Hard by wind-swept fields and budding maples, inside a tidy house of worship, a small group of faithful gathered in Central Jersey Friday to carry on a heralded Jewish tradition.
They printed the “Tanya,” a late-1700s, northern European Jewish guide for how to live a good and deserving life.
“It is a book telling you how to stay on the middle path,” said Rabbi Eliezer Zaklikovsky of the Chabad Jewish Center of Monroe, where the joyous, toast-capped ritual took place.
The rabbi said the “Tanya” encompasses Hasidic thinking from the late 1700s. It roughly translates from Hebrew to “collection of thoughts or statements.”
It specifically reveals what’s known as Lubavitch Hasidic theology for everyday life. And a watchword of the faithful has been to move from town to town, printing the work in each community, be it here in Monroe, or as Zaklikovsky said, on the moon years ago by a NASA astronaut.
Printings are planned in other New Jersey municipalities, said the rabbi.
On Friday, the group hauled a bulky copying machine off a truck and wrestled it into the center. Then, after some tinkering, they jump-started the machine and began churning out the exalted missives.
“Today, with the press of a button, you can print something in your living room,” said the rabbi before he lifted a toast to the assembled.
He said this making of 150 copies of the 530-page book marks the 5,532nd edition of the “Tanya” since the 1770s. Friday marked the day of copying the pages. Binding will come later, Zaklikovsky said.
On hand was Democratic state Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, whose 14th District includes Monroe. She recalled her school days in an orthodox, all-girls’ Hebrew school.
She said she learned of the Lubavitch Jews, whose approach to worship was less solemn and more joyous with song and congeniality.
“It turned prayer into an ecstatic experience,” said the rabbi.
“I thought why not? That sounds good to me,” recalled Greenstein with a laugh.
With only a half-dozen people in the group, the rabbi read from the pages, in Hebrew first, followed by English for the lone non-Hebrew-speaker in the room.
“Be righteous. Don’t be wicked…Always consider in your mind you can always do more…People are always worse than you…These explain you should always be down the middle,” said Zaklikovsky, drawing much mirth from his listeners.
The leadership of this form of Judaism is in Brooklyn, with some 200,000 followers globally. Lubavitch scholars pursue their work at the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, Morris County.
The “Tanya,” being a handbook for daily life, is often published in pocket size, Zaklikovsky said, making it easy to keep at hand. He added that he chose Friday because it marked the 108th birthday of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, or leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn of New York.
mazal tov leizer,from strength to strength