1495 —על הדפסת התניא, תיקונים בטקסט, ומהדורת תרס"ס

B"H, 7 Nissan, 5712.

Brooklyn.

Havavac"h iy"a nu"n etc. Pinchas Althaus

Shalom u'Vrachah!

3) Regarding your question about printing the Tanya: I have already written several times on various matters that what I write is by way of suggestion and explanation of my opinion; therefore, it is up to you whether to accept or reject it. However, my view is that Tanya should not be newly typeset except as a photo-reproduction of the edition reviewed by the Rebbe Rashab—namely, the Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch edition from 5660 (1900).

4) You wrote in your letter that you heard a story that the Alter Rebbe was particular about even an extra vav in his Tanya but do not know to which vav this refers. As appears from a letter of my father-in-law the Rebbe from 28 Tammuz 5692 (1932), this relates to the word "ve'ikarah ve'sharshah" (and its essence and root) at the beginning of chapter 41; he could have written "reishit ha'avodah ikarah" (the beginning of service is its essence), but instead wrote "ve'ikarah."

5) You commented in your letter that even in the Tanya printed in 5660 there is room for correction and you referenced Iggeres HaKodesh chapter 31. Indeed, in several places this edition requires correction. There exists a list of corrections from Haraha"g vavac"h iy"a nu"n from among our elder chassidim etc., Reb Asher Shub from Nikolaev. Without a vow, in the new edition of Tanya there will also be printed at the end of the book a table of corrections for it, because I did not feel comfortable making changes inside so as not to alter from that edition.

With blessings for a kosher and joyous Pesach.

Summary

The Rebbe teaches that when reprinting sacred texts like Tanya, one should preserve authoritative editions and document corrections separately rather than altering established texts directly. Respect for tradition and accuracy are paramount.