Tanyas Printed in Somalia and South Sudan as Global Campaign Reaches New Milestones
by CrownHeights.info
In another historic step in the Rebbe’s global initiative to print the Tanya in every corner of the world, two more countries — Somalia and South Sudan — are joining the growing list of locations where the Tanya has now been brought to print.
This week, Yanky Rubin, who has traveled extensively across Africa and beyond to bring the Rebbe’s directive to fruition, shared that he successfully completed the printing of the Tanya in Somalia and South Sudan, both countries in the Muslim region in the Horn of Africa. The mission, he said, involved moments of real risk and uncertainty, but with Hashem’s help, everything unfolded safely.
The Tanya printings in both countries held another twist, the dates the printings took place. The Tanya in Somalia was printed on Yud Kislev, and South Sudan was printed on Yud Daled Kislev. Yud Kislev is a significant day in Chabad which commemorates the release of the Mitteler Rebbe from prison in 1798. Yud Daled Kislev is the anniversary of the Rebbe and Rebbetzin’s wedding.
Rubin, who has previously led Tanya-printing efforts in a number of remote and sensitive regions — including Iraq, Kuwait, Namibia, Zambia, and Botswana — undertook this latest journey together with Mendy Lieberman, his partner on an earlier mission. Their work continues the extraordinary worldwide campaign first launched by the Rebbe in 1978, when the Rebbe instructed that the Tanya be printed in every country possible, transforming each location into a source of Chassidus and spiritual light.
Speaking about the experience, Rubin noted that while Somalia presented its challenges, local conditions ultimately allowed the printing to be completed without incident. The Tanya was produced in full on a local press, marking the first time the foundational Chassidic text has ever been printed in the region.
Each printing is done according to the Rebbe’s specifications: produced locally, in the language and script of the standard Tanya. As explained in the Rebbe’s sichos, the very act of printing the Tanya in a specific place establishes that place as a “makor” — a source from which the wellsprings of Chassidus flow outward.
With Somalia and South Sudan now added to the map, the Rebbe’s vision continues to unfold in extraordinary ways, bringing Chassidus to places where — until recently — the idea of printing a Tanya would have seemed impossible.
