“To life, to life, L’Chayim”

Rabbi Howard S. Herman DD

I am certain that most of you are familiar with the song, “L’Chayim, To Life,” sung by Zero Mostel, Chayim Topol and Hershel Bernardi as well as all the others who starred as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof” so many years ago. That melody, along with its words, its energy, and its verve, encompassed an overarching nostalgia for all things Jewish.

Even within the dismal and desperate times Tevye and his family lived, there were times to celebrate, to be joyful and grateful for not only what they had, but who they had to enjoy it with.

I think we often lose sight of this important insight. This is not to say that we should simply blot out the negative and deny it exists. But from both a Jewish perspective and a Jewish philosophic point of view, there are lots of blessings we enjoy that we simply ignore or give short shrift to in deference to the negative we face in life.

The former Chief Rabbi of Britain, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, admonished us to “Count your blessings, and begin to change your life.”

We already have most of the ingredients for attaining a fulfilling and happy life, but we tend to take them for granted and focus on unmet wants. Sacks said that “giving thanks and praise, expressing gratitude, spending time with family, living our values and forgiveness are all steps in the right direction.”

If you remember the scene in “Fiddler on the Roof,” this song was sung during and after a lot of drinking takes place. So why is it that we say “L’Chayim, To Life” when we drink as Jews?

Two thousand years ago, people would toast to “wine and life to the mouths of the rabbis.” Even Rabbi Akiba supposedly said this formula over every cup of wine at his son’s wedding celebration.

There is a theory that declares the tree of knowledge was actually a grapevine. The imbibing of grapes brought death into the world. After surviving the Great Flood, Noah plants a vineyard and you can read of the disaster that followed in Genesis Chapter 9.

In Chapter 19, we read about Lot, whose daughters make him drunk and cause him to sin with them. As consumption of alcohol can have disastrous consequences, we opine the wish that this drinking of wine be “to life.”

If you think about it literally, Tevye’s translation of the words, “To Life, To Life, L’Chayim,” is blatantly wrong. The word “L’Chayim is plural, not singular. It literally means “to lives.” When we toast, is it not just us we are concerned about? Should we think about others as well? Or is it possible there is something else in play here?

As Hillel said, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?” (Pirke Avot 1:14).

But Pirke Avot also says, “The world is merely a waiting room for the world to come … One hour of life in the next world is more blissful than the cumulative pleasure of this entire world.” (Pirke Avot 4:16-17).

Perhaps when we utter the expression, “To Life, To Life, L’Chayim,” as it is mentioned twice, we are toasting not only the life we have here and now before us, but also the future life we hope for.

Rabbi Nachman says, “You must always attach your thoughts to the next world, never forget this.”

So, the next time you hoist your glass for whatever good reason, listen to Rabbi Nachman’s words, always remembering to live in the here and now and never forgetting to think about the next world.

L’Chayim!

Rabbi Howard S. Herman DD serves at Naples Jewish Congregation.