Parshas Metzora Shabbos Hagodol Erev Shabbos Shabbos Day Candle Lighting 5:45pm Shacharis 9:00am Mincha 5:45pm Latest time for Shema 9:31am Shkiya 6:03pm Shabbos Mincha 5:35pm Shabbos Ends 6:43pm Ladies Shiur Rabbi Berlin will be giving a ladies shiur this Shabbos Morning All ladies and girls welcome Mechiras Chometz The Rabbi will be available for Mechiras Chometz after Maariv throughout the week SHAAREI DAVENING TIMES NEXT WEEK Shacharis Mincha Maariv Sunday 8:00am 5:40pm* 8:30pm & 9:30pm Monday 6:30 / 7:30am 5:40pm 8:30pm & 9:30pm Tuesday 6:45 / 7:30am 5:40pm 8:30pm & 9:30pm Wednesday 6:45 / 7:30am 5:40pm 8:30pm & 9:30pm Thursday 6:30 / 7:30am 5:40pm* Friday 7:30am 5:45pm *Mincha followed by Maariv Short Vort on the Parsha Parshas Metzora deals with various types of tumah. The Kuzari (2:60) explains that all forms of tumah are in reality offshoots of the primary tumah - the tumah of a corpse. Chazal tell us that the metzora is likened to a dead person. The tumos of niddah, zivah and shichvas zera are all created by bodily discharges which could have contributed to the creation of a living being. A lack of creating life, in effect, constitutes a form of death. Rav Wolbe explains that death is a phenomenon that was not built into the fabric of creation. Only after the advent of cheit in general, and the sin of eating from the eitz hadaas in particular, did death become the way of the world. Therefore, cheit and tumah are closely related since cheit caused death and death is the root of all tumah. For this reason, the Torah imposed laws that necessitate various levels of distance that must be maintained from those who are tamei, since the Torah wishes that we distance ourselves from sin and all its consequences. Chazal tell us, "Sin covers over the heart of a person" (Yoma 39a). Every sin causes the heart to be covered with a thin film of impurity that dulls its innate sensitivities. This dulling of the senses is similar to death since, to a certain degree, the clarity of the heart's perception ceases to exist. Kedusha stands diametrically opposite tumah: it signifies life and it allows one to experience life in its truest form. Moreover, it instils one's heart with sensitivities that are unknown to those who lack his level of kedusha. Such a person can sense a cheit that might have gone unnoticed by someone who does not possess such a high level of kedusha.