Weeks before Israel’s historic recognition of Somaliland, two Chabad emissaries from Miami traveled to the Horn of Africa to print the 200-year-old Hasidic text Tanya. Their mission—undertaken despite security risks and local resistance—adds a surprising spiritual footnote to a major geopolitical shift
MIAMI — Weeks before Israel’s unexpected diplomatic breakthrough with Somaliland, two members of the Chabad-Lubavitch community in South Florida quietly entered the self-governing Horn of Africa territory on a mission that had nothing to do with politics.
They came to print a book.
Attorney Mandy Lieberman and businessman Yanki Rubin, both from Miami, arrived in Somaliland not as investors, not as part of an official delegation, and not as tourists. Their purpose was to publish a local edition of Tanya, the 18th-century Hasidic philosophical work written by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad.
For the two men, the trip was part of a broader project: printing the Tanya in every country on Earth, including places historically hostile to Jewish texts. “There are about 195 countries in the world,” they told the Chabad community newspaper Kfar Chabad. “There are apparently no more than 15 where the Tanya has not yet been printed. We chose Iraq, Kuwait, now Somaliland, and South Sudan because very few people in the world have the courage, like us, to travel to these dangerous countries to fulfill this commandment.”
A Book With a Global Mandate
The Tanya, more than 200 years old, serves as a foundational guide to Chabad thought, blending theology and psychology in a discussion of inner struggle, free will, emotional discipline, and spiritual purpose. The late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, urged followers to print the work in as many locations as possible, believing that its physical presence in a particular place provided a spiritual “point of light.”
That directive has led Chabad adherents to publish the Tanya in countries as varied as Iran and Lebanon—copies of the latter, printed during the 1982 Lebanon War, sit in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. In recent years, the book has also found a broader audience in Israel among secular study circles and cultural groups.
A Difficult Print Job
Somaliland presented its own obstacles. Rubin recalled that local printing houses reacted with immediate suspicion when they saw the book’s Hebrew text. “When you want to print Tanya books in another country, especially in a place like Somalia or Somaliland, it is not welcomed,” he said. “At first they see that it is a different language. They don’t even realize it is Hebrew. It is simply very dangerous for them to print anything not in their language or aligned with their fundamental beliefs.”
According to Rubin, nearly every print shop refused to take the job. Only after “a lot of pressure, investigations, additional payment, and of course the Rebbe’s blessing,” he said, did one printer reluctantly agree.
The stay in Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital, was equally fraught. The two men described being conspicuous as Western visitors in a city with few foreigners. Locals frequently asked whether they were from Minnesota, a reference to a then-prominent U.S. fraud case involving Somali immigrants. “Eventually we just said yes, we were from Minnesota,” Lieberman said.
Travel outside the capital proved difficult because of limited infrastructure and security concerns. The pair said they hoped to visit a site rumored to have traces of ancient Jewish presence, but poor roads and time constraints forced them to abandon the plan.
A Surprise Recognition
When they returned to the United States, Lieberman and Rubin did not anticipate that Somaliland would soon make international headlines. “Our guide mentioned there was hope Israel and the United States would recognize Somaliland,” Rubin said. “But we didn’t attach any importance to it. To be honest, it was the first time we’d heard such a thing.”
Israel formally recognized Somaliland weeks later, becoming the first country in the world to extend diplomatic acknowledgment to the territory, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but remains unrecognized by the international community.
Risks That Remain
Even after the printing was completed, concerns persisted. “Somaliland is not a country you want to mess with,” Rubin said. “Not only us as foreigners, but also the residents themselves—the ones who printed for us—were afraid. The punishment for anything connected to Judaism, especially publishing something like the Tanya, can be particularly severe.”
Still, the Miami Chabad followers said their interaction with the printing team was positive. “They were very friendly once they agreed,” Rubin said. “But that’s the printers. I’m not sure that would have been true of any officials. Maybe now that Israel has recognized their independence, they will be more pro-Jewish.”
Their Somaliland edition of the Tanya is now complete—an unlikely accomplishment in a territory still navigating its political identity. And for Lieberman and Rubin, the mission continues. Only a handful of countries remain.
About Tanya
The Tanya is the foundational work of Chabad Hasidism, written in 1796 by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. Often called the “Bible of Hasidism,” it serves as a practical manual for Jewish spirituality, psychology, and theology.
Core Concepts
- The Two Souls: The Tanya posits that every person possesses two distinct souls:
- Animal Soul: Focused on self-preservation and physical desires.
- Godly Soul: A “piece of God” that yearns for spiritual connection and transcendence.
- The “Beinoni” (Intermediate): Unlike typical ethical works that focus on becoming a Tzaddik(perfectly righteous person), the Tanya focuses on the Beinoni—the person who struggles with internal conflict but never allows their negative impulses to manifest in action, speech, or thought.
- Mind over Heart: A central theme is that the intellect has the innate power to govern the emotions, allowing an individual to choose their behavior even when their feelings are resistant.
