Virtual Drasha: Recouping the Loss (Reeh)

Rabbi Silber's Weekly Parsha Series shiur on Re'eh traces Rashi's comment on the dietary laws back to the two birds brought in the metzora's purification, and unpacks the Zohar's teaching that one bird is slaughtered for the sin of negative speech while the other is set free, representing the lost opportunity to speak positively instead. He teaches that most missed opportunities in life close forever once the moment passes, but some circle back — and when they do, we need the courage to seize them rather than let them go a second time. Tying this into Elul, Rabbi Silber urges listeners to take stock of the "birds" of growth they let slip away this year and reclaim what can still be reclaimed.

• Every act of negative speech is really two sins: the harm the words caused, and the good those same words could have built instead.
• Opportunities that slip away are usually gone forever, so waiting for a 'better time' often means losing them completely.
• Occasionally a lost opportunity circles back; when it does, seize it immediately rather than letting it go a second time.
• Elul is the month to identify which personal-growth opportunities got away this year and figure out how to reclaim them.