Renowned German-Dutch Designer Lays Out Hayom Yom

R’ Chaim Rittri of Basel, Switzerland, was fascinated with how the Rebbe conveyed messages for any given day in Hayom Yom. Inspired by R’ Yonah Avtzon, he went on to produce the first-ever German translation with an aesthetic design created by renowned German-Dutch book designer Ralf de Jong.

It all began with Rabbi Yonah Avtzon, z”l, director of Sichos in English, who in 2008 enlisted Chaim Rittri of Basel, Switzerland, to collaborate on SIE’s new edition of the Rebbe’s Hayom Yom.

As Mr. Rittri introduced the book’s contemporary design, he was inspired to delve deeper into the Rebbe’s messages—not just reading them daily but discovering their relevance to his own life.

This inspiration later led to a daily podcast in German on the Hayom Yom’s messages, which quickly became one of the most widely listened-to Jewish podcasts in Germany. These podcasts remain available today on Chabad.org’s German-language platform, de.chabad.org.

Mr. Rittri’s fascination with how the Rebbe conveyed precisely the right message for each person on any given day—helping readers make each day relevant to their Avodas Hashem—eventually spurred his desire to introduce the book to German speakers in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

With permission from Kehot Publication Society, Chaim Rittri, together with a team of translators and mashpi’im, worked on the book for a year and a half. In addition to the original text and the first-ever German translation, the book features a glossary, extensive explanations, source material, and biographies of the Rebbeim. Its standout design was created by the renowned German-Dutch book designer Ralf de Jong, resulting in an aesthetically pleasing and easy-to-read edition.

The book was published by Books’n Bagels in Basel, Switzerland, a publisher dedicated to bringing Chabad Chassidus to German readers.

More information about the German edition can be found at booksnbagels.com/hajomjom.