L'Chayim, the Secret Tefillah

Rav Shmelka Rubin of Far Rockaway, the Sulitzer Rebbe, used to tell of a time when, in the course of one of his journeys, Rav Yisroel Friedman, the holy Rizhiner, was challenged by two Misnagdim (opponents of Chassidus). They said they found it hard to understand the ways of the Chassidim. They themselves rose well before dawn and davened Shacharis at sunrise, and afterward they stayed in the shul, still in tallis and tefillin, studying Mishnayos. The Chassidim, on the other hand, davened late, and then brought out cake and brandy and sat around the table, eating, drinking, singing and wishing each other “L'Chayim.” Everyone called the Chassidim “pious ones” and the others Misnagdim. “It should be the other way around.”

The Rizhiner's gabbai could not hold himself back. He said that their avodas Hashem was cold and lifeless, with no heart, and that it was no wonder they studied Mishnayos afterward, in keeping with the custom of learning Mishnayos in memory of the departed. The Chassidim, he said, davened with fire and excitement, and a living man on fire needs a l'chayim, a sip of strong brandy to match his devotion.

“I am sure you realize that he is mistaken,” the Rizhiner told them. “Let me explain the real reason for our way, and why we bless one another and say l'chayim after davening.” Since the destruction of the Beis HaMikdosh, he said, our tefillos take the place of the korbonos. When a person davens, the yetzer hora wants only to confuse him with foreign thoughts. Such a thought makes a korban pigul, and it ruins the chances of a tefillah. Then the yetzer hora argues against the tefillos and tries to prove that they do not deserve an answer.

“We Chassidim have found a way around this. After davening we sit together, raise our glasses and say l'chayim, and bless one another with life, health, happiness, parnassah, nachas, children and much more. The yetzer hora sees us eating and drinking and concludes that we have finished davening, and he does not bother to prosecute us. Tefillah can be said in any language, and when Yidden bless one another from the depths of their hearts, the yetzer hora leaves them alone. Then all their tefillos and berachos rise on high and are accepted and answered at once.”