{"id":10170,"date":"2025-11-29T20:17:55","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T20:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.kabbalah.info\/?post_type=book&#038;p=10170"},"modified":"2025-11-29T20:17:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T20:17:55","slug":"letter-no-60","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter No. 60"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"introduction\"><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Baal HaSulam wrote this letter in response to a question that was sent to him following the publication of the essay&nbsp;<em>Matan Torah<\/em>&nbsp;[\u201cThe Giving of the Torah\u201d], where he elaborates on the commandment, \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself,\u201d being the whole of the Torah, and that it means that one should be care for one\u2019s friend\u2019s benefit no less than one cares for one\u2019s own benefit. The sender of the question did not know Baal HaSulam at all, but came across his essay. Baal HaSulam copied the question and underneath it wrote his reply. According to the manner of the writing, it seems as though he intended to publish it in future publications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-question\"><strong>The Question<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026I am not against, on the contrary, I wish the two hundred thousand people in the country would see only to their benefit\u2026 the needs, indeed\u2026 if\u2026 the essence of the Torah is only to be concerned with people and nothing more, why do all of the Torah, the authors of the Talmud, the rabbinical authorities hardly speak of it at all? Did they all abandon the main issue and dealt only with the marginal? In my view, all your words in this regard completely contradict conventional religion in Israel, and as has been the norm among us. In my opinion, this required force is a new construction, a new method that you have invented from your own mind. Of course, I am only expressing my opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Signed, M.L. Petah Tikva<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-reply\"><strong>The Reply<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It seems as though you did not delve in my words sufficiently. All I wrote was that there was a precondition from the beginning of the reception of the Torah, but afterward, since the time of the making of the calf, the package has been taken apart, since wars occurred and the children of Levi killed three thousand men by the word of the Creator, and then the grievances against Moses and Aaron, and the spies. Naturally, all those did not add love or unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Afterward, after the coming to the land [of Israel], it was still not quiet. Hence, it was irrelevant to ask anyone to uphold this prime commandment. However, in order for the Torah not to be forgotten from Israel, they began to engage in the rest of the commandments although they had abandoned its main point, since they had no other choice. Perhaps this is what our sages meant when they asked about the ruin of the Second Temple, that there was no idolatry there and they were proficient in Torah, so why was it ruined? They said it was for unfounded hatred. Perhaps this means that it was because they could not engage in the heart of the construction of the Torah, which is \u201clove your neighbor as yourself\u201d (Leviticus 19:18).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction Baal HaSulam wrote this letter in response to a question that was sent to him following the publication of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":6225,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"topic":[25],"class_list":["post-10170","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","topic-baal-hasulam"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kabbalah | Letter No. 60<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;Letter No. 60&quot; by Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) is his response clarifying that the Torah\u2019s heart is love for one\u2019s neighbor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kabbalah | Letter No. 60\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;Letter No. 60&quot; by Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) is his response clarifying that the Torah\u2019s heart is love for one\u2019s neighbor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kabbalah\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kabbalahinfo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/kabbalah-rep.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@kabbalahinfo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/\",\"name\":\"Kabbalah | Letter No. 60\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-29T20:17:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"\\\"Letter No. 60\\\" by Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) is his response clarifying that the Torah\u2019s heart is love for one\u2019s neighbor.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Books\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/book\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Letters of Baal HaSulam\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/baal-hasulam-letters\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Letter No. 60\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Kabbalah\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Kabbalah\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/app\/uploads\/2024\/12\/favicon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/app\/uploads\/2024\/12\/favicon.png\",\"width\":49,\"height\":48,\"caption\":\"Kabbalah\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kabbalahinfo\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/kabbalahinfo\",\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/@kabbalahinfo\",\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/kabbalah.info\",\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/kabbalahedu\",\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@thehiddenreality\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kabbalah | Letter No. 60","description":"\"Letter No. 60\" by Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) is his response clarifying that the Torah\u2019s heart is love for one\u2019s neighbor.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kabbalah | Letter No. 60","og_description":"\"Letter No. 60\" by Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) is his response clarifying that the Torah\u2019s heart is love for one\u2019s neighbor.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/","og_site_name":"Kabbalah","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kabbalahinfo","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/kabbalah-rep.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@kabbalahinfo","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/","name":"Kabbalah | Letter No. 60","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-11-29T20:17:55+00:00","description":"\"Letter No. 60\" by Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) is his response clarifying that the Torah\u2019s heart is love for one\u2019s neighbor.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/letter-no-60\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Books","item":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/book\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Letters of Baal HaSulam","item":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/baal-hasulam-letters\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Letter No. 60"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/","name":"Kabbalah","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#organization","name":"Kabbalah","url":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/app\/uploads\/2024\/12\/favicon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/app\/uploads\/2024\/12\/favicon.png","width":49,"height":48,"caption":"Kabbalah"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kabbalahinfo","https:\/\/x.com\/kabbalahinfo","http:\/\/youtube.com\/@kabbalahinfo","http:\/\/instagram.com\/kabbalah.info","http:\/\/pinterest.com\/kabbalahedu","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@thehiddenreality"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book\/10170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/book"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book\/6225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=10170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}