Parshas Tazria - Metzora Shabbos Times Erev Shabbos Shabbos Day Candle Lighting 5:23pm Latest time for Shema 9:37am Shkiya 5:40pm Shabbos Ends 6:22pm Avos Ubonim at Home Remember to learn at home and send in your Children's names to Rabbi Berlin Shaving and Haircuts this Friday Since this Friday is both Rosh Chodesh and Erev Shabbos the Mishna Berurah (493:5) rules that one can cut ones hair even if one keeps the first half of the Sefirah Short Vort for the Shabbos table Both Tazria and Metzora deal with the halachos of tzora'as which comes as a punishment for one who speaks lashon hara. Rav Wolbe quotes Rav Yisrael Salanter who said that it is worthwhile for someone to learn mussar for an entire lifetime if it will prevent him from speaking lashon hara even one single time! In addition to emphasizing the severity of lashon hara, this assertion enlightens us to the patience one must have with himself while trying to advance in avodas Hashem. The problem is that many people simply do not have patience. They want to see the improvement in their avodah, and thus they have an urge to perform grand actions whereby it is possible to gauge their advancement immediately. However, the way to advance in avodas Hashem along the road toward perfection is specifically by means of small, seemingly insignificant, actions. One who tries to climb the ladder two rungs at a time will fall through the rungs and end up back in the very place that he started. While small actions seem trivial, the Chovos Halevovos (Shaar Cheshbon HaNefesh chap. 5) explains by way of analogy just how tremendous every positive action is. When it appears on earth that the sun moved a foot, in reality it traversed thousands of miles in the sky. In a similar vein, saying a single good word seems like a negligible advancement here on earth, but in reality to Hashem in the heavens the achiever has traversed thousands of spiritual miles. A smile, a nod, a pat on the back or a good word are all veritable spiritual goldmines. Start small and you will end up big!