BORN INTO EXILE

Habakkuk 2:2 -- And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it.

The other day, someone I love, who wanted to wish me a happy birthday, asked me, "How do I say happy birthday in Hebrew?" He got me thinking and when I'm thinking, I write. That's why I blog. Its me discerning outloud.  

I'll get to how to say "Happy Birthday" in Hebrew in a moment. First this...

Home is more than bricks or bloodlines; it's a sense of anchorage, of where we belong. To be kicked out of our home is to be "exiled." Exile is not just a displacement of address; it's a rupture in the soul's geography. 

When the gate that we are exiled through slams shut we are left adrift; forced to make our way in a cold cruel world. Cut off from the Garden of Eden (גַּן עֵדֶן) that provided for our every need.  

That's birth -- expulsion from the womb. There are numerous writings—particularly in depth psychology, mythology, and biblical interpretation—that compare the expulsion from the Garden of Eden to the process of birth, often portraying Eden as a symbolic womb or state of pre-conscious unity from which humanity is thrust into the harsh realities of individuality, mortality, and self-awareness.

Genesis 2:8-11 -- “And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.” 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

The expression "Happy Birthday" in Hebrew is "Yom Huledet Sameach" (יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת שָׂמֵחַ). Yom Huledet" (יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת) literally means "day of birth." Sameach is "Joy."

Each Hebrew letter has both a meta meaning and a numeric value. Here is what each of the letters in 'Huledet' mean: 

Hey - behold, reveal, breath
Lamed - shepherd crook/staff
Dalet - door, and
Tav - cross, mark/sign

What does Hebrew Gematria reveal? 

The numeric values of each letter are as follows: 

הֻ - 5
לֶּ - 30
דֶ - 4
ת - 400

Therefore, the gematria for "birth" is 439. 

Born Into Exile 

Coincidence, think not.  The Hebrew word for "exile", Galut (גָּלוּת), has the same 439 value as Huledet (הֻלֶּדֶת). Here is how is breaks down:

ג (Gimel) = 3 (ג) is the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet, numerically equivalent to three, and symbolizes concepts like benevolence, movement, and balance. It is often depicted as a rich man running after a poor man to give charity, representing the concept of gemilut chassidim (acts of loving-kindness). What is Gimel running toward?  The 4th letter in the Hebrew aleph-beyt, the letter Dalet, which is Hebrew for Door.

ל (Lamed) = 30

ו (Vav) = 6 signifies connection and unity. Its form is like a nail or a line, which connects heaven and earth, spirit and matter, and is used as a conjunction ("and") to join words and concepts together.

ת (Tav) = 400

Calculation: 3+30+6+400=439

The letters in "birth" and "Exile " are even similar. Here is the side-by-side comparison showing which are the same and what the differences are:

Hey - Gimel
Lamed - Lamed 
Dalet - V
Tav - Tav 

Hebrew sages and rabbis frequently draw parallels between exile (galut) and the processes of pregnancy and birth (huledet), viewing exile as a gestational period of formation, suffering, and preparation within a constricting "womb" (often Egypt or the nations), culminating in redemption (geulah) as a traumatic yet liberating birth.

Messianic Birth Pangs (Chevlei Mashiach)

My Christian friends, where does this sound familiar?! The Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b) and Zohar (e.g., 2:8a) liken the final exile (under Edom/Rome, the fourth and longest) to intense labor pains preceding the Messiah's arrival. Rabbi Akiva and later Kabbalists like the Ari Zal (Isaac Luria) expand this: just as contractions build to birth, escalating global turmoil refines the Jewish soul for redemption. The Zohar calls exile a "pregnancy of the Shechinah" (divine presence), where suffering "dilates" the world for the messianic infant.  

Wandering Our Way Through Life

At its core, exile isn't mere banishment from soil or shelter; it's the primal severance, the cord cut between creature and Creator, leaving us to wander a world that hums with echoes of the Garden we've lost. Consider it this way: God as the ultimate Father and His kingdom as the home we long to return to. We are like the Israelites, the Nation of Israel, born on the Passover, wandering in the wilderness, Bamidbar. 

We were wanderers who were being led. Moses was a great prophet, but it was God leading us. It was God’s outstretched arm & hand that brought us out of Egypt and into the promised land. You wanna Talk about a great burthday gift!!

God's Shekinah dwelled with us in the wilderness. He met with Moses and instructed us on obedience and gave us a means to make atonement. 

God even instructed the Israelites how to build a a Tabernacle and the Holy of Holies were the High Priest would go once a year. 

Imagine a room of total darkness where the only Light is God's glory. The scene reminds of a birthday party. 

Ultimately, it is repentance (teshuva - תְּשׁוּבָה), which literally means "return," that opens the door of forgiveness and the way back home to our Maker. 

Thankfully, we have a God that misses us and wants us back. God loves us despite our faults and failings. So much so that gave us an invitation to a new Huledet party.

Imagine that party!