the 50th day after פסח, and ר"ה is the 50th day after י באב, and so both are an aspect of Yovel, the 50th year. Both Shavuos and ראש השנה are related to renewal, התחדשות. In פרשת ירושלמי where the ,שעיר עזים אחד וכפר אליכם it says ,מתן תורה by פנחסsays that it doesn’t say חטאת by this קרבן like in all other ימים טובים, since the yidden were like new-born children w/o sin. By מתן תורה it says היום, and the Zohar says that היום refers to the day of ר"ה. By ר"ה it’s the only time it says עולהועשיתם , instead of (בעל הטורים) -הקרבתם, teaching that on ר"ה every yid is remaking himself. Every yid is an עולה, who does everything Hashem asks- עולה is עליה.The goal is to renew ourselves חדש ימינו כקדם. The רמה, the דרכי משה, brings down תקעו בחדש שופר is to שפרו מעשיכם וחדשו מעשיכם, that is to renew- התחדשות, and beautify ourselves. In תהילים צב, it says- we are ,דשנים ורעננים יהיו ,even though we are old ,עוד ינובון בשיבהvigorous, youthful and rejuvenated =דשנים ורעננים יהיו861ראש השנה= . Rosh Hashana is the day of rejuvenation. Human life began on ר"ה- renewal, which is a big reason to be happy. Rav Aharon Karliner said that עצבות is not a sin, but it leads to all עבירות, and שמחה is not a mitzvah that is (one of the תריג), but it leads to all מצוות.The קללות came from a lack of joy, as it says תחת אשר לא עבדת את יה-וה בשמחה. Amalek says there is no hope =אשר קרך821יש תקוה= says that we are just tails, not important, attempting to instill in us a lack of self-worth. We say נהיה לראש as we are the ראשית of the whole בריאה. The דגל in the name ,עקב said in Parshas ,בעל שם the grandson of the ,אפריםof his grandfather, that it is impossible to battle the יצה"ר w/o התחדשות and w/o אמונה, as it says כל מצוותך אמונה. We have to have אמונה in the התחדשות of the בריאה, as it says ובטובו מחדש בכל יום תמיד מעשה is renewed every minute, so a yid could בריאה The whole .בראשיתrenew himself- אנכי אנכי הוא מוחה פשעך

=בראשית913למעני= .

The דגל says that אל תשליכנו לעת זקנה, means “don’t let me loose this constant התחדשות”, like an old person that gives up – no enthusiasm.

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This is our עבודה as we approach the new year. The יערת דבש, Rav Yonason Eibshitz says that there are two expressions of the הנהגה of the ,מתחדש strengthens himself every day, or he is ,מתגבר either he is -יצה"רrenews himself every day. To accomplish certain עבירת, he has to מתגבר over us. However we live in a time of מתחדש, where there are new techniques, and new technologies, where the יצה"ר is making everything look exciting and new, that is it’s exciting to sin. The only way to battle this, says Rav Yonason, is through התחדשות, for example our learning and our davening has to be new every day. ביכורים are the fruits that woke up early. A depressed person does not get up early. He rolls around in bed as long as possible. We must get up early with excitement for the new day, and appreciate every detail in our lives. ר"ה is the wake up day- where the shofar is the alarm clock, not just physically, but ,עורי התעורריspiritually,- with enthusiasm.

The עטרת יהושע says that =ראש השנה861בית המקדש= . The מקדש was created first, and Adam was created from this spot -

=בראשית ברא אלה-ים1202הר הקדש בירושלם= . This is where the ביכורים are brought, the fruits that have זריזות to the place of זריזות, the בהמ"ק. We see by the ביכורים the concept of התחדשות ,שמחה זריזות , and as it says ,מצרים which are all related. First we have to leave ,התחזקותhere - ויוציאנו ה" ממצרים, which is the place of laziness. Pharoh told Moshe, in Parshas וארא, that they too have magicians in עפרים. The which is the nature ,(pulling us down) עצלות is the source ofעפר of יסודof a person to be lazy. A yid has to be מתגבר and be a זריז. The ספר בינתוהיה בהקרבתם אל the son of the Koznitz Rebbi writes that ,משה against the -שמחה that we have to approach the battlefield with ,המלחמה .we can change the past, since we have a future ר"ה On .יצה"ר

The Ari Tzal says that the month of תשרי refers to אפרים who is compared to דגים. Fish are concealed and so is בכסה ליום חגנור"ה - , and Yosef along with his offspring are protected from any עין הרע. On ר"ה, when we have a custom to eat the סימנים, we say, when eating fish - אפריםis related to שנפרה The word. שנפרה ונרבה כדגים …יהי רצון מלפניך

=וידגו לרב בקרב הארץ861ראש השנה=-

The בעל שם טוב says that the last Shabbos of the year is considered even though we don’t announce it, since Hashem himself ,שבת מברכיםbentches the חודש. We finish פרקי אבות on this Shabbos, which ends

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with ה" ימלוך לעולם ועד, a pasuk in the מלכיות that we say on ר"ה. The which will take place in חתונה of a שמחה contains the ultimate הפטרהthe time of the גאולה - ומשוש חתן על כלה ישיש עליך אלה-יך. Parshas where the ,אתם נצבים היום beginning ,ר"ה is always read before נצביםZohar says that היום is ר"ה. We would not think that this Parsha would be the one that always precedes ר"ה, since the Gemorra in נדרים says that whenever it says נצבים, it’s referring to דתן ואבירם, who Rashi says that they were מגדף ומגרף against Moshe. The word נצבים means upright, and דתן ואבירם were very brazen in their manner. Also by Goliath, the which seems that this word is associated with ,נצבים uses the word תנ"ךnegativity. Therefore our question now is what does נצבים have to do with ר"ה? Also usually נצבים is doubled with Parshas וילך, which is kind of a סתירה, as נצבים means to stand upright, and וילך means the opposite, to go.

Our mood has to be humbled, and after seven weeks of נחמה, we have to stand up straight, with בטחון that we will זוכה בדין. This is why we wear white, since we are confident of our outcome. The שופר brings us to real freedom. The word נצבים is a לשון of אמונה. When Miriam was hiding in the bushes waiting to see the outcome of her baby brother Moshe, who was put in a basket in the Nile River, it says in שמות ב:ד -ותתצב אחתו.מרחקShe knew with אמונה שלמה that Moshe would be rescued, but what she didn’t know was how Hashem was going to do it. The angels are also called נצבים, standing since they have no יצה"ר. All this answers our question of why we read נצבים before ר"ה. We reach the level of נצבים, standing confident and with אמונה, and then we continue to move forward- וילך. By the עקידה it says וילך אל המקום אשר אמר לו האלקים, and then after seeing the ram tangled in the thorns וילך אברהם ויקח את We would think that there is no higher level for Avraham to .. האילreach, but there is no end to the climb up to Hashem. We come to the end of the year, stand -נצבים and do a חשבון הנפש, and then move forward into the new year - וילך.

The Ramban says from these words after the Akeida- בי נשבעתי נאם ה", Hashem swore and promised that there will be aגאולה , and a tikun for all yidden, even without teshuva -

=ויאמר בי נשבעתי נאם יה-וה1218משם יקבצך יה-וה אלה-יך ומשם יקחך= . Hashem swears to himself בי- Every נשמה is a part of Hashem-

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and so Hashem is really swearing to us. This is one of ,חלק מאלקי ממעלthe proofs that the Rambam brings of משיח and קבוץ גליות. The זכות that we are constantly reminding Hashem of, is the Akeida-

=בי נשבעתי נאם יה-וה961מקבץ נדחי עמו ישראל= . It says, in the story of the Akeida ויבן שם אברהם את המזבח, why say שם? This is where Avraham no longer has a יצה"ר. The ירושלמי in ברכות says that Avraham turned his יצה"ר into a יצה"ט, which is evident in the two x ב in לבבו, unlike דוד המלך that destroyed his יצה"ר, as it says חלל לבי בקרבי

ךלפני-=ומצאת את לבבו נאמן 1119 אברהם את המזבח=שםויבן . Even the left side of Avraham’s heart was נאמן.

The Shofar brings us back to our source-יובל , like Adam on the first part of ר"ה, before the חטא. The שופר wakes us up and takes us out of -מצרים

=התעוררי891יציאת מצרים= . The שלה הקדוש says that אדם is אדומה that is he emulated Hashem. Adam was the only creature that had ,לעליוןtwo legs, and so all the other animals bowed down to him, thinking he was Hashem, but Adam steered them to the true creator. Adam was the first to be "ממליך ה, and this is the reason we read in Tehillim ה-וה מלך יחטא Adam stood upright to the clouds, before the .ע"ש every גאות לבש ,תשובה A sinner lowers his head, however a yid that did .עץ הדעתstands with his head high. The Gemorra tells us that Yosef was freed from his twelve year incarceration on ר"ה, and also the התחלתא דגאולה from מצרים really began on ר"ה, since the yidden stopped working on this day.

In the הפטרה of פרשת נצבים, it says כי יום נקם בלבי ושנת גאולי באה, which means that the day of revenge and the day of my redemption will come. As a result of the עקידה, and especially the sacrificing of the ram, there will be a day of revenge, referring to Yishmael -

=ויעלהו לעולה תחת בנו1134כי יום נקם בלבי ושנת גאולי באה= . Yishmael claims that he was the one Avraham took to the עקידה. One of the reasons of the עקידה was to prove that יצחק was the real יחידה, as it says- ביצחק יקרא לך זרע. All this is read on ר"ה the head of the month of תשרי who is represented by אפרים (Ari Tzal) whose נשיא is who descended יהושע It was .ישמעאל the same letters as אלישמע who went to battle against Amalek, and will also ,אלישמע- אפרים- יוסףgo to battle against ישמעאל leading to משיח. Only ישמעאל has the chutzpa to plant themselves on the מקום המקדש, the

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=והוא יהיה פרא אדם ידו בכל ויד כל בו518משם יקחך=יחידה העולם - . Hashem will take us out of this גלות ישמעאל very soon, בע"ה.

The minimum days of סליחות said is four days. The צבי לצדיק says that there are twenty two days of דין from ר"ה till ש"ע, where even on סוכות we’re judged for מים, and also ה"ר and ש"ע we’re also judged. The four days before these twenty two, are ממתיק הדין, since 4+22=26= יה-וה The Zohar says that היום refers toר"ה . היום is יוםה , the fifth day after the minimum amount of סליחות. The צבי לצדיק says that in the word 280פר= the ,שופר represents the דיניםפר of the מנצפך, sweetened by the

=אב הרחמן306=דבש =306שו = . When the shofar is blown, Hashem goes from the כסא דין to the כסא רחמן.

Just like the head of the body dictates and feels all the organs in the body, likewise is ר"ה in relation to the rest of the year. We can find all the Yomim Tovim in ר"ה. 1) Rosh Hashana is the first day of the עשרת ימי תשובה ending with .are interchanged יה"כ Rosh Hashana and ,יחזקאל In .יה"כ2) Sukkos is the revelation to that what was hidden on ר"ה- בכסה ליום is חגנו and ,ר"ה the month that’s hidden (no moon) is ,בכסה where ,חגנו of the shofar become the קולות Sefarim say that the hundred .חג הסוכות .סכך=of the Sukka 100 סכך3) Pesach, the time of redemption, really began on the ר"ה before, when when the yidden were free from working. On Pesach, we ,בטלו עבודהwere free, like the Shofar has the power to emancipate the slaves- .מן המיצר 4) One of the reasons we blow Shofar is to remind us of מתן תורה – Shavuos. The purpose of the creation was for the Torah- יום הששי – the sixth of Sivan. 5) It’s written in נחמיה about ר"ה, that the yidden should be happy where the only other place in ,אכלו משמנים ושתו …ושלחו מנות לאין נכון לו on הלל is of course Purim. We don’t say שלח מנות that is written of תנ"ך on Purim are the מגילה and the ר"ה on שופר and on Purim, since the ר"השבת פורים- and on שבת ר"ה Also we don’t blow shofar on .הלל

דמגילה היינו טעמה דשופר היינו טעמה because of the same גזירה. 6) At the end of the year is both the אחרית and the ראשית, the אחשורוש

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of time. ר"ה and Purim are both a revelation of the שער נ. The בני=מתתיהו861ראש השנה= says יששכר . One has till חנוכה to do תשובה which began on ר"ה. Rosh Hashana is יום הזכרון and חנוכה is the י"ט of .זכרון which is a segula for שמן זיתSo we see how every י"ט is rooted in ר"ה.

Rosh Hashana is the day we are all being written in the ספר תורה, which is a קבוץ of all the - נדחים

הספר התורה=961=מקבץ נדחי עמו ישראל961ה-וה=ינשבעתי נאם בי = . The idea of doing תשובה, is that the yid has his letter rewritten after being erased. Moshe’s עבודה, in the last 40 days of his life, was to make sure that every yid be inscribed in the ספר תורה, and never be erased. If not for the עקידה, there would be no guarantee that there would be a קבוץ As we already mentioned, the .תשובה and that every yid would do ,גליותRamban says that by Avraham sacrificing the ram after untangling it from the thorns, this guaranteed that the yidden would be redeemed from this Galus, no matter what הספר התורה961ה-וה =יבי נשבעתי נאם= . In this ספר, all the yidden are inscribed. We read in the הפטרה of ר"ה, what Hashem said to Rachel יש תקוה לאחריתך, meaning that a yid always has hope even till the last moment. Despite it’s the end, a yid has אמונה, and he moves forward- וילך. As a result of the עקידה, and Avraham sacrificing the איל, we have the שופר, which awakens us in such a way, that we all experience a תחיית המתים on –ר"ה

=ברוך אתה יה-וה המתים מחיה1218ה-וה אלה-יך ומשם יקחך=ימשם יקבצך = 1218= והנאם יה- ויאמר בי נשבעתי Rosh Hashana was also the day that are known ,ר"ה till ט באב got married. The seven weeks from אדם וחוהas the שבע דנחמתא, where all the שבע ברכות that we say at a wedding, are from the הפטרות of these seven weeks. This week we read " שוש The days between .ומשוש חתן על כלה ישיש עליך אלה-יך and אשיש בה the ,יה"כ and ר"ה and כלל ישראל are the highest form of union between ,יום חתנתוHashem.

Rosh Hashana is the 50th day from י באב -the שער הנון, like Shavuos is the 50th day from Pesach. The 50th time the Torah mentions יציאתבהוציאו אתם מארץ where it says כט:כד in pasuk פרשת נצבים is in מצריםגינוחיום לכסה ב The words .מצרים , has the same ר"ת as ה-וה ילדשה ח

שבועתיכםב , spelling out חלב, the white purity of the 50th level. פסוק ל:י speaks of a yid who returns completely to Hashem =כי 861ראש השנה=

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is hidden, the date of ר"ה of י"ט Just as the .תשוב אל יה-וה אלה-יךShavuos is also hidden in that it’s not mentioned in the Torah. It says that Shavuos is 50 days after Pesach, which could have fallen on either the fifth, or sixth or seventh of Sivan, depending on the קדוש החודש.

The Rambam says that the way to do תשובה is to counter the number of sins, with more mitzvos. For example if one learns one perek, he should learn two. When a rope breaks, we tie it with a double or triple knot. of a yid, whereas a mikve purifies the body. It נשמה purifies the תשובהsays שכן חובת כל היצורים, which are the ר"ת of שכחה. All sins create a debt or חוב to Hashem. Adam, after the חטא brought שכחה to the world, and ר"ה is יום הזכרון, when there is no שכחה. Most of ר"ה was Adam before the חטא, when there was no שכחה, no מיתה, and no גלות. We are preparing for that ר"ה, before the חטא, even all the tragedies we go through, are a result of what happened on the same day, after the חטא. Our goal is to come to ר"ה pure, after our teshuva that we accomplished in Elul. Moshe gathered all of כלל ישראל on the last day of his life, when he reached the 50th level of קדושה, as the Maggid said נבוהר is the letters נ-בו. The world remained in a limbo state until the sixth of Sivan. Just like on Shavuos, we left מצרים for good, on ר"ה we are leaving the .before blowing shofar ,מן המיצר for good. This is why we say מיצרHashem created אדם with the capability to live forever-חיים נצחיים , and this is what we ask Hashem for on ר"ה.

On Rosh Hashana, we hide the fact that it’s ראש חודש, and there is no for the month of Tishrei. This all shows how great קדוש החודשRosh Hashana is -עד דלא ידע, like the בהמ"ק - כי יפלא לך דבר. Originally, the place of the בהמ"ק was hidden. In Gemorra קדושין, if a yid marries on condition that he is a צדיק גמוד, the marriage is valid, since every yid has הרהורי תשובה, as the Zohar says בשעתא חדא ברגע In one turn .קין –וישע also means turn, said by שעה The word .אחדaround, a yid could totally transform himself. Teshuva brings קיבוץ גלויות both כללי and פרטי- He could straighten himself out- נצבים with confidence.

There is a מדרש that says that the soul of יצחק left him, by the עקידה. Later Hashem was מחיה מתים him. The Zohar goes a step further and says that יצחק was born with a נשמה דנוקבא, a feminine soul, meaning that he would not have been able to bear children. When his נשמה

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returned, it was now a male soul. The עקידה seemed to indicate that the promise of- כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע would not be fulfilled, however not only is the עקידה not a contradiction to כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע, but as a result of the עקידה, the Jewish nation was guaranteed to exist. With all the contradictions we see today, we have to believe with אמונה שלמה, that Hashem is running the show with perfect precision.