Around 1775, followers of the great Chassidic Rebbe, Rabbi Mendel Haradoker, gathered in Haradok, a small Belarusian town, to learn from their master. Seated around a table, they reviewed one of his teachings and then engaged each other in passionate conversation about it. Vodka was used to wish each other L’chaim! To Life! Niggunim, soulful Chassidic melodies, were sung, and the earliest recorded Farbrengen ensued. At that Farbrengen Rabbi Shheur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad movement, famously remarked that a Chassidic Farbrengen could achieve more than the divine angel Michoel (Michael) ever could.