Timeless Torah

Today, the 13th day of Kislev is my birthday. True, I have now been around awhile, but not as long as birthday celebrations have been. Already in the book of Genesis there is mention of a banquet in honor of Pharaoh’s birthday back in 1534 BCE. The interesting thing is, for much of our history, birthday parties were not part of the Jewish social scene.                    Compare!  The yahrzeit dates of the various Biblical and Rabbinic personalities are recorded and commemorated, whereas their dates of birth are mostly unknown. King Solomon gave voice to this attitude when he said, < em>“Better the day of death than the day of one’s birth.” </em? On the face of it, this seems a rather negative view of life. But upon deeper contemplation, it actually expresses the classical Jewish attitude that actual achievement, rather than theory or potential, is what is significant. So while a newborn infant may be brimming with genius and talent, he or she has not yet done anything with it. So what’s there to celebrate? Who’s to know whether their potential will in fact be realized or squandered?                                The day of a person’s passing, on the other hand, is the culmination of his mission in life; a day when the sum total of his achievements have come to actuality. This is why the yahrzeit of a great person is a special occasion: it’s a celebration of a life that has had great impact upon the world.

In recent times however, the Jewish birthday has been reinstituted as a spiritually significant occasion. Celebrating the 18th of Elul, the birthday of two great figures in the Chassidic movement, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, is but one example. Thus today it has become widespread custom, particularly among Chassidim, to commemorate the birthdays of tzaddikim, and to designate one’s own birthday as a time for introspection.

It is no accident that the rebirth of the birthday is intertwined with the spreading of Chassidic teachings, since one of its central messages is, “You, as an individual, are unique and utterly indispensable. No person presently alive, or who has ever lived, or shall ever live, can fulfill the specific role G-d has entrusted to you.”

Birth is your beginning: the opportunity to accomplish your unique mission. As such, it is more than a time to receive gifts. It is a chance to remember the most important day of your life, to give thanks for your blessings, and to reflect upon how well you are fulfilling your calling. Upon reflection of these matters, one might realize how great is the disparity between actual achievements vs. plans and promises that remained in the realm of potential. Nonetheless, a birthday is not a time for negative thoughts. Birthdays offer us new beginnings, for no matter how things were last year, we now have the capacity to try again. Today makes possible a spiritual regeneration.

How does one climb a plateau never scaled? By performing a special act of goodness; something that you have not done until now. Not because someone is forcing you. Not even because someone is suggesting it. But simply because on your Jewish birthday (according to the Talmud) your mazel has never been so powerful, and your soul has no other way to acknowledge and receive that mazel except through a special mitzvah.

Such an act would give G-d great pleasure. When He sees that the child in whom He invested is living up to its potential, He kvells with nachas. A Jewish birthday is filled with meaning and cosmic opportunity. In some ways, it is similar to having your own mini-Rosh Hashanah.

So how did I spend this auspicious day? I gave extra tzedakah, said more tehillim (Psalms) than usual, studied a Chassidic discourse, helped some Jews children (besides my own), and visited the sick in the hospital. But I am convinced that these activities do not constitute the specific purpose of my soul’s descent into this earthly existence. I am also certain that these actions do not contain the special life-force of my birthday mazel. Without a doubt, (A) other individuals could have done those activities as well as I, if not better. (B) I have done some of the above most every other day of the calendar year.

But today, I did do something that no one else in the entire world could have done with so much love and devotion. I shlepped, strained my back, and sweated for my family. I also piled them all into the van to buy something for them. And I am happy…to be blessed with such a family…and blessed that I can do something for them.

A Jewish birthday is a perfect day for reflection about our lives as Jews and an auspicious time to make new resolutions. I truly do hope that today’s promises for self-improvement are next year’s achievements already in the bag and completed. If not, I wasted my birthday and abused His trust in my potential.