In Parshat Metzora the Moriah pre-k children learn about lashon hara, hurtful words. To illustrate the power of words, they were told the story of “Yettle’s Feathers” by Joan Rothenberg. Yettle went to seek the help of the Rabbi because she did not understand why no one wanted to be her friend. The wise rabbi told Yettle to cut the top of her feather pillow. The feathers immediately flew out of the pillow. As hard as Yettle tried, she could not catch them all. The pre-k students did the same activity in their classroom and they could not get back all of their feathers either! They then squeezed all of the toothpaste out of its tube. None of the children were able to put any of it back inside—just like once lashon hara comes out of their mouth, it is impossible to take back!