Orit woke up early in the morning. It was her birthday, and she had been looking forward to this day for weeks. She dressed quickly, ate breakfast and ran off to school.

“Tamar,’’ said Orit, “do you know that today is my birthday?’’

“Oh, is it? That’s nice,’’ replied Tamar. “Have a happy birthday.’’

Orit was surprised that Tamar wasn’t more excited. So she went over to her best friend, Shaindel. “Shaindel, did you know that today is my birthday?’’

“Mmmm. Happy birthday,’’ replied Shaindel as she walked away talking to another girl.

Orit felt very bad. “Why doesn’t anybody care that today is my birthday?’’

She invited some girls to come to her house that afternoon to play. But no one would come. Her friends were too busy with other things.

“This is the worst birthday I’ve ever had. I have no friends.’’

The school bell finally rang. All the children rushed out of school. “This was a very bad day,’’ Orit thought. “Everyone is ignoring me.’’ She was so sad.

Orit walked home very slowly. “I have the worst friends in the whole world. I’ll never talk to any of them ever again. Nobody likes me, and I don’t like them.’’

When she came home, Orit opened the front door. Before she even put down her schoolbooks, she heard a loud yell, “SURPRISE.’’ All her friends jumped out from behind the curtains, from behind the sofa and from behind the chairs, singing, “Happy Birthday.’’

Orit’s eyes opened wide in surprise. She was so happy. She had the best friends any girl could ever want.

We should always judge other people favorably. Sometimes it seems that they are acting wrongly. But we may not know all the facts. We should assume that they are doing the right thing.