Lechaim! (This is a Hebrew phrase meaning "to life!")

Bread on the table, a plate of borscht, perhaps a piece of gefilte fish – and someone starts to sing. This is how many songs begin, telling stories of food, drink, and togetherness that have been passed down through generations. For where people eat together, they also share stories and memories, laugh and celebrate – often in the company of family, around a table that, for one evening, means the whole world.

In this program, the Vienna Jewish Choir presents songs that come from the kitchen and are meant for the table: drinking songs, table hymns, and musical tales about enjoyment and conviviality. They tell of everyday life and festivities, of simple meals and special moments – sung on long evenings where togetherness is at the center.

And sometimes it becomes quieter. Between two songs, between two courses, there is also space for those songs that speak of love, closeness and longing, hope and the desire for peace. For all of this is just as much a part of the shared evening as bread and wine.

Many of these songs were not written for the stage, but for communal singing – between courses, during toasts, or when the table has already been cleared and no one wants to go home. They are direct, sometimes cheeky, sometimes soft, at times melancholic, at times humorous – but always close to life.

Lechaim! is a musical toast to togetherness: to full pots and empty glasses, to shared bread and shared time, to songs that bring people together – joyful and contemplative, exuberant and quiet. In short: to life.