9,000th Tanya Edition Printed Near the Rebbe’s Room

The 9,000th edition of the Tanya was printed outside the Rebbe’s room at 770 Eastern Parkway, as thousands of shluchim from every corner of the world gathered in Crown Heights for the International Kinus Hashluchim, giving the milestone an especially fitting backdrop.

The printing, organized by Mendel Chaskelevich and Meir Moshe Altman, is part of a campaign that goes back to the Rebbe’s own instruction that the Tanya be printed in every possible location, with the aim of turning every corner of the world into a place from which the light of Chassidus spreads and preparing the world to receive Moshiach.

In 5738 (1978), the Rebbe directed that the Tanya be printed in every country where it had not yet appeared. The campaign gained tremendous momentum in 5744 (1984), when the Rebbe asked that it be printed in every city and town where Jews live, setting target dates throughout the year.

At the time, only 201 editions had been printed. Yet the thousandth edition was completed by 11 Nissan, and by Erev Rosh Hashanah 5745, the two-thousandth edition had been reached.

Since then, thousands of editions have been printed in cities around the world, as well as in some of the most unlikely places imaginable, including Arab countries, remote corners of the developing world, Antarctica, and even Mount Everest. The Tanya has been translated into eleven languages and is considered the second most printed book in the world after the Bible.

Each printing follows the Rebbe’s guidelines, including a minimum of one hundred copies, nearly all of which remain in the place where they were printed, and immediate study from the freshly printed pages, so that the place itself is elevated through the holiness of the sefer.

Over the past forty years, it has become a tradition for every thousandth edition of the Tanya to be printed at 770, the very place where the Rebbe’s directive was first given. The 9,000th edition continued that tradition.

Rabbi Zalman Chanin, who has overseen the project of printing the Tanya in locations around the world, was honored with pressing the button that started the printing, with Reb Yonasan Hackner assisting.

Following the printing, those present learned from the freshly printed pages of the Tanya, as the Rebbe had requested, together with Rabbi Mendel Yuzevitch, principal of Ohr Menachem. They then said l’chaim and broke into dancing, turning the printing into a joyous occasion in the heart of 770.

Many shluchim who were in Crown Heights for the Kinus made their way over to take part, with a number of them stopping by between sessions and farbrengens to say l’chaim and share in the moment.

With 9,000 editions now behind them, those involved are already looking ahead to edition number 10,000, as chassidim around the world continue to print the Tanya in new places, with the hope that the Rebbe’s goal of bringing the light of Chassidus to every corner of the world will soon be fulfilled with the coming of Moshiach.