# 362 (s5765-05/ 28 Tishrei 5765)

The Secret of "L'Chaim" Revealed

Some Jews who were not adherents of the Chassidic path challenged Rabbbi Yisrael of Rhyzhin.

The Secret of "L'Chaim" Revealed

Rabbi Yisrael of Rizhin once stayed in a town called Sanek during one of his travels. Of course, everybody came out to greet him since the reputation of the tzaddik preceded him wherever he went. Among them were some Jews who were not adherents of the Chassidic path. These Misnagdim (opponents) decided to vent their hostility on R' Yisroel.

"Tell us," they challenged, "it is very difficult for us to understand. Our custom is to arise well before the break of dawn, to pray the morning prayer at sunrise according to the custom of the ancestral pious ones. After we finish praying, we remain for some time in the shul, still wrapped in tallit and tefillin and we learn Chumash and Mishna before we leave. Even as we put away the tallit and tefillin we learn chapters by memory from the Tanach. The rest of the day, we maintain fixed times when we gather for additional study in the shul. For this behavior we are labeled Misnagdim?!

"You Chasidim, your way is to pray the morning prayer long after the prescribed time for doing so, and immediately after the prayer, instead of dedicating time for study, you race to set the table. Then you bring out cake and brandy, and sit together drinking, eating and singing. For this you are called Chasidim (pious)?! It seems to us to be quite the opposite."

Reb Leib, the attendant of the Rizhiner, after hearing these accusations could not hold himself back. "I'm not surprised," he imputed. "Your whole service is performed with so little heart, in such a calculated, chilly and lifeless manner, it is no wonder that you learn Mishnayot afterwards, for that is what one learns in memory of the dead! (Mishna, spelled mem-shin-nun-hei, has the same letters as the word for soul, neshama.) Not so the service of the chasidim. Whatever we do, no matter how much, or how little, we do with devotion, warmth and vitality. Doesn't a living man need a sip of brandy once in a while!?"

He drew a breath to go on, but the Rizhiner interrupted him. "I am sure you realize that he is just joking. I will tell you the real reason for our way of praying and the secret of L'Chayim.

It is well know that since the destruction of the Holy Temple, our prayer takes the place of the sacrifices which were offered there, as it is written, "The prayer of our lips shall replace the oxen of the sacrifice" (Hoshea 14:3). Our three daily prayers correspond to the daily burnt offerings. Just as a sacrifice was rendered invalid by undirected thoughts, so too is our prayer.

When a man stands in prayer before his Creator, the Evil Inclination wants nothing more than to confuse him and introduce all manner of strange thoughts into his head. How is it possible to stand in prayer in face of that? In the end, it is unlikely that we succeeded in replacing the oxen of the sacrifices with our prayers. What did the chasidim discover to remedy the problem, and to battle against the ploys of this Evil Inclination, the Yetzer Hara?

After the Prayer, the chasidim sit together, raise their glasses in L'Chayim, and pour out their hearts in blessing. "Yankele, you should find a proper shidduch (match) for your daughter," exclaims one. "Beryl, your business should have as many customers as the eyes on a potato," exclaims another.

The Yetzer Hara, already regaling in his victory of having confounded the prayer of an entire congregation of Jews, and seeing them eating and drinking, concludes that for the meantime their prayer is indeed finished, and he joyfully retires for the morning.

Now, it is a clear law in the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law), that prayer can be said in any language that one understands (Orach Chayim 62:2). Therefore, when Jews gather together to say L'Chayim, and in the absence of the Yetzer Hara they begin to bless one another from the depths of their hearts, it is the real prayer, and it goes straight to the heart of the Master of the World.

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[Adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from www.nishmas.org, the website of the former Nishmas Chayim Yeshiva in Jerusalem, headed by Rabbi Benyamin Adilman. Posted there are also back issues of his weekly parsha sheet, B'ohelei Tzadikim.]

Historical note:
It is an accepted fact that the labels "chasid" and "mitnaged" were originated (derisively) by the Mitnagdim themselves. -- y.t.

Biographical note:
Rabbi Yisrael Friedmann of Rhyzhin [1797 - 3 Cheshvan 1850] was a great-grandson of the Maggid of Mezritch. At a young age was already a charismatic leader with a large following of chassidim. Greatly respected by the other rebbes and Jewish leaders of his generation, he was -and still is-referred to as "The Holy Rhyzhiner." Six of his sons established Chassidic dynasties, several of which -Sadigora, Chortkov, etc- are still thriving today.

Yrachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and editor of Ascent Quarterly and the AscentOfSafed.com and KabbalaOnline.org websites. He has hundreds of published stories to his credit.