Do you know on which day you were born? Not your birthday…which day of the week? It doesn’t appear to be a relevant fact, but more of an interesting bit of personal trivia. According to the sages (Shabbat 156a), however, the day of the week on which a person was born can influence that person’s personality.

People born on Sundays tend to be more extreme. Rabbi Joshua ben Levi describes a Sunday child as being “a person without one…” which is understood by Rabbi Ashi as being “completely virtuous or completely wicked.” Sunday (Day One) was the day on which God created light, and thus darkness. 

Monday’s child will be ill-tempered because on Day Two of creation, God divided the waters, but He did not settle the waters until the next day.

One might think that the settling of the water on Day Three would bode well for a child born on Tuesday. Alas, this child, according to the sages, will be “wealthy and unchaste…because herbs were created” on Day Three. (Herbs multiply with exceptional speed and can live with many other types of plants.)

Born on Wednesday? The Wednesday baby will “be wise and of a retentive memory,” because on Day Four, God placed the stars, moon and sun in the Heavens. In the Heavenly bodies, God encrypted great knowledge.

On Day Five, God created the fish and the birds, who, according to some explanations, live purely on God’s loving-kindness and mercy. Therefore, a Thursday birth means a benevolent child.

One born on Friday is said to be a seeker. According to Rabbi Nachman ben Isaac, this means a seeker of good deeds.

Finally, the Talmud notes that one “who is born on Shabbat will die on Shabbat, because the great day of Shabbat was desecrated on his account.” This, however, applies only as a rule to those who are particularly holy.

This Treat was originally posted on June 13, 2011.

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