Ever felt like it was too late to become better?

Thought of becoming a better person, but felt like things are just too far gone to do so? Well, this week's parsha disagrees completely. Parshas Naso introduces us to the Nazir. >> [music] >> A person who chooses at any moment to take on a higher level of kedusha. No yichus required, no rabbinical ordination, no special background. >> [music] >> Any Yid, man or woman, can at any point in their life stand up and say, "I want to be more than I am today." And the Torah immediately responds, "We are listening. The door is open. Come on in." The Rambam says something extraordinary about this. He says the Nazir is called kadosh, holy, precisely because of the decision itself, not because of where they came from, not because of what they accomplished, but because of that moment that they chose [music] to take one step forward. A father brought his teenage son [music] to Rav Steinman on a Shabbos. The father mentioned quietly that his son had stopped keeping Shabbos. Most people in that room braced for [music] a rebuke. Rav Steinman looked at the boy gently and asked, "How long have you not been keeping Shabbos?" "About 2 years," the boy said. "And how many times in those 2 years did you think about doing chuvah?" The boy thought for a moment. "I don't know, maybe 20 times." [music] "And for how long each time?" "I don't know, about 5 minutes, I guess." Rav Steinman smiled. "So, all together you spent 100 minutes over the past 2 [music] years standing in the place where baalei chuvah stand. The place where the Torah says even tzaddikim gemurim cannot reach." He paused and said, "I envy [music] you those 100 minutes." The boy left that room a different person. He broke off the engagement that was pulling him further away, and his life changed completely. Not because Rav Steinman shamed him, not because he was given a list of everything he has done wrong, but because one person looked at him and said, >> [music] >> "Do you have any idea what you are capable of?" That is the lesson of the Nazir. That is the message of Parshas Nasso. You don't need to have a perfect [music] past to have a better future. You just need one decision, one step, >> [music] >> one moment of saying, "I want more than this." That is your Nazir moment. And we are here for it. This [snorts] is turning the wheel because the road to healing isn't straight, but [music] no one should have to travel it alone. Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos.