What is the source or reason that a l'chaim is often said over a drink of alcohol instead of any other beverage, or over other foods, or even over no food at all?
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3Why do you assume that the "L'chaim!" is the cause, and not the alcohol? Is it not like "Salud!"? – Charles Koppelman Nov 11 '13 at 17:20
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@CharlesKoppelman meaning the reason for drinking the alcohol is because you just said l'chaim? but then that begs the question, why did you say l'chaim? – please remove my account Nov 11 '13 at 17:53
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Fiddler On The Roof? – Gary Nov 11 '13 at 19:53
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@pleaseremovemyaccount No. What I'm saying is that you can drash all you'd like, but we say "l'chaim" when we drink just as Englishmen say "cheers" when they drink. Is your question why davka the word "l'chaim"? – Charles Koppelman Nov 11 '13 at 22:13
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Do you want a source, or do you want a reason? – Charles Koppelman Nov 12 '13 at 02:36
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Worth noting that Yemenites and Older Sephardic Siddurs say לחיי and not לחים – Aaron Jul 27 '18 at 15:58
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Nitei Gavriel Nesuin 2 - 80:21:38 says that the source for saying L'Chaim on wine is Sefer Hapardes L'Rashi, Ravia Brachos 120, Tanya Rabsi 24, Bach Orach Chaim 174. The reason is that since wine brought a curse on the world when Noach drank and cursed Canaan therefore we say L'Chaim when we drink it. He also mentions in the name of the Baal Shem Tov not to say L'Chaim on whiskey, only to say it on wine.
Gershon Gold
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A primary source would be the מדרש תנחומה in פרשת פקודי at סימן ב
העת שחוקרין העדים על העבירה שאדם עושה, יוצאין הסנהדרין וכל ישראל עמם לרחוב העיר, ומוציאין לשם לאיש שהוא מחוייב סקילה או אחד מארבע מיתות בית דין, ויוצאין שנים מהם או שלשה הגדולים מהם ודורשין לעדים. וכששבין מלחקור, אומר להם, סברי מרנן. והם אומרים, אם לחיים לחיים, ואם למיתה למיתה. אם הוא מחויב סקילה, מביאין לו יין טוב וחזק ומשקין אותו, כדי שלא יצטער מן הסקילה. ובאין העדים ועוקדין לו ידיו ורגליו ושמין אותו בבית הסקילה, ולוקחין העדים אבן אחת גדולה שימות בה ושמין אותה על לבו. כיצד שמין אותה על לבו. שמין אותה בעליה אחת, כדי שלא ישים האחד חלקו קודם חברו, אלא שישימו אותה ביחד על לבו, כדי לקיים מה שכתוב, יד העדים תהיה בו בראשונה (שם יז ז). ומאותה שעה ואילך, כל ישראל פטורין לרגום אותם באבנים. וכן עושים לכל מיתה ומיתה שהוא חייב למות מיתת בית דין. וכן שליח צבור כשיש בידו כוס של קדוש או של הבדלה [והוא ירא מסם המות שלא יהיה בכוס], והוא אומר סברי מרנן, ואומר הקהל לחיים, כלומר כי לחיים יהא הכוס.
In summary:
After the witnesses were cross-examined, the judges would return and would be asked "סברי מרנן" - "what do you think, Sirs?"
If he was innocent they would answer לחיים...
Which is why the Shliach Tzibbur says on the cup of Kiddush or Havdala [if he is worried about the poison in his cup] סברי מרנן and the congregation answers לחיים.
Danny Schoemann
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1excellent, that was the medrash I was looking for. couldn't find the source. thank you. – please remove my account Nov 13 '13 at 14:23
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2What is the reason the rest of us do it when we aren't afraid of poison? I assume the question was referring to a regular case, not an Action/Adventure Rated R synagogue? – Double AA Nov 13 '13 at 17:23
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@DoubleAA: Note how that "poisonous phrase" is in brackets - in the printed versions also. Possibly it was added by some editor to explain something [e.g. why the editor didn't do this] - while "we" do it L'Zecher the death sentence. – Danny Schoemann Nov 14 '13 at 08:47
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I heard the following:
Wine and frankincense were administered to a person condemned to the death penalty Sanhedrin 43a
This is an association between wine and death. So we say when we drink wine, L'chaim "to Life."
Avrohom Yitzchok
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I have no sources, but it seems very pashut to me. Every culture I know of that alcohol has a default thing to say when drinking for pleasure with friends. In England, "Cheers!" The English toast to happiness. In Spain, "¡Salud!" The Spaniards toast to health. In China, "干杯！ (gān bēi!)" The Chinese toast to the bottom of the glass. Jews say "L'chaim!" We toast to life.
I don't know why that is, but it seems to be part of human drinking culture. Perhaps people are in good spirits when consuming good spirits, and they want to connect the two. Is this from bringing libations to gods as some in the comments below claim? Maybe, but we can likely find that most things that we all do are rooted in that. It was the way of the world for a long time. As I'm not a sociologist or anthropologist, anything I say here is conjecture.
Charles Koppelman
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This answer is correct because the question did NOT ask about why we say "lechayim" as our toasting word, but rather why toasts are said over alcohol. – Double AA Nov 12 '13 at 02:03
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1If true, and if toasting in general derives from an avoda zara related practice from Greek and Roman times, this may bring up a question of b'chukoseihem lo seileichu (along with the possibility that the explanations given by the rishonim in Gershon's answer are merely post-facto). – Fred Nov 12 '13 at 02:13
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2@Fred ...or it derives from the human experience. And I wouldn't be surprised at all if those answers are nice midrashes put on something ancient. – Charles Koppelman Nov 12 '13 at 02:15
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1@CharlesKoppelman Tracing the European practice of toasting back to avoda zara provides by far the most compelling explanation of its origins. So accepting your explanation would possibly' require prohibiting the practice of l'chaims. – Fred Nov 12 '13 at 02:17
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@ShmuelBrin The question is a sociology question. It's in the wrong place. – Charles Koppelman Nov 12 '13 at 02:25
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1@CharlesKoppelman based on the (currently) highest voted answer, this is on topic. – ertert3terte Nov 12 '13 at 02:26
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Ah! So @ShmuelBrin the question asks for "why we do this" as in "where's a Torah source that says we should do this?" (Along the lines of "listen to your fathers" for Chanukah or "hester panim" for Purim.) I read it as "whence did this custom evolve?" – Charles Koppelman Nov 12 '13 at 02:30
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@Shmuel How can you possibly judge if a question is on topic by an answer??? You've been around SE long enough to know that comment isn't constructive. Plus, none of Gershon's sources claim to be originators of the practice. So there is no reason from them not to turn to secular history to determine the origin of the practice. I emphatically pseudo-downvote your comments. – Double AA Nov 12 '13 at 02:57
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@DoubleAA If people ask "Why Jews do do X", there are two types of answers. One is "because Shulchan Aruch/Gemara/R' Moshe Feinstein said to" (such as "why do Jews light Shabbos candles"). Such questions are on topic. Others don't have such answers, and the answer may be something like "Because we're normal". Such questions are probably off topic ("Why do Jewish programmers like an IDE?") Others sound like 2 but end up being 1 (such as "Why do Jews wear clothes?" Everyone does it but we have a Torah reason (Tznius). Such questions seem on topic. This questions seems like a type 3 question. – ertert3terte Nov 12 '13 at 04:15
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@Shmuel Now you're talking :) Regarding on-topicness, it should depend if they think there is something Jewish about it, cf Isaac's comment here. The thing to remember is that Jews learning messages from their customs does not always mean that the custom is of Jewish origin (certainly not that the origin is universally agreed upon). As regards our question, one has to be careful to distinguish between reasons to say "Lechayim" as the relevant word and reasons to say anything at all. The question IMO asks the latter, and all the answers till now respond to the former. – Double AA Nov 12 '13 at 04:32
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@Fred Perhaps it would. || Similar http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/13113/759 (Shmuel, note I didn't get a barrage of downvotes there (yet).) – Double AA Nov 12 '13 at 04:41