December 13, 2022 | 19 Kislev, 5783
In celebration of the 19th of Kislev, known as "the New Year of Chasidut," we are thrilled to announce the latest additions to the Sefaria library: four classic chasidic works by the first and third rebbes of the Chabad movement.
Now you can use our website and apps to study, teach, and share:
The Tanya, the foundational philosophical text of the Chabad movement, in Hebrew and English. Written by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (also known as the Alter Rebbe or Ba'al HaTanya), this work is so significant that Jews around the world study it daily on an annual cycle that begins today. To enhance your learning experience, we've linked this text to other works in the library when cited and added links to all uncited references to Tanakh, with Zohar interconnections coming soon. You'll find extensive footnotes from the Kehot Publication Society's English edition (currently web only), as well as new optional nikkud (vowels) in the Hebrew version. Plus, we've carefully formatted the text into short segments for comfortable reading on any device.
Torah Ohr, a 19th-century compilation of the Alter Rebbe's sermons on Genesis, Exodus, and Esther, and Likkutei Torah, comprising sermons on Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy — both in Hebrew and interlinked with Tanakh, Talmud, and other core texts. Significantly, we have included content from both works that has never before been available in a digital text-based format. If you've previously flipped to the back of either book to look up references to other texts, now you can simply click on a passage to reveal its source.
Derekh Mitzvotekha, a 19th-century Hebrew work by the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (also known the Tzemach Tzedek), that interprets Jewish commandments according to kabbalistic and chasidic teachings.
Sefaria's mission is to make Jewish texts accessible to all, and with this release Kehot Publication Society's English translation of Tanya is now freely available with a CC-BY-NC license. We're grateful to our friends at Kehot for all they do to publish and share Torah. We also extend a special thank you to Yitz Applbaum, who sponsored Sefaria’s acquisition of the Tanya in English in honor of his dear friends and Chabad guiding lights Rabbi Itchel Krasnjansky and Rabbi Eitan Webb.
We hope you enjoy exploring these textual gems of Chasidut and look forward to continuing to grow the library for you.
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