26 | SEPTEMBER 26 • 2019 

Jews in the D

W

hile we often think 
of the High Holy 
Days as the days 
of awe and judgement, we also 
reference Rosh Hashanah in 
a very different 
way. When 
we blow the 
shofar, we’
ll all 
sing together: 
“Hayom Harat 
Olam,” “[Rosh 
Hashanah] is 
the birthday 
of the world.” But what kind 
of birthday party is this? It 
seems more like a time when 
we confront our mortality, 
recognize our frailty and hear 
the alarming sound of the sho-
far, reminding us to be better. 
Where’
s the cake?!
To consider what birthdays 
really mean, perhaps we can 
take a lesson from an unex-
pected source: Pharaoh. In the 
lone example of a “birthday 
party” in the Torah, we find 
a peculiar party trick: “And it 
was on the third day, Pharaoh’
s 
birthday, that he made a 
feast for all his servants … he 
restored the butler … and he 
hanged the baker ...” (Bereishit 
40:20-22). Why would 
Pharaoh use his birthday as a 
time to dictate the fate of his 
previous workers? 
Perhaps we can suggest that 
a birthday — or any anni-
versary — is a natural time 
to reflect on the process of 
one’
s life during the previous 
year. We recall and recognize 
the positives and negatives 

of our actions and resolve to 
do better. For Pharaoh, that 
meant analyzing how his ser-
vants behaved. Rav Shmuel 
Mohilever, one of the early 
religious Zionist pioneers, 
explained this episode as being 
a pitfall of many people on 
their birthdays. They spend the 
celebration judging others — 
what has this person done for 
me lately? What gift did that 
person give me this year? As 
Jews, however, the focus of our 
birthdays turns inward: What 
can I do better? Where in the 
past year have I missed oppor-
tunities? What can I do in the 
coming year that I’
ll be able to 
celebrate this time next year?
As we embark on the world’
s 
birthday, Rosh Hashanah, 
we’
re reminded of what we 
have to celebrate. We appreci-
ate the immense blessing that 
Hashem has bestowed upon us 
in the past and how that allows 
us to consider what we can do 
to increase it in the future. To 
take a page out of Pharaoh’
s 
book, we ask ourselves: What 
parts of our lives should we 
promote more, and what oth-
ers should we “hang up?” Our 
job on Rosh Hashanah is to 
throw a birthday party; not 
one where we play God and 
judge others, but one where we 
appreciate our past so we can 
celebrate our future.
Happy birthday and shanah 
tovah. 

Shaya Katz is rabbi at Young Israel of 

Oak Park.

Rabbi Shaya 
Katz

How to Party on the 
World’s Birthday

continued from page 24
2019

Rosh Hashanah

5780

May the New Year 
bring to all our friends and family 
health, joy, prosperity and 
everything good in life.

— Pam & Mike Smith —

2019

Rosh Hashanah

5780

May the New Year 
bring to all our friends and family 
health, joy, prosperity and 
everything good in life.

— Steven, Merle, and Michael Band 
 —

2019

Rosh Hashanah

5780

May the New Year 
bring to all our friends and family 
health, joy, prosperity and 
everything good in life.

— Marcia and Stan Freedman —

