Birthdays are a time for celebration, tradition, and sometimes a little humiliation, depending on where you’re from. In Nova Scotia, birthday revelers delight in ambushing the celebrant with a healthy smear of butter or lard on their nose. In Germany, single men turning 30 are conscripted into step-sweeping duty at the town hall. In South Korea, birthdays are celebrated with a steaming bowl of seaweed soup. And Ireland takes a more hands-on approach—turning the birthday person upside down and bumping them on the ground once for each year of their age, plus an extra one “for good luck.”

So, naturally, expectations were high for Rabbi Eli Stefansky’s birthday at his Tuesday morning daf yomi shiur, where one might hope to witness a buttered nose, some strategic sweeping, or even a celebratory bump on the head or two. Alas, none of these time-honored traditions made an appearance.

Instead, Rabbi Stefansky stuck to his routine, delivering his trademark opener: “Good morning rabboisai, ahh!” This time, though, he was joined by a cheerful balloon arch and a group of shiur attendees armed with confetti cannons. The room erupted into a spirited (if slightly off-key) rendition of “Yom Holedes Someach,” and that was the extent of the festivities.

No grease. No bumps. Not even a symbolic bowl of South Korea’s famous seaweed soup. Just Rabbi Stefansky, a lot of confetti, and a daf to conquer.

To his credit, Rabbi Stefansky did seem to appreciate the effort—if not the missed opportunity to embrace international birthday antics. But then again, this is a man who’s far more interested in harbotzas Torah than sweeping steps or dodging a butter ambush. With over 19,000 lomdim tuning in daily, he’s clearly doing something right, even if he’s missed out on the grease-smearing fun. Between him and Rabbi Sruly Bornstein’s shiur in Lakewood, tens of thousands of people are sitting down to learn the daf every day – many of whom might not have been learning daily at all otherwise.

Still, one can’t help but wonder what might have been. A butter-slicked balloon arch? A confetti-sweeping ceremony? The possibilities were endless.

Happy birthday, Rabbi Stefansky. Here’s hoping next year’s celebration gets a little more… creative.

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(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)