Introduction to the Book of Zohar (PDF) - Kabbalah Media Archive

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I N T RO D U C T I O N T O T H E B O O K O F Z O H A R tend to believe; hence, he wishes to make things clear regarding the authorship of the book. Rabbi Moshe de Leon lived in the 11 th century. He was an outstanding Kabbalist and wrote a number of books on Kabbalah. As I wrote in my foreword, “The Book of Zohar” was lost and later rediscovered by chance (naturally it was no chance). From the scraps of the book a small number of extracts and separate sheets were compiled into what we now call “The Book of Zohar”. Rabbi Moshe de Leon inherited it from his teacher, who in turn had received it from his teacher. The book was initially found by a merchant in the 7 th century A.D. It was used for wrapping spices in the Jaffo market. The merchant, who happened to be a Jew, had evidently known a little of Kabbalah, because he discovered some very special writings on the parchment folio that contained the purchased spices. He rushed to the market place and started rummaging through the garbage and finally found all these sheets. The entire collection was afterwards passed on to one of his pupils, who left it to his, and so finally the texts reached the Rabbi Moshe de Leon in the 11 th century. The Kabbalist rewrote the book, had it beautifully bound and kept it. He knew that it was too premature to publish the book, because the people were not ready for it yet. His wife did not know about all that, so when the Rabbi had passed away, she sold the book in the hope of coping with her financial straits. Obviously it was bought by a good business man, for he had it rewritten and put on sale. The book was a success, because at that time there were no similar compositions, except for “The Book of Creation” (“Sefer Yetzira”) authored by Abraham. However, “The Book of Creation” was far too difficult to be studied, since it contains just a number of vague hints. So “The Zohar” was really like radiant light, splendor at that time. 266
I N T RO D U C T I O N T O T H E B O O K O F Z O H A R A great number of rewritten copies spread around instantly. Though it was known to be a part of the famous Rabbi de Leon’s legacy, the real Kabbalists knew it had actually been written by the Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai with the help of the Rabbi Aba in the 2 nd or the 3 rd century A.D. Baal HaSulam writes about it, because he wants to elevate the book to the level much higher than that of the Rabbi Moshe de Leon. Judging from all the other compositions penned by the Rabbi de Leon, it becomes clear he was an outstanding Kabbalist, but not of the spiritual level of “The Zohar”. Therefore he says: All those who understand what is written in the Book of the Zohar, unanimously agree that it was composed by the Godly sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. Only those who are far from this wisdom doubt this origin and tend to say that its composer is Rabbi Moshe De Leon. This book could not have been written by a man who lived 5 to 7 centuries after the great Rabbi Shimon, because, as we know, the generations have gradually descended from the highest level down to ours, when we start from zero. In general, there are no Kabbalists of that level among us. My Rabbi was the last one; the descent ended with him. We begin this ascent by ourselves. 60. Baal HaSulam tells us that during its long history “The Book of Zohar” was ascribed to many different Kabbalists. But only the person who penetrates the inner meaning of this book and understands from what high spiritual level it descended (from Arich Anpin of the world of Atzilut, i.e., it reaches the world of Infinity), can also realize that it could be written by none other than Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai. We know that Kabbalah divides all history into the following periods: first man develops as an animal, then the soul descends into him 267
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T H E L I G H T O F K A B B A L A H
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We wish to extend our gratitude to
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T O T H E R E A D E R For many cent
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PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF ZOHAR 1. The
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P R E FAC E T O T H E B O O K O F Z
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