Birthday Week

I function following two calendars, the Jewish one and the goyish international one.  They only coincide about once every nineteen years, and even then sometimes not perfectly. 

Actually the Sate of Israel also uses both calendars.  Our holidays here are the Jewish ones, except that some restaurants and hotels make a big deal out of January first and the night before for parties and all.  Any excuse to make an "event."  Remember that the Jewish New Year is Rosh Hashannah, a very serious time, frequently spent in synagogue being shaken to the soul by the sound of the shofar. It's a time of reflection, repentance (teshuva) that lasts a week and a half, until Yom Kippur.  The goyish international New Year is obviously much more fun for Israelis who have only recently, the past couple of decades, discovered the fun sic of drinking.  There's non of that on Yom Kippur and the kiddush on Rosh Hashannah doesn't compare.

How did I get onto this?  Back to the topic...

In Israel, using both calendars can be rather problematic. The school year begins on September 1, but when Rosh Hashannah will be "too early" school starts early, so the kids can learn something before all those Jewish Holiday and school vacations begin.

When you celebrate birthdays on both calendars, they float around.  There are years when my international  birthday coincides with one of my daughter's Jewish birthday, even though my birthday is about a week later on both calendars.  This year, there's about a week's difference between the Jewish and international  date.  I was surprised by my fellow workers when they made me (and another worker) a party on Thursday the day before my Jewish birthday. 

It was a nice way to start "birthday week."

One is never too old to celebrate birthdays!