Parshas Metzorah

If someome got tzora'as on the walls of their home and they ignored it, it spread to their clothing and then to their skin. It didn't go away until they dealt with it by approaching the Kohen and taking the steps to get rid of it.

When we try to sweep issues under the rug, they don't go away. They continue to spread further until we are forced to face them and deal with them. It takes strength to acknowledge when something is wrong and courage to do what it takes to fix our problems. But then we get to a place of healing and we can put our past behind us, growing and changing into better people.

May we be able to look at our lives with honesty, and have all the strength we need to make positive changes so we can heal, improve and look forward to a better future!

Parshas Tazria

When someone had tzora'as, he showed it to a Kohen who would declare that he was either pure or impure. Why did he have to ask the Kohen? Why couldn't he look and decide for himself? It's because a person can easily see all kinds of blemishes except for their own. For this reason, they had to have an outside person, a Kohen, look at them and establish their status.

It's so easy to look around and see what other people need to fix, what character traits other people need to work on. Our avodah in this world is to look inwards and to work on ourselves, perfecting our middos and refining our character.

May we be able to focus on our inner selves and make positive changes instead of looking at what other people need to fix!