Pacific Jewish Center | Rabbi » birthday

Betty’s 106th Birthday Party (and my 500th post)

rabbifink — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:27:51 +0000

See that cake? It’s not a gag. It’s serious. It’s a 106th birthday party cake. Bet you never thought you would see on of those…

Last week I had the honor of attending a very special birthday party. A friend of Pacific Jewish Center, Betty Matoff, celebrated her 106th birthday. I can think of nothing better to write about in my 500th post.

Betty was born in 1904 on Christmas Eve. 1904. That was a long time ago.

Incredibly, she is sharp, coherent, hilarious and almost completely independent. She is a marvel to spend with and it is an honor to have attended her birthday party.

What I find most amazing is that she has been independent almost her entire adult life. She had a short marriage and despite being born in before women had the right to vote, she has managed quite nicely on her own! I am not saying I find her choice attractive or correct. I am saying that she bucked tradition and it worked in her favor. She has lived a very happy and fulfilling life despite, for the most part, lack of companionship.

When asked what the secret to living such a long, rich life, Betty said to “love as many people as you can”.

Great advice from a great woman.

Check out a couple photos from the party below.

Betty stands for her birthday speech and to blow out the candles

Me and the birthday girl

A Happy 2009 Birthday

rabbifink — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:36:23 +0000

Yesterday was my birthday.

I am not huge “birthday guy”. I love my children’s birthday more than my own birthday and my mother loves my birthday more than I do.

A lot of people know my birthday. Co-workers, family and friends all know my birthday. This year I got a ton of birthday wishes.

But it was different.

One summer when I was in sleepaway camp on my birthday I got like 250 “in person” birthday wishes. The guy who made the breakfast anouncements said “the 100th person who wishes Eliyahu Fink a Happy Birthday gets a free soda”. Everyone wanted a free soda so throughout the day random kids were wishing me Happy Birthday. I like that. It felt good to be acknowledged (birthday or not…).

This year, I was not in sleepaway camp and there were no contests.

I got 7 in person happy birthdays.

I got 2 phonecall happy birthdays.

I got 8 Twitter timeline happy birthdays.

I got 3 Twitter direct message happy birthdays.

I got 2 SMS Text happy birthdays.

I got 39 Facebook happy birthdays.

Notice a trend?

Yes, technology contributed tremendously to my birthday wishes.

I don’t have any major commentary about this, I just think it is notable. Social networking plays such an important role in our 2009 lives. It is not going to change so if you are not yet on Twitter or Facebook or leaving comments on blogs, you are a little behind the curve.

That’s okay. I am not saying we all need to be ahead of the curve. What I am saying is our world is trending into a more digital era.

Be ready!

Adolf Hitler Campbell can't get a birthday cake

rabbifink — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:55:41 +0000

Here’s a good one…

We just named our baby and honestly a lot of thought goes into it!

This family decided a good name for their bundle of sweetness and joy is ADOLF HITLER Campbell! Imagine this kid going through life with a name like that!

Sometimes you wonder if these people even think about what they are doing!?

Well it seems that they certainly know what they are doing – another one their other children is named “Aryan Nation” and this photo gallery indicates their feelings towards Nazism…

UPDATE