".ה' אָמַר אֵלַי בְּנִי אַתָּה אֲנִי הַיּוֹם יְלִדְתִּיךָ. שְׁאַל מִמֶּנִּי וְאֶתְּנָה"

For the benefit of those who have not heard this song (you're missing out, incidentally,) the above is a Posuk from Tehillim, 2:7. Loosely translated, Hashem invites us on our birthday to make requests of Him, and He will grant them. I must add that I am in no way qualified to interpret this, and I may be entirely wrong. I believe that is the gist, however - please feel free to correct me.

Today is my birthday. My Hebrew birthday. The irony that at 18, when the world tells you that you are a grown up and can do whatever you please, I am once again on this journey. Beginning Shabbos, I have been clean 3 days. I have been totally disregarding my addiction since I last fell, and I think it's been about a year since I tried. Therefore today I want to try and write my Bakoshos down, to ask Hashem to help me (though of course remembering that Hashem is always there to hear our tfilos) - we know we are powerless without Him.

Hashem - help me. Help me to overcome the tremendous challenge You have faced me with. Help me to channel my strengths that I know You have placed within me to become a better person. Help me help myself.

amein. its easy to forget (maybe atzas hayetzer) - that besides for tefilla if we wanna succeed long term we need a practical battle plan. my birthday was thursday, and i spend the entire day davening. and based on previous experiences, i have seen actual yeshuos from tefillos on birthdays. (i gave a 3 part shiur on the subject once upon a time. fascinating stuff) so i wish you a year and life of success, sobriety, purity, and continuously finding comfort and support in our daddys warm embrace. obviously, on gye we are all rooting for you. so keep blogging. and keep in mind that despite all of this, you need a practical plan. for some that means planning their entire next day in advance, for some it is phone conferences and a sponsor, and for others it may be the double taphsic. get help if you need to, but dont wing it if you want it to succeed long term. just one guy's opinion.

That is not the translation of the passuk.

cordnoy wrote:


reb cordnoy,
although you may be right in the meaning of the pasuk על פי strict פשוט פשט (although i think there is some room to debate even here), there is definite validity to what our brother is saying על פי ספרים ועל פי סופרים. i brought some sources below (although this is just what i have in my immediate notes - not at all exhaustive).

מה שכתבתי בענין הפסוק "אני היום ילדתיך שאל ממני ואתנה גוים נחלתך וכו'" שהוא מדבר גם על יום ההולדת, כ"כ בספר "יום ההולדת ומשמעותו" שהיה הרב אליהו לאפיאן זוקלה"ה דורשה בשם רבותינו המקובלים ויועץ לתלמידיו להתפלל באותו יום. וכ"ה בספר "לקט רשמות" (ענ' תפילה 217) שהמשגיח הרב וואכטפויגל זצ"ל נהג ליעץ כזה מפני הנ"ל. וכ"ה בספר "מליצי אש" (כ"ו כסלו 29) בשם רבי יחיא-ל יעקב מקאזניץ דרש את הפסוק הנ"ל כדרך שדרשנוה. וכן מצאתי כתוב בשם חסידא קדישא הכהן הגדול רבי צדוק מלובלין. וכן מ"כ בשם האדמור מקוצק. ועוד. ולכן אמינא ודאי יש לו על מה לסמוך. ומה שנראה לי כתבתי.

peloni almoni wrote:


Thank you so much.
I was discussin' the literal peshat, but I appreciate and really like the sources cited above.
Yasherkoach Gadol!

Oy vey. I get all emotional and Cordnoy comes and pops my bubble.

Reb Ploni Almoni - Thank you for coming to my aid. I was pretty sure there was a pshat like that. (Also the song version of it definitely interprets it that way!) Thank you Cordnoy for challenging me though

Fightingaddictionnow wrote:


No problem; i am sure I will do it again sometime.