Kehot was established in 1941 by the sixth Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.

[1] Prior to the establishment of Kehot, printed editions of Chabad texts were limited.

In a 1946, he wrote of his editorial work for Jewish holiday literature published in French and in English.

[3] The name Kehot (קה"ת) is a Hebrew acronym for Karnei Hod Torah (קרני הוד תורה) meaning "the rays of the Torah's glory", and the three Hebrew letters feature in the publishing house's logo.

The letters also refer to the Hebrew year, 5505 (תק"ה), in which the founder of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, was born.