Parshat Tazria/Shabbat Hahodesh

This week’s parashah, Tazria, explains the process by which those with leprosy were quarantined from the community. The ancient rabbis understood the illness and its consequences as a metaphor for lashon hara, the sin of bad-mouthing, which cuts one off from community. One who bad-mouths turns him- or herself into a spiritual exile, by destroying trust.

What is the antidote to lashon hara? The rabbis taught that it is the study of Torah. We heal ourselves from words that cut us off from one another by turning to words that bind us together. The answer to destructive language is sacred language, language that creates community by teaching us to recognize the image of God in one another.

May the Torah that we share, that we grow into together, bind us to each other in that way.

• The New Shul’s Shabbat services are on Friday evenings from 6 to 7 pm, and on Saturday mornings from 9 am to 12 noon. The kiddush-lunch this Shabbat, April 9, is sponsored by Donna and Bob Weinerman (from Toronto).
• Childcare is available from 10 am to noon on Shabbat mornings. Learning services for children this Shabbat are from 11 to 11:30 am.for toddlers and preschoolers, and from 11 to 11:45 am for grades 1 to 3.
• Minyanim during the week are on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am, Monday evenings at 7 pm, Wednesday mornings at 7 am and Wednesday evenings at 7 pm.
• Pesah begins on Friday night April 22. Services for the first two days of Pesah are on Shabbat and Sunday, April 23 and 24 beginning at 9 am. Services for the last two days are on Friday and Shabbat, April 29 and 30 beginning at 9 am.