Happy Birthday | Rabbi Michael Linetsky | Beit Midrash

Shabbat and Holidays
Amaleck

קטגוריה משנית

When we are little, nothing excites us more than that long awaited birthday. It is a wondrous day when we are in the spotlight and all eyes are on us. On this day we feel lucky and empowered like nothing could ever go wrong.

As many of us get older, that blissful excitement quietly dwindles away until one day our birthdays become completely unremarkable or even grim — after all we are yet another year closer to death. Some of us will fret about where our lives stand compared to where it should stand.

But according to the Sages this is not how we should see such a joyous day!

The Talmud of the Land of Israel teaches us (Rosh Hashanah) that on one’s birthday a person does not readily fall. One should take note that this is not a mere psychological motivator, but an actual cosmic rule.

Amalek’s secret to military success lay in mobilizing people whose birthday fell on the day of battle. Moses had to confound the constellations so that Amalek could not tell what day it is.

The Sages of the Land of Israel teach us that on our birthdays we are blessed and endowed with a remarkable power of success. Our birthdays are a time to take advantage of that power and use it to advance our lives because on this day it is decreed that we will not readily fall. As each year passes we should look forward with optimism to new horizons.

May we always look forward to our next birthdays and the new horizons that they can bring on for us! May we never look back what could have been but strive forward to where we want to be.

Amaleck