It was 5738-1978 and the world
was still reeling from the overthrow
of the Shah in Iran, but
in Lubavitch…they were printing.
Yes, printing, because in a Farbrengen
on Motza’ei Shabbos Mevarchim
Elul the Rebbe addressed the subject.
The Rebbe said that Chai Elul is coming
up (Birthday of the Alter Rebbe) and
that in order to increase in “Spreading
the Wellsprings of Chassidus” people
should start printing Tanya’s in every
country.
Up until then, Tanya’s had only
been printed in major Jewish communities
around the world, but as of then not
every country had a Tanya printed in
it. Now the Rebbe instructed that every
country that still did not have a Tanya
printed there should go ahead and print
one.
The Rebbe addressed the issue
of funding the printing process and gave
two options: Either the institution that
prints the Tanya can fund the printing,
or if funds were not available, they can
send the bill to 770 and the Rebbe will
pay for it. However, the Rebbe stipulated,
if the funds are to be coming from
770 than it is self understood that the
profits that will be forthcoming from
the sale of the Tanya’s also have to be
sent to 770…
After the Farbrengen, people
started to make arrangements to print
Tanya’s in their countries. The person
appointed in charge of the new Mivtza
was Rabbi Shalom Jacobson. Previously
he had worked in Vaad L’Hafatzas Sichos,
being involved in the overall preparations
readying the Sichos to print and
therefore it was only natural that he was
chosen for the job.
Over the next couple of years
things quieted down from their original
Chayos; however five and a half years
later, in 5744, the Rebbe mentioned
the subject of printing Tanya’s again. It
was the seventh night of Chanukah and
there was a Tzivos Hashem rally in 770.
The Rebbe said a Sicha about Chanukah
and in middle, seemingly without
any real connection to anything that
was previously said, the Rebbe started
speaking about printing Tanya’s. The
Rebbe used very strong language, calling
this request to print Tanya’s a Bakasha
Nafshis, and instructed that Tanya’s
be printed not only in every country,
but also in every city.
Immediately after the Rebbe finished,
Rabbi Jacobson’s phone started ringing.
Everyone wanted a Tanya printed in
their city as soon as possible. Among the
first to call were Rabbi Shlomo Cunin
from California, Rabbi Shimon Lazaroff
from Texas and Rabbi Yisroel Shmotkin
from Wisconsin.
Over the next three weeks – in
time for 24 Teves (Histalkus of the Alter
Rebbe) there were over eighty editions
of Tanya printed. Nine days later,
on Shabbos Parshas Bo, 3 Shevat, the
Rebbe Farbrenged. The Rebbe started
the Farbrengen by saying that one of
the reasons that there is a Farbrengen is
because there are some guests that have
arrived from Eretz Yisroel who have just
finished printing a lot of Tanya’s.
During the Farbrengen the Rebbe
explained that the Mivtza is not only
to print the Tanya’s, but also to learn
and teach the Tanya in the city where it
was just printed. When one learns from
a Tanya that he knows was printed in his
city, it gives him more Chayos when he
learns. If the one printing the Tanya’s is
unable to teach or learn, he should bring
someone with him who is able to teach.
Additionally, one should leave copies
behind in the city before you leave for
the community to learn from.
Later in the Farbrengen the
Rebbe announced that there is someone
who is going out soon to a lot of places
to print Tanya’s and he should come up
to receive Mashke. Also, anyone who
will start printing (and will be able to)
should come up to receive Mashke.
Three of the people that came up were
Rabbi Shabsi Alperin, the Head Shliach
of Brazil, Rabbi Sholom Dov Ber Fried-
At the time, America was at war with Grenada, a
small country in the Caribbean, and Rabbi Y. Goldstein,
a chaplain in the American Army, had been
sent to the war zone. Before leaving, he went to the
Rebbe for a Brocha, whereby the Rebbe told him to
print a Tanya in Grenada and gave him a Brocha. (A
little while earlier Y. Goldstein had returned from
Grenada and was present when the Rebbe spoke on
the seventh night of Chanukah.) Rabbi Jacobson
stayed up with him the whole night before he left
helping him prepare everything he would need to
print a Tanya.
The next day after he left, the Rebbe confirmed
with the Mazkirus that he had taken the
supplies that he would need for printing. Chaplain
Goldstein ended up printing two Tanya’s, one secretly
in the Army base, and one amongst the Grenada
Jewish community.
Printing Tanyas
an excerpt from “leben mit’n reb’n”
Special edition Welcoming the Fiji Tanya
..”.
man from Italy, and Rabbi Y.H. from
Belgium.
[It is interesting to note, that on
Shushan Purim of that year, Rabbi Alperin
brought 100 Tanya’s to the Rebbe
as a present. The Rebbe said regarding
this, that he - Rabbi Alperin - brought
the whole Mivtza of printing Tanya’s to
a whole new level through his work in
Brazil. The Rebbe told him that if one
Tanya has a big effect, how much more
so 100 Tanya’s!]
Over the years there were a
few more instructions that the Rebbe
gave. The Rebbe said that the only ones
who are allowed to print Tanya’s are
Kehos, based on what the Alter Rebbe’s
sons wrote in the beginning of the Tanya
that no one is allowed to print any
edition of Tanya within five years of its
last printing. Being so, whoever wanted
to print a Tanya had to receive permission
from Kehos. This permission was
granted through Rabbi Jacobson.
Additionally, the Rebbe wanted
everything to go through Kehos in order
that there be one overseer to assure that
there is an order in the printing process.
The Rebbe recounted how recently he
received two editions of Tanya that
were printed right after each other, and
where it is written which number edition
each Tanya is, on the second Tanya
it was fifty editions after the first one!
Preconditions
and Details
If you would want to be a part
of this great project there were a couple
of things that you had to do. As the
Rebbe said in a Sicha on Shabbos Parshas
Terumah 5744, everything had to
be done with a Seder. You first had to
register with the office (Vaad) under
Rabbi Shalom Jacobson.
Once you registered and were
ready to go, the office would give you
a kit with everything that you would
need. At first, people would just receive
a packet of blueprints or negatives and
bring them to their city and print them
at the local print shop. Later on, people
started to travel from city to city with a
truck, which contained all the necessary
materials and supplies to print a Tanya.
The binding of the Tanya did not have
to be done in the city that the Tanya
was printed in.
In order for the Tanya to be
considered printed in that city it was
necessary that the whole Tanya to be
printed and it was not enough to just
print the first few chapters. Additionally,
there had to be at least 100 Tanya’s
printed, however, many went beyond
the bare minimum and printed substantially
more. In Prague, once there was
a printing that consisted of 20,000 Tanya’s!
In general, the cost for printing
100 Tanya’s was around 1000 dollars,
whereas if one wanted a soft cover
Tanya, it would cost around 770 dollars.
After the printing was finished, Tanya’s
would be distributed in the city, as well
as also learning some Tanya with people
from that city.
Unfortunately, not every attempt
at printing was successful. Rabbi
Konikov – Chabad of the Space Coast
- attempted to have a Tanya printed
on a spaceship as it would be in orbit.
After asking the Rebbe, he received a
reply in the affirmative. Obviously it
would be impossible to Shlep a printing
press on the spaceship so other alternatives
had to be explored. Rabbi Konikov
contacted 3M, a company in Minneapolis,
which specialized in printing
miniature machines to see if they could
make a mini printer. They tried and realized
that it can’t be done. So they did
it the old fashion way – on stamps! They
set up the stamps and gave it to Rabbi
Konikov’s contact in NASA. Apparently
there was a misunderstanding along the
way and the Tanya was printed before
the shuttle left the ground!
The office in charge of printing
Tanya’s is still open, but with 5,200
editions in print, one would be hard
pressed to find a Tanya-less city!
Inset: During certain Farbrengens
the Rebbe would call up people that
were going out to print Tanya’s and
would give them Mashke and a Brocha.
The Rebbe really cared and encouraged
these people, constantly getting updated
by the Mazkirus on their progress. Anyone
that printed a Tanya and brought it
in to the Rebbe (through the Mazkirus)
would receive a 20 dollar bill from the
Rebbe (through the Mazkirus).
At times, even people who
were not really involved, the Rebbe
would involve them. There was a lady
passing through New York on a cruise
from Copenhagen, Denmark, who came
by the Rebbe on Sunday for Dollars. She
told the Rebbe that she was on a cruise
and requested a Brocha. The Rebbe proceeded
to tell her that she should print
the Tanya on the ship and gave her a
Brocha.
Shaar Blatt
One of the instructions that the
Rebbe gave regarding the printing of the
Tanya’s was regarding the Shaar Blatt,
the cover page. Every Tanya has as page
one, a cover page on which it states the
city in which the Tanya was printed.
The Rebbe wanted that in addition to
the standard Shaar Blatt which appears
in every addition of Tanya, there should
be a special Tanya in which should be
included every single Shaar Blatt of all
the previous editions that were printed.
The Rebbe explained the reason
for this. When Tanya’s are printed
all over the world, this serves to unite all
the cities which participated in printing
Tanya’s. To illustrate this unity, all the
Shaarei Blatt of each edition should be
collected and bound into one volume.
In 5742-1982 on Yud Aleph
Nissan after the Farbrengen the Rebbe
handed out to everyone a maroon colored
Tanya in which were collected all
the Shaarei Blatt of Tanya’s that had
been printed up until then. The Rebbe
gave out Tanya’s for seven hours, from
12 AM to 7 AM (see Yoman in Yud
Aleph Nissan section).
Two years later in 5744-1984
again on Yud Aleph Nissan in honor
of the 1000th edition of Tanya which
had been printed, the Rebbe gave out a
blue Tanya with all of the Shaarei Blatt
collected inside. This time the Rebbe
didn’t directly distribute the Tanya’s,
rather the Rebbe appointed the Kollel
Yungerlait to give out the Tanya’s (see
Yoman).
Later that year, on 12 Taamuz,
the Rebbe again addressed the issue of
the Shaar Blatt’s, and explained the reason
for their inclusion as was previously
explained. However this time the Rebbe
added that there should be printed a
Choveres Milluim - a supplementary
booklet that would contain all the Shaar
Blatt’s of Tanya’s that were printed since
11 Nissan, and it should be constantly
updated.
For more informathion or to be a part of the printing of Tanyas.
Email sbcunin@gmail.com AU 0424 220 917 or NY 718 773 3438
