Dear Friend,

Are you prone to mood swings? I suspect that everybody is prone to mood swings, the question is only how far it swings and how quickly. Regardless of how frequent, intense or expedient your swings may be, fret not, the Torah tells us this is normal. This Shabbos we'll read a different portion for the Maftir - the section on the Red Heifer. We read this, this Shabbos because the Red Heifer was used to purify those who were impure in preparation for the sacrifice that would be brought in a few weeks Erev Pesach for the Sandwich to be eaten at the Seder. The Red Heifer was a unique and not understood commandment so much so that King Solomon the wisest of men, acknowledged that he didn't understand this Mitzvah. Nonetheless, there are lessons that we can learn from this not understood Mitzvah.

The unblemished, no black haired, Red Heifer was ritually slaughtered and then burned to ashes. It's ashes were mixed with water from a natural source. In light of the fact that Red Heifer was so uncommon (only 9 of them in all of Jewish history) the process was quite fascinating in ensuring that the highest standard of purity was maintained.

The two main elements were fire and water and in this special process they were mixed together. Fire represents a yearning, climbing upwards, passion. Water represents settling down, retreat and a coolness to life. Sounds like a mood swing if you mix them together?

This in reality is the yearning of the soul for purpose, control of self, living higher whereas the body is self indulgent, ego driven and interested in the self.

Mood swings generally are the tension that exists between these two. Balance comes from recognizing what is driving the swing. Am I moving towards my soul or am I moving towards my body? If we are conscious of our motivation we will have the ability to recover from the swing that much sooner.

Happy Swinging! Good Shabbos!