I discovered that I have something in common with Raymond Burr, Peggy Cass and Mr. T. Yes, that’s right--Perry Mason and Ironside, the panelist from To Tell The Truth, and the guy with the mohawk from Rocky III and the A-Team. What is it? We all share the same birthday — May 21. This year, I am honored to also share my birthday with the 100th anniversary celebration of our synagogue, and I hope to see you in person on that Shabbat morning, and hopefully for the entire weekend.

Speaking of things in common, you are no doubt familiar with homonyms. Homonyms are words which have two different, and unrelated meanings. An example is "round" which can mean both "the shape of a circle" and "a segment of a boxing match." Similar to the homonym is the homophone — words which share a pronunciation, though not necessarily the same spelling. An example of homophone are the words — to, too and two.

Then there is the contronym, also called antagonym. This refers to a word which has two opposite meanings, such as:

Anxious — when you really want to do something, or you really don’t.

Awful — something/someone you detest or admire.

Cut — When you cut a line, you enter; when you cut a class you leave.

OK, you get the idea. What especially draws me to the contronym is its connection to Judaism. The Bible, the main source of our religion, is rich with internal contradictions. The prophets Isaiah and Micah teach us to "beat our swords into plowshares," but the prophet Joel teaches the opposite—to "beat our plowshares into swords." Normally, we are a peace loving people, but there are times when fighting is the right thing to do.

In the book of Psalms we are told: "The earth is the Lord’s" (Ps. 24) but also: "God has given the earth to humanity." (Ps. 115) So which is it—does the earth belong to God or us? The answer is that there is no contradiction. We (people) are entitled to the earth only when we first acknowledge that it is a gift from God. We do this by reciting berakhot when we eat or experience other wonders of nature. We do this when we express and feel gratitude on a daily basis.

Reaching a milestone birthday or anniversary is a time to be grateful to God, but also a time to be proud of our own accomplishments — our strength and perseverance.