Life and Death A teacher of mine once told us a story about a group of Jews assembled at a farbrengen, a typically informal Chasidic gathering where stories are told, songs are sung, and there is almost always a bottle of shnaps to go around. At this particular farbrengen, which took place in Russia many decades ago, the participants had carried on late into the night. As they were about to toast each other l’chaim, they noticed that their bottle was empty. It was late and the stores were closed, so they went out into the street to look for someone from whom they could buy liquor. It wasn’t
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