Letter No. 1 Tuesday, Portion Tetzave, “And you shall speak unto all the wisehearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom,” etc. To My Honorable Father, may he live long and happily. Concerning what we spoke about regarding the Study of Kabbalah in purity, etc., and what I …
Letter 2
Letter No. 2 Tuesday, Portion Toldot (Generations), November 23, 1954, Tel Aviv To my courageous friends … may the Creator be with you. Concerning what we spoke about while standing by the car, see in the book, Beit Shaar Hakavanot (Gatehouse of Intentions), item 70, and you will find an …
Letter 3
Letter No. 3 Vayechi Yaakov (And Jacob Lived), January 2, 1955, Tel-Aviv To my Dear and Faithful friends, I read the letter signed by … and I thoroughly enjoyed your taking upon yourself the work in love of friends. Concerning your first question, I cannot answer it in writing because …
Letter 4
Letter No. 4 February 10, 1955 To my friend … Hello and all the best, You surprise me … for it has been a while since I have received any news from you regarding your health and strength. It must be that you are lacking confidence and strength, and in …
Letter 5
Letter No. 5 February 24, 1955 To my friend, I read your letter from after Shabbat of this week, and it gives me pleasure that you need to disclose the states that pass over time from letter to letter. Certainly, the Creator will open our eyes with His law. My …
Letter 6
Letter No. 6 April 15, 1955, London To the students: I received the letter of … and it is good that he interprets its details as much as he can. As for the rest of the matters that he informed me, I hope to sort everything out soon. The Mishnah …
Letter 7
Letter No. 7 April 24, 1955 Hello and all the best to my friends who are standing guard against the clouds and shadows currently facing the nation of the Lord. After the great concealment that has descended upon our world at this time, the spark of the light of the …
Letter 8
Letter No. 8 May 26, 1955, Tel-Aviv, on the 48th day of the Omer Count, a day before Shavuot Hello and all the best to my friends, In response to your letter, I must tell you that for now, I have nothing to add in writing. Rather, as it is …
Letter 9
Letter No. 9 August 5, 1955, London To the friends, may they live forever, “‘And it shall come to pass that because,’ Mitzvot (commandments) that one tramples with one’s feet” (Yalkut [Collection]). Baal HaSulam interpreted that it means faith, which a person slights and tramples with his feet. To understand …
Letter 10
Letter No. 10 August 24, 1955 To the friends, may they live long, I am very surprised that I have not received a word from anyone. I thought I would receive the work of each and every one, meaning that each one would elaborate on his deeds, as in, “For …
Letter 11
Letter 11 September 8, 1955 To the friends, may the Lord be upon you, …and perhaps this is the meaning of what we say at the Mussaf service (additional to the regular service) of Rosh Hashanah (beginning of the Jewish year), “Happy is the man who does not forget You, …
Letter 12-1
Letter 12 (1) October 10, 1955, London To my friend, Yesterday, I received your letter intended for the people of Gateshead. In the meantime, I am passing your letter to the friends in London, and I would mainly like to get them to answer your letter so there will be …
Letter 12-2
Letter No. 12b October 1955 To the friends, may they live long, I have no news and I hope that the Creator will make my way successful. I am writing to you a summary of the talk I gave to the students of Rav Desler concerning the Sukkah (a hut …
Letter 13
Letter No. 13 October 20, 1955, London To all the students, may the Lord be upon you. I received the letter of Rabbi … and … and I will answer all the questions in general, including the questions of Rabbi... It is written in the Gemarah, “A sage stood before …
Letter 14
Letter No. 14 November 21, 1955, London To the students, may they live long, I see that you are behaving with me with eye for an eye, meaning that if I don’t reply to your letter right away, then you believe that you have already excused yourselves, and you can …
Letter 15
Letter No. 15 December 3, 1955 How could Jacob love Rachel more than Leah because she was beautiful? We know the words of our sages, “Who marries a woman for beauty?” Answer: The Torah teaches us the ways of the Creator. There are two discernments in the work: 1) Hochma, …
Letter 16
Letter No. 16 December 21, 1955 Let a driven leaf heal and let them say that I am in the delegation of their Maker, flying among flyers, The Great Tamarisk, to whom the Upper One assists, our glorified teacher, Rav... I received your letter, and may the Creator illuminate that …
Letter 17
Letter No. 17 January 18, 1956 Hello and all the best to my friend, who is tied to the shackles of my heart… A response to your letter from December 29, 1955, to which until now I had no time to reply due to being burdened with my daughter’s wedding. …
Letter 18
Letter No. 18 May 11, 1956, Manchester To the friends, may they live long: I have received the letters of… and the rest of the friends are idle in their writing, since they think that there can’t be any profits from correspondence, because they doubt that there can be any …
Letter 19
Letter 19 May 15, 1956, Manchester To my friend, I received your letter and enjoyed what you wrote regarding what is explained in the introduction to the Sulam (Ladder commentary), and I will only fill in after you. I will present the above matter as a question: It is written …
Letter 20
Letter 20 June 15, 1956, Manchester To the students, may they live long, I recently received letters from… and I will reply to all the letters in a general and abstract manner. This means that even the elder in the group will be able to receive satisfactory answers, even to …
Letter 21
Letter No. 21 July 7, 1956, Manchester To the students, may the live long, I am surprised that I am not receiving mails from you each week; I thought you would replace the legwork that was in you while I was in Israel, when you walked to study Torah, with …
Letter 22
Letter No. 22 July 7, 1956, Manchester To my friend, I read your letter where you announce that you have dark times and bright times. Know, my friend, that such is the way of Torah, as it was said, “You will lead a life of sorrow.” There are three kinds …
Letter 23
Letter No. 23 August 1956, Manchester To the friends, may they live forever, I would like to be closer to the friends with the approaching of the new year. We need to strengthen ourselves with confidence that we will be rewarded with the general redemption, that the name of the …
Letter 24
Letter 24 November 7, 1956, Manchester Hello and all the best. To my friend, In response to your letter from October 27 regarding your first question about having to stand guard and evoke the love in the hearts of the friends, which you find unbecoming, I actually see that as …
Letter 25
Letter No. 25 November 23, 1956, Manchester To the friends, may they live long, I received a few letters from… I would be very happy if I could be with you, but what can you do that time causes? However, there are Mitzvot (commandments) we can keep, which time does …
Letter 26
Letter No. 26 December 7, 1956, Manchester Hello and all the best to my friend, the dearest of men, pursuing righteousness and mercy, and crowned with virtues. This morning, I received your letter together with twenty gerah, which is a shekel. I will write you something concerning Hanukah according to …
Letter 27
Letter No. 27 December 18, 1956, Manchester To the friends, may they live forever, It has been a very long time since I received letters from you, except for… and a short letter from… We must renew our work each day, meaning forget the past. That is, if we did …
Letter 28
Letter No. 28 January 2, 1957, Manchester To my friend, I read your letter from the month of Tevet (December 1956) and I will answer in brief and in general. I have already written you that there are mitigated judgments. To understand this in the preparation to entering the Creator’s …
Letter 29
Letter No. 29 January 17, 1957, Manchester To the friends, may they live forever, Some time ago, I wrote you a letter but still received no reply if it has reached you. And except for … you are all slacking in your letters to me. This must be a matter …
Letter 30
Letter No. 30 March 28, 1957, Manchester To my friend, I received your letter from Purim and enjoyed it, since you are the only one who writes me some details about what is happening there, and I will answer your questions. Regarding where the children should learn, a seminary of …
Letter 31
Letter No. 31 1957, Manchester To the friends, may they live forever, It’s been a long time since I have written you. I have been waiting for demand to come from you. In the meantime, I will write you an article that I heard from Baal HaSulam in 1948 at …
Letter 32
Letter No. 32 April 12, 1957 To the friends, may they live forever, It has been awhile since I have received letters from you. Although I’ve known the excuses for some time, it is also clear to you that the biggest problem is that you have excuses. Let us hope …
Letter 33
Letter No. 33 April 23, 1957 To the wise Rabbi, the elder of the group, I received a letter from your grandson… where he asked several questions. And since I normally answer in general and not specifically, though I like the questions to be specific and not general, the general …
Letter 34
Letter No. 34 Eve of Rosh Hashanah [Jewish New Year’s Eve], September 14, 1957 To the friends, may they live forever. After I have come close to you in the imaginary corporeal place, let us hope for bringing the hearts closer, as for a long time now we have not …
Letter 35
Letter No. 35 Eve of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), October 4, 1957 Regarding your question, “Why we were left so alone in the war?” our sages said, “All who weep and mourn over a worthy person,” etc. (Shabbat 105b). What is the meaning of weeping and mourning? It is …
Letter 36
Letter No. 36 Eve of Sukkot, October 9, 1957, Manchester To the friends in the Holy Land, may they live forever, This week, I received two letters from… and regarding his question… I will answer privately. In general, our sages said, “Anyone who is idle with the eulogy of a …
Letter 37
Letter No. 37 October 25, 1957 ... as for separating love of friends from the work of the Creator, I do not understand it at all because it was never the custom with Baal HaSulam to connect those two together. On the contrary, it was always forbidden to speak words …
Letter 38-1
Letter No. 38 January 1958 Who Is the Self? We should explain who is the person that we say must be a servant of the Creator, and in return for which he will receive reward. After all, man consists of 248 organs and the soul of life, which sustains the …
Letter 38-2
Letter No. 38b Who is the self that we say is the servant of the Creator, and who is the recipient of the reward that was promised, where by good deeds he will be rewarded with the good future? All those things were said only about man, the apex of …
Letter 39
Letter No. 39 March 6, 1958, Manchester Hello and all the best to my friend, I received ten pounds for Purim, which is half a shekel. Ten gerah (a coin that was used in Israel in ancient times. Twenty shekels are one gerah) is a shekel, and half of it …
Letter 40
Letter No. 40 31st day of the Omer Count, May 6, 1958, Manchester To the students, may they live, I received a telegram from ... that we won. Let us hope that we will win the war on the inclination, too—that here, too, we will succeed and achieve the goal …
Letter 41
Letter No. 41 May 23, 1958, Manchester Hello and all the best to my dear friend, Today I received your letter together with 18; may you taste the flavor of the pleasantness of the brightness and sweetness of the one who lives (also written as 18) forever. We should aspire …
Letter 42
Letter No. 42 Hello and all the best to my friend, I wrote you a letter before Passover, but since the address was incorrect, the letter returned. Now, before the festival of Shavuot, which is the time of the giving of our Torah, I shall write you a few lines… …
Letter 43
Letter No. 43 December 10, 1958, Jaffa-Tel-Aviv To my friends in Gateshead, may they live long, I am sending my Hanukah greetings: May we feel the light of Hanukah in our hearts, by which our eyes will open and our hearts will rejoice. I shall write what I said concerning …
Letter 44
Letter No. 44 December 10, 1958, Tel-Aviv Hello and all the best to my dear friend, I miss hearing from you and from your family, as well as how you sustain yourself, since prior to my departure you told me you needed success … so I would like to know …
Letter 45
Letter No. 45 January 22, 1959, Tel-Aviv Hello and all the best to my dear friend, I hereby reply to the letter you sent on the 25th of November. You asked two questions regarding the primordial serpent: 1) Why was it punished, for we find nowhere that it was warned …
Letter 46
Letter No. 46 January 25, 1959, Tel-Aviv Hello and all the best to my friend, whom I love as my own soul, I am writing to you what I said yesterday, on the 24th of January. The Gemarah says about Rosh Hashanah (beginning of the year) for the trees: “What …
Letter 47
Letter No. 47 March 11, 1959, Tel-Aviv Hello and all the best to my friend, I will hereby write you the entire talk that I gave on Shabbat, portion Shekalim [March 7, 1959]. “On the first of Adar we speak of the Shekalim.” We should understand the meaning of Shekalim …
Letter 48
Letter No. 48 April 13, 1959, Tel-Aviv Hello and all the best to my friend, I read the book you wrote me about and enjoyed it because it is just as you said. Concerning the approaching Passover, it is written, “The Torah spoke in relation to four sons,” etc., “and …
Letter 49
Letter No. 49 September 14 [1959], Bnei Brak Hello and all the best to my friend, It has been a while since I received a letter from you … there is nothing new with me and let us hope that the Creator will help us with every good thing. We …
Letter 50
Letter No. 50 December 22, 1959, Bnei Brak Hello and all the best to my friend, The interpreters asked about the verse, “And Jacob was very frightened and distressed.” But the Creator had promised him in the spectacle of the ladder to keep him wherever he went, as it is …
Letter 51
Letter No. 51 March 27, 1960, Bnei Brak Hello and all the best to my friend, I hereby confirm that I received your congratulation telegram for my daughter’s wedding, along with the triple blessing. May your household always know joy, merriment, happiness, and contentment. I am writing to you what …
Letter 52
Letter No. 52 April 30, 1960 (48th day of the Omer Count), Vienna To the friends, may they live forever The festival of Shavuot—the time of the giving of our Torah—is approaching. It is known that Shavuot is regarded as Malchut in the worlds and the heart in man. It …
Letter 53
Letter No. 53 December 19, 1960 (Hanukah), Bnei Brak To my friend, I long very much to hear how things are going for you and especially your family. I have no news and we are trusting in the Creator to hear good news. I will conclude my letter with words …
Letter 54
Letter No. 54 March 18, 1961, Bnei Brak Hello and all the best to my friend, I am informing you that I received the five folios (sheets of paper) in your book and thoroughly enjoyed it. This week, I said a commentary about a question presented in The Zohar (Tazria, …
Letter 55
Letter 55 January 19, 1962, Eve of Rosh Hashanah to the Trees, Bnei Brak Hello and all the best to my friend, I thank you for the invitation to the wedding that I received. Yet, I regret not being able to participate in your joy from up close, but I …
Letter 56
Letter No. 56 June 6, 1962, Antwerp To… Because I am moving about, the letters do not reach me by order. Only last week I received the first letters from Israel. I already wrote four letters to Jerusalem, to those who wrote me, and they are… And regarding the words …
Letter 57
Letter No. 57 June 7, 1962, Eve of Shavuot, Antwerp Hello and all the best to… I have no news to write; I move about from place to place and from country to country until we return to the land of Israel. We should hope that when we return, we …
Letter 58
Letter No. 58 June 7, 1962, Eve of Shavuot, Antwerp To my friend… Concerning your question, “One transgresses only if a spirit of folly has entered him,” which means that without the spirit of folly he would not transgress, so why did the spirit of folly enter him? After all, …
Letter 59
Letter No. 59 June 8, 1962, Shavuot, Antwerp To my friend… Concerning your question about our sages’ words, “A stubborn and rebellious son was not, nor is destined to be. Rather, demand and receive reward” (Sanehdrin, p 1). The Torah is longer than the earth, so why was it given …
Letter 60
Letter No. 60 June 11, 1962, Antwerp To my friend, I received what you wrote, and in these lines you open your heart, what is missing and what is abundant. May you succeed in the new place. “Arise and go up” means that the place causes. That is, sometimes a …
Letter 61
Letter No. 61 June 11, 1962, Antwerp To my friend, I was belated replying to the letters I received from the friends since the mail I receive is not working properly because I move from place to place, so by the time the letters reach me I am already elsewhere, …
Letter 62
Letter No. 62 June 26, 1962, Antwerp Hello and all the best to my friend, I received your letter, and regarding your question concerning Lishma (for Her sake) and Lo Lishma (not for Her sake), I will give you a simple rule: Lishma means that the intention while performing a …
Letter 63
Letter No. 63 July 26, 1962, Gateshead, England To… I received your letter from the 23rd of July, as well as a letter from… from the 20th of July. And since this week I came to England, I will begin to reply to each and everyone of the letters. Regarding …
Letter 64
Letter No. 64 August 20, 1962, London To… In response to your letter from June 8, 1961, Jerusalem, I would like to make a few comments about your letter: You write that if the Torah were given in the land [of Israel], the nations of the world would say that …
Letter 65
Letter No. 65 September 5, 1962 To the friends, may they live forever. Now is the month of Elul (August/September) and it is customary that even regular people, meaning those with the view of landlords, engage in matters of Teshuva (repentance), as well. What is the difference between landlords and …
Letter 66
Letter No. 66 March 27, 1963 Hello and all the best to my dear friend, In Psachim (116b), “Begins with admonition and ends with praise.” Why admonition? Rav said, “In the beginning, our fathers were idol worshippers,” etc. And we also say in the Passover story, (Haggadah), “In the beginning …
Letter 67
Letter No. 67 September 27, 1963 (Eve of Yom Kippur) Hello and all the best to my dear friend, I received your letter and may the Creator help you and your family be always healthy and well. And for the new year, may it be a year of blessings and …
Letter 68
Letter No. 68 December 18, 1963 (eighth day of Hanukkah) Hello and all the best to my friend, I am sending you and your family congratulations. May your family know contentment, peace, and health. As your family has grown, may all the works you are engaged in grow, as well, …
Letter 69
Letter No. 69 February 17, 1964 Hello and all the best to my friend, the dearest of men, Our sages said, “It is written, ‘Do not reply to a fool according to his folly lest you will be like him.’ It is also written, ‘Reply to a fool according to …
Letter 70
Letter No. 70 November 20, 1964 To my friend, the dearest of men, How have you been … may the Creator help you in all that you wish for the best, and may you succeed wherever you go. It is written in the holy Zohar (Vayishlach, 19-20): “It is better …
Letter 71
Letter No. 71 January 22, 1965 To my friend, I do long to know how you are doing. “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel.” RASHI interpreted “to the house of Jacob” to be the women—speak to them with a soft tongue. …
Letter 72
Letter 72 April 26, 1965 Hello and all the best to my friend, I ask that you will please write me often about how you and your family are doing, about your health and provision, for I become very worried if I don’t hear from you. Raban Gamliel would say, …
Letter 73
Letter No. 73 December 14, 1965 Let me clarify a bit concerning your question, “What is decoration at the point of desire,” which you said was difficult for you to understand. To understand the meaning of decoration we must first understand to what things are referring, meaning what is perplexing …
Letter 74
Letter No. 74 February 13, 1966 Hello and all the best to my friend, whom I love as my own soul, I long to hear how things are going for you—your health, your sustenance, and how your children are doing at school. I have no special news, and I will …
Letter 75
Letter No. 75 May 24, 1966, Eve of Shavuot Hello and all the best to my friend, I long to know how things are going with your work, and especially your health. “If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments.” RASHI interprets, “Is this the keeping of the …
Letter 76
Letter No. 76 May, 1967 To my friend, I long to hear from you and from your family, in general and in particular. “If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to do them.” The holy Zohar asks, “Since he already said, ‘walk’ and ‘keep,’ why …
Letter 77
Letter No. 77 February 18, 1973, Bnei Brak To my friend, I received your letter together with 18, etc., and concerning the group, it is known that “As water face to the face,” etc., meaning that when a person feels his lowliness, it is because he feels His greatness. That …
Letter 78
Letter No. 78 Rav Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag, Son of Baal HaSulam, 4 Mintz St., Bnei Brak. With God’s help, Thus far we did not engage in building buildings and matters that concern wide publicity. This is not our way. Rather, our sole intention is to spread the teaching of …