A Birthday Meditation

My father-in-law, the Rebbe, writes that on one’s birthday one should recall and contemplate his past experiences and make resolutions to improve for the future. But if it is called a “birthday” one must also contemplate the very concept of birth.

G-d commanded Abraham: “Go out from your land, from your birthplace, from your father’s house.” The commentaries explain that “Your birthplace” refers to your natural inborn traits; “Your father’s house” refers to the upbringing your parents gave you; and “Your land” refers to the stubbornness of your own personal will.

Each morning when one’s soul is returned to him, he is a new creation. He is new-born! So if you are a newborn life today – if today is your “birthday” – what does it matter what you’ve done with your life in previous years? Today you are a new person!

This is why Torah calls it a “birthday” – more than a day that marks the passage of years, it reminds you that on this very day you are reborn and you are not bound by any negative things of the past. Today you begin anew!