Some FAQs: 

What is the Tanya?
The Tanya is one of Chabad’s seminal works - a guidebook written by
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the 18th century founder of Chabad Hasidism.To date over 6,000 editions of the Tanya have been published around the world.  It is a great honor and blessing to have a Tanya printed in our community, and it is a special merit to participate in the printing and to have one’s name inscribed in the actual book! 

The Tanya primarily discusses the struggle we all experience between our material physical self and our spiritual yearnings. It has been called an owner’s manual for the body and soul. The Tanya was originally written in Hebrew but has been translated into many languages including English.

What is significant about the printing date?
Tuesday, September 13th was selected for the printing of the Tanya because it corresponds to the eighteenth day of Elul on the Hebrew calendar - the birthday of the Tanya’s author, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (also known as the ‘Alter Rebbe’).

Why print a Tanya in Merrick? 
It is a tradition that began in 1978, when the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—called for the printing of Tanyas all over the world. Since then, more than 6,000 editions have been printed, with thousands of people touched by the wide-reaching and never-ending endeavor.

The Rebbe specified that at least 100 copies should be printed in every city where Jews may find themselves, and that those local Jews actually learn from the freshly imprinted pages. But it was more than just a learning campaign, he explained. For if the goal was simply that everyone should study Tanya, it would have been sufficient to simply send copies to the Jews of each city and encourage them to study. Rather, the Rebbe said the fact that the Tanya was printed in their own hometown would encourage them to study and explore the text on a much deeper level.

Additionally, the very fact that the Tanya (a foundational Chassidic text) was to be printed in so many locations would further the goal of having the wellsprings of Hassidism “flow” from every part of the earth, which the Moshiach himself had told the Baal Shem Tov in a prophetic dream would usher in the Final Redemption.

And so began the campaign to print Tanyas in every place where Jews live. Now for the first time ever, the Tanya will be printed in Merrick!
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