Israel's combination yeshiva and army preparation program known as hesder unveiled 30 new classes in the Tanya, the landmark work of Chabad Chasidic thought penned by the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, of righteous memory, in the late 18th century.

In addition, Torat Chabad Libnei Hayeshivot, which is sponsoring the classes, began publishing a new magazine of Chasidic teachings. Its first issue was dedicated to the Tanya.

"The classes will help the students who are unfamiliar with the concepts," says Rabbi Yehoshuah Schapiro, dean of the hesder yeshiva in Ramat Gan . The Tanya "is the most wonderful book for every single Jew."

Hesder's embrace of Chasidic thought dates back to Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazic chief rabbi in British Mandate Palestine and a great influence on the movement. He wrote that "great and exalted is the learning of Chabad teachings."