90 years after the Frierdiker Rebbe and Rebbe stayed at the Central Hotel in Druskininkai, Lithuania, three Merkos Shluchim printed the town’s first Tanya in the very same building, with the participation of local Jews.
By Anash.org reporter
90 years after the Frierdiker Rebbe and Rebbe stayed at the Central Hotel in Druskininkai, Lithuania, three Merkos Shluchim printed the town’s first Tanya in the very same building, with the participation of local Jews.
The spa town of Druskininkai, Lithuania, was once a popular destination for many Gedolei Yisroel, who would travel there to recuperate. In the summer of 5692, the Frierdiker Rebbe visited the spa town, accompanied by the Rebbe. During their stay, they were hosted at the Central Hotel, a popular Jewish hotel at the time. The hotel was owned by the mother of Jacques Lipchitz, who later became a famed sculptor, and who had a unique relationship with the Rebbe. The Rebbe once noted in a letter to Jacques that he had met his mother in Druskininkai.
During WWII, once-bustling Jewish community was decimated by the Nazis, and the subsequent years of communist oppression wiped out almost any sign of Jewish life.
In recent years, the city has seen a small Jewish renaissance, under the leadership of Rabbi Sholem Ber Krinsky, Head Shliach of Lithuania. Merkos Shluchim visit the town almost every year, and the spas became a popular destination for Israeli tourists.
This past week, exactly nine decades after the visit of the Frierdiker Rebbe and Rebbe, bochurim Levi and Kalman Krinsky of Vilna, and Levi Krinsky of Needham, Massachusetts, who were in the town on Merkos Shlichus, decided to print a Tanya in the town. When choosing a location, they realized that they could print the Tanya in the very hotel where the Rebbeim had stayed!
The bochurim invited a few local Jews, and set about to print the Tanya, fulfilling the Rebbe’s directive in a location where he had personally stayed. During the event, the bochurim played the Living Torah program describing the printing of Tanya in Lebanon.
“The local Jews were very touched by the whole event, and it left a deep impression on them,” one of the bochurim told Anash.org.
“In fact, after the event, a participant asked one of the bochurim what he thought his favorite part of the event was. The bochur responded that he would guess that learning from the new Tanya was the highlight. The Yid responded that it was his first time watching a video of the Rebbe and that was his favorite part,” he said.
It’s 89, not 90.