This week, we actually read two Torah Portions: Tazria and Metzora. 

Tazria continues to speak about the laws of ritual purity specifically concerning women who give birth.We also learn about the laws of circumcision for all baby boys on the eighth day of their life.

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Metzora teaches about the supernatural plague we can translate as leprosy. This would inflict the person on either their body, house or garments. If one discovered this disease, they would present themselves to the Kohen and be quarantined away from the rest of the nation until they had recovered. 

The Jewish zodiac sign for the month of Iyar is a bull.  In Jewish mystical thought, the bull symbolizes the animal soul. The animal soul, like the bull, is unruly but can be productive if harnessed. Chassidic thought understands that the negative tendencies of our animal soul stem from an amorphous force that desires. Without a harness, the “desirous force” will lean toward self-gratification, but with a yoke, the animal soul can be abundantly productive.

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Our mission in Iyar is to tame the bull. Each night, after we’ve counted the Omer, we say a little prayer wherein we ask G‑d to rectify a small part of our animal soul. We hope that by the time Shavuot comes around, we will be a bit more ready to receive G‑d’s word.

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Chabad.org

We learn that in the spiritual world, there are Seven attributes: kindness, strength, beauty, victory, splendor, foundation and kingship. These seven are found in our souls as well and depending on which attribute we tap into, we can determine our behaviour.

We count the Omer for seven weeks of seven days. Every week of the Omer focuses on another one of the attributes and each day zooms into an aspect of every other attribute within the main attribute. For example; day one is kindness within kindness and day two is strength within kindness. 

Every day that we count the Omer, we try to refine that trait within ourselves. 

On the 28th of Nissan 1991, the Lubavitcher Rebbe held a gathering where he shared something very powerful. He spoke to all the Jews who had gathered about the coming of Moshiach. His expression then changed and he became very serious and said the following: “Now, do everything you can to bring Mashiach, here and now, immediately.... I have done whatever I can: from now on, you must do whatever you can....”

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The Rebbe told us that we must put in all we can to bring the Redemption and that the coming of Moshiach is up to us!

The plague of Tzaras was sometimes a consequence for speaking Lashon Hara - evil talk about someone else. Here is a story about Lashon Hara:

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In a small town somewhere in Eastern Europe lived a nice man who talked too much about other people. One day he found out something really weird (but true) about another businessman in town, which he told. It went around town, till the unhappy businessman heard it. He ran to the rabbi of the town, complaining that he was ruined! His good name and his reputation were gone.

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The Rabbi summoned the storyteller and told him to bring a feather pillow. Once he had the pillow, the Rabbi told him to cut it open. The man cut the pillow. A cloud of feathers came out. They landed everywhere and many of them flew right out the open window. The rabbi waited and then told the man to bring back every single feather, and stuff them back in your pillow.

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The man stared at the rabbi in disbelief. That would be impossible, especially for the feathers that had flown out of the room and were now outside.

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“Yes,” said the rabbi and nodded gravely, “that is how it is: once a rumor leaves your mouth, you do not know where it ends up. It flies on the wings of the wind, and you can never get it back!”

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He ordered the man to deeply apologize to the person about whom he had spread the rumor and ordered him to diligently study the laws concerning lashon hara every day for a year. That is what the man did. And not only did he study about lashon hara, he talked about the importance of guarding your tongue to all his friends and colleagues.