Before we ever take our first breath, we already know everything—so why celebrate the moment we forget it all?
What’s the real power of a birthday?
The Story of Yehuda Avner
Yehuda Avner served for many years as an advisor to five prime ministers of Israel. In his memoir, The Prime Ministers, he recounts a funny episode that took place in 1974.
At that time, Gerald Ford had just entered the White House, replacing Richard Nixon. One of the first things Ford did was to invite Yitzhak Rabin, then Prime Minister of Israel, for a visit to the United States.
Toward the end of the visit, the president hosted a formal banquet at the White House in Rabin’s honor. It was a grand event, attended by about 200 guests. At the dinner, everyone had already received their dish—except Yehuda Avner, who was still waiting. The reason: he had ordered a kosher vegetarian meal. Someone turned to him and asked, “You’re not eating with us tonight?” At that very moment, a tall vegetarian dish arrived, looking for all the world like a birthday cake.
The commotion around the dish reached the president himself. He looked over to see what was going on, leaned toward Yitzhak Rabin, and whispered something in his ear. Rabin whispered back, and suddenly the president beamed from ear to ear, stood up, raised his glass, and cheerfully declared: “Happy birthday to my young friend!” He then turned to the crowd and said, “Let’s all sing something for the guest of honor!” Everyone rose to their feet and sang Happy Birthday to Yehuda.
Avner recalls that he wanted the ground to swallow him up—what birthday were they even talking about? But he had no choice but to play along. After the meal, he asked Rabin: “What was that all about? Why did you tell the president it was my birthday?” Rabin answered immediately: “What did you want me to say? That you keep kosher? If I had said that, by tomorrow morning every paper in Israel would scream: ‘Avner ate kosher, Rabin did not.’ The religious parties would have broken up the coalition, and I’d be facing a government crisis. Who needs that headache?!”
The First Smile
We all love birthdays. But the question is: what is really so special about a birthday?
Even in the womb, the baby is already a complete being—he has everything. So what’s new about birth that makes it worth celebrating year after year? After all, at the moment of birth he is helpless, completely dependent on his mother.
In fact, from a spiritual perspective, birth might seem like a step down. The Rebbe explains that our sages teach: while the baby is in the womb, he is taught the entire Torah. Just before birth, an angel causes him to forget it all. Meaning, the best days of his existence are actually while he is still in his mother’s womb.
As an aside, in Jerusalem in the 1950s, a child was born who, at the age of four, was discovered to know the entire Torah by heart. He didn’t understand what he was saying, but he could continue any verse, any passage of Torah, Talmud or halacha. In every other subject—math, history—he knew nothing. But in Torah, he was fluent. His parents, afraid of the evil eye, took him to the Belzer Rebbe, who blessed him to forget everything, so he could grow up like a normal child. And that is what happened.
So, if life in the womb was so much better, what exactly is the celebration at birth?
The Rebbe, in a talk on the 18th of Elul 5742 (1982), explained two points:
- At the moment of birth, the child becomes his own independent being. Until then he was part of his mother, totally dependent on her—what the sages call “a fetus is like the thigh of its mother.” Only when he is born does he gain an independent identity.
- From the moment he is born, he begins to impact those around him. True, he is helpless, but the joy he brings to his parents and grandparents is immeasurable. When he gives his first smile, the whole world around him smiles with him. Everyone takes pictures, snaps selfies, shares them with family on WhatsApp. That one small smile lights up the entire home and lifts away worries. The room fills with light and joy. From then on, he continues to give more and more to the world.
The Battle with Amalek – When Mazal Rises
This week we celebrate the birthdays of the Baal Shem Tov—the founder of the Chassidic movement—and the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Chassidus. The Rebbe taught that they did not only give during their lifetimes, but they continue to inspire and influence hundreds of thousands of Jews to this very day. That is why we continue to celebrate their birthdays—a celebration of their ongoing contribution to the Jewish people and the world at large.
The significance of a birthday is also found in this week’s Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, where we read at the end about the war with Amalek.
The story begins as the Jewish people left Egypt. They were not seeking Amalek, not heading toward their territory, and posed no threat to them. Yet Amalek appeared out of nowhere, without provocation, and attacked Israel. This happened even before they received the Torah, right after leaving Egypt.
God commanded Moses: “Go out and fight Amalek.” Moses appointed Joshua to lead the battle, while he himself ascended the mountain to pray for victory. Israel prevailed, but did not completely destroy Amalek. As it says: “Joshua weakened Amalek” (Exodus 17:13), but he did not eliminate them. And so it went on—time after time, Israel would defeat Amalek, but never fully eradicate them.
What gave Amalek such strength? The Talmud reveals their secret: Amalek would send into battle specifically those whose birthday fell on that day, believing that on a birthday a person’s mazal—their spiritual fortune—rises. As the Jerusalem Talmud says: “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Amalek was a sorcerer. What did he do? He would station men whose birthday it was, saying: a person does not easily fall on his birthday” (Jerusalem Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 3:8).
From this, the Rebbe teaches us how great the power of a birthday truly is. All the more so when it is the birthday of the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe—on these days, their mazal rises, and their positive influence on the world, both spiritual and physical, grows stronger. On such days, we can reconnect to what they taught us, spread the light of Chassidus further, and hasten the coming of Moshiach, may it be very soon.
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