Today is my birthday.
And I'm the type who likes to make a big deal about birthdays, because I believe every year is a milestone in its own right, and it should be celebrated. I love finding out about special historical events that happened on August 20th, and I especially love learning who shares a birthday with me. And since being Jewish means having two birthdays most years, I get to share it with even more people (my Hebrew birthday is shared with Nachmanides. Cool, huh?). It just so happens that I share my Gregorian birthday with a good number of influential musicians, including a couple of my favorites, namely Robert Plant and Jim Pankow of the band "Chicago."
But there is a bit of a bitter twinge to this year's birthday when I think about having shared it my whole life so far with the late, great, Isaac Hayes.
Just 10 days ago, 10 days before our birthday, actually on the 9th of Av, Isaac Hayes passed away in his home. I believe that was a tragedy. And I'd be hard-pressed to find many things that Isaac Hayes and I had in common, other than a passion for creating great music, so I feel as though sharing a birthday with him during his remarkable lifetime brought me just another inch closer to this musician I still very much admire.
"Joy, Pt. 1" is one of the first Isaac Hayes songs I ever heard (and by the way, I could make a pretty compelling argument that it's a song about Shacharit...). That song reminds me to pursue joy wherever I can, so I'm going to have a good time today, in small tribute to Isaac Hayes.
This year, I'll celebrate for the both of us.
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