Dateline Jerusalem – I love to celebrate holidays, birthdays, special days every day. One of the benefits of having dual citizenship is that I can observe these days on both Israel's Hebrew calendar and the Gregorian calendar used in the U.S. The Hebrew calendar is based on a lunar/solar cycle while the Gregorian calendar is on a solar cycle.  Sometimes it seems every day is a holiday for me. This is the month of Adar, my birthday month. So I get to celebrate two birthdays this month. 

The Talmud teaches that we should be more joyous and festive when the month of Adar arrives. Because this is a leap year according to the Hebrew calendar, there is Adar I and Adar II.  Double the joy and good fortune. It reminds me of the old Wrigley's chewing gum commercial “Double the pleasure, double the fun.”

When I  moved to Israel, I was excited about celebrating my first holidays and birthday here. Much to my disappointment, my first birthday in Israel was observed on the same day as I would have celebrated it in the U.S.  That is because every 19 years a person's Hebrew birthday coincides with his/her regular birthday. Since that time, I have celebrated both my Hebrew and regular birthdays in Israel. Double the pleasure, twice the fun.

People in Israel are very special.  I never would have made it here without their warmth, generosity and friendliness.  It seems as though I have known my new friends forever instead of just 6½ years. Regarding birthdays, they need no encouragement when it comes to an excuse to celebrate. My Hebrew birthday is this weekend. My regular birthday is next weekend, but I have already been observing it for a couple of weeks!

L'hitraot. Shachar