Background
Is there a reason why I was born on this particular day? How unfortunate that I wasn’t born two days earlier. Familiar questions?
The answer from the Jewish perspective is clear: the best day for you and the world for you to be born is exactly the day you were born. There are no coincidences or mistakes. The day your soul came into this world was planned by God to be the day you are needed here. This is the day that your individual role, which God intended for you in the grand puzzle of the entire universe, begins, and without it, the puzzle would not be complete. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here…
Meaning
A person’s Hebrew birthday is like his personal New Year. On this day, he should pause the race of life and focus on himself. Reflect on the past year: Did I make any progress? Am I better at the end of this year than the previous one? What can and should I improve in my personal and spiritual life?
And as with any fundamental review, one must also draw conclusions and prepare a work plan – which we will check on the next birthday. The conclusions should be anchored in at least one resolution – in which one will invest and try to improve their relationship with God and other people.
- Share the good resolution you made for this year with your friends. So, if you forget it, there will be someone to remind you…
So, what do we do on this day?
This special day also influences the whole year. Therefore, on this day:
- Increase charity.
- Pray to God for yourself and your life, that it will be good and happy.
- Say a few Psalms.
- It is customary to say your ‘personal chapter’, according to your age. For example: A 20-year-old person (in Gematria 20), will recite Psalm 21, as they are entering their twenty-first year, in Gematria 21.
- Increase acts of kindness with others and additional mitzvot.
- Be diligent in Torah study. (Today, you can find fascinating study material in writing and video on the internet).
- A personal self-reflection on the past year and planning personal goals for the new year.
