Saranac Synagogue News: Shabbos Tazria-Metzorah (April 17-18, 2026 / 30 Nissan-1 Iyar, 5786)
David K
Shalom Aleichem!
B"H we made our numbers this week and iy"H we WILL be having services!
We have a lot to do this Shabbos: Two torahs, a double parsha, Hallel. So PLEASE come on time.
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FRIDAY:
Candle lighting: 7:42 PM Sunset: 8:00 PM.
Count Omer 16.
SATURDAY:
Services begin: 10 AM SHARP. Thank you for coming on time! It’s making a big difference.
Zeman Shema: 9:51 AM Say Shema on time before services.
Zeman Tefilah: 10:59 AM. No “Av Harachamim,” in honor of Rosh Chodesh.
Mincha: Pirkei Avos - Chapter 2.
Chatzos: 1:14 PM. (To avoid fasting past Chatzos on Shabbos, We recommend coffee or a snack before davening.)
Sunset: 8:01 PM.
Shabbos ends: Shul tradition: 9:02 PM. 42 min.: 8:44 PM. 72 min.: 9:14 PM.
Count Omer 17.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
This week’s drash: “The Hidden Power of Speech”
Everyone is invited to join us for kiddush, and we thank our sponsors! (Feel free to join them!)
The Parshah in a Nutshell
Tazria-Metzora
Leviticus 12:1–15:33
The Parshah of Tazria continues the discussion of the laws of tumah v’taharah, ritual impurity and purity.
A woman giving birth should undergo a process of purification, which includes immersing in a mikvah (a naturally gathered pool of water) and bringing offerings to the Holy Temple. All male infants are to be circumcised on the eighth day of life.
Tzaraas (often mistranslated as leprosy) is a supra-natural plague, which can afflict people as well as garments or homes. If white or pink patches appear on a person’s skin (dark red or green in garments), a kohen is summoned. Judging by various signs, such as an increase in size of the afflicted area after a seven-day quarantine, the kohen pronounces it tamei (impure) or tahor (pure).
A person afflicted with tzaraas must dwell alone outside of the camp (or city) until he is healed. The afflicted area in a garment or home must be removed; if the tzaraat recurs, the entire garment or home must be destroyed.
As outlined at the start of the portion of Metzora, when the metzora (“leper”) heals, he or she is purified by the kohen with a special procedure involving two birds, spring water in an earthen vessel, a piece of cedar wood, a scarlet thread and a bundle of hyssop.
When a home is afflicted with tzaraas, in a process lasting as long as nineteen days, a kohen determines if the house can be purified, or whether it must be demolished.
Ritual impurity is also engendered through a seminal or other discharge in a man, and menstruation or other discharge of blood in a woman, necessitating purification through immersion in a mikvah.
Numbers 28:9–15
In Parshas Pinchas, we read of the special offerings brought in honor of Rosh Chodesh along with the daily and weekly Temple sacrifices.
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The Saranac Synagogue • Congregation Achei Tmimim • 85 Saranac Ave • Buffalo, NY 14216
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