Zohar. In its literary form the Zohar is a collection of several books or sections which include short midrashic statements, longer homilies, and discussions on many topics. The greater part of them purport to be the utterances of the tanna*Simeon b. Yoḥai and his close companions (ḥavrayya), but there are also long anonymous sections. It is not one book in the accepted sense of the term, but a complete body of literature which has been united under an inclusive title. In the printed editions the Zohar is composed of five volumes. According to the division in most editions, three of them appear under the name Sefer ha- Zohar al ha- Torah; one volume bears the title Tikkunei ha- Zohar; the fifth, titled Zohar Ḥadash, is a collection of sayings and texts found in the manuscripts of the Safed kabbalists after the printing of the Zohar and assembled by *Abraham b. Eliezer ha- Levi Berukhim. Page references in the most common editions of the Zohar and the editions of the Tikkunim are generally uniform. Online shopping from a great selection at Books Store. Excerpt Front Matter. Praise for THE ESSENTIAL ZOHAR 'In elegant prose, Ray Berg takes a. See a random page in this book. The Book of Zohar (The Book of Radiance) is an ageless source of wisdom and the basis for all Kabbalistic literature. Since its appearance nearly 2,000 years ago, it has been the primary, and often only, source used by Kabbalists. For centuries, Kabbalah was. Zohar Book. 957 likes · 2 talking about this. The full version of the Zohar is Just Click Away from your Mobile. The Zohar eBook application includes the entire book of Zohar (Kabbalah literature) with special features. The Zohar app available for Apple iPhone, iPad. The Zohar cannot be understood and felt directly, but requires preconception of spirituality, before one approaches the book. The greatest Kabbalist of our time-Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)-wrote introductions to The Zohar precisely to guide one’s approach. References here to the Zohar Ḥadash (ZḤ) are to the Jerusalem edition of 1. Some of the sections of the book exist separately in manuscript. The sections which make up the Zohar in its wider sense are essentially the following: (1) The main part of the Zohar, arranged according to the weekly portions of the Torah, up to and including the portion Pinḥas. From Deuteronomy there are only Va- Etḥannan, a little on Va- Yelekh, and Ha'azinu. Basically it is a kabbalistic Midrash on the Torah, mixed with short statements, long expositions, and narratives concerning Simeon b. Yoḥai and his companions. Some of it consists also of common legends. The Book Of Zohar In English PdfThe number of verses interpreted in each portion is relatively small. Often the exposition digresses to other subjects quite divorced from the actual text of the portion, and some of the interpretations are quite skillfully constructed. The expositions are preceded by petiḥot ("introductions") which are usually based on verses from the Prophets and the Hagiographa, especially Psalms, and which end with a transition to the subject matter of the portion. Many stories act as a framework for the homilies of the companions, e. The language is Aramaic, as it is for most of the other sections of the work (unless otherwise stated). Before the portion Bereshit there is a hakdamah ("preface"), which would appear to be a typical collection of writings and not a preface as such, unless perhaps it was intended to introduce the reader to the spiritual climate of the book. Many expositions are found in various manuscripts in different places and sometimes there is some doubt as to which particular portion they really belong. There are also discourses which recur in different contexts in two or three places. Aaron Zelig b. Moses in Ammudei Sheva (Cracow, 1. Zohar. A few expositions in the printed editions break off in the middle, and their continuation is printed solely in the Zohar Ḥadash. In the later editions, beginning with that of Amsterdam, 1. Zohar to the Song of Songs (printed in ZḤ, fols. Sifra di- Ẓeni'uta ("Book of Concealment"), a kind of fragmented commentary on the portion Bereshit, in short obscure sentences, like an anonymous Mishnah, in five chapters, printed at the end of portion Terumah (2: 1. In several manuscripts and in the Cremona edition (1. Bereshit.(4) Idra Rabba ("The Greater Assembly"), a description of the gathering of Simeon b. Yoḥai and his companions, in which the most profound mysteries are expounded concerning the revelation of the Divine in the form of *Adam Kadmon ("Primordial Man"). It is of a superior literary construction and the most systematic discourse found in the Zohar. Each of the companions says his piece and Simeon b. Yoḥai completes their pronouncements. At the end of this solemn assembly three of the ten participants meet with an ecstatic death. Among the early kabbalists it was called Idra de- Naso and it is printed in the portion Naso (3: 1. It is, in a way, a kind of Talmud to the Mishnah of the Sifra di- Ẓeni'uta.(5) Idra Zuta ("The Lesser Assembly"), a description of the death of Simeon b. Yoḥai and his closing words to his followers before his death, a kind of kabbalistic parallel to the death of Moses. It contains a companion discourse to that in the Idra Rabba, with many additions. Among the early kabbalists it was called Idra de- Ha'azinu. This portion concludes the Zohar (3: 2. Idra de- Vei Mashkena, a study session conducted by Simeon b. Yoḥai with some of his students concerning the exposition of certain verses in the section dealing with the tabernacle. Most of it deals with the mysteries of the prayers. It is found at the beginning of Terumah (2: 1. The note in later editions that the section 2: 1. Idra de- Vei Mashkena is a mistake. This part is mentioned at the beginning of the Idra Rabba.(7) Heikhalot, two descriptions of the seven palaces in the celestial garden of Eden in which the souls take their delight when prayer ascends and also after their departure from the world. One version is short and is inserted in the portion Bereshit (1: 3. The other version is extremely long, because it expands on the mysteries of prayer and angelology. It is found at the end of the portion Pekudei (2: 2. Books Create a Personal Study Plan ZOHAR PROJECT Mission Latest News Distribution Map Volunteer Donate donate WHAT IS THE ZOHAR? Revealed more than 2000 years ago, the Zohar is a spiritual text that explains the secrets of the Bible, the Universe. The Book Of Zohar In EnglishAt the end of the longer version there is an additional section on the "seven palaces of uncleanness," which is a description of the abodes of hell (2: 2. In kabbalistic literature it is called the Heikhalot de- R. Simeon b. Yoḥai.(8) Raza de- Razin ("The Secret of Secrets"), an anonymous piece on physiognomy and chiromancy, based on Exodus 1. Yitro (2: 7. 0a–7. Its continuation is to be found in the hashmatot and in Zohar Ḥadash (5. A second section on the same subject, cast in a different form, was inserted in a parallel column in the back of the Zohar (2: 7. Sava de- Mishpatim ("Discourse of the Old Man"), an account of the companions' encounter with R. Yeiva, an old man and a great kabbalist, who disguises himself in the beggarly appearance of a donkey driver, and who delivers himself of an extensive and beautifully constructed discourse on the theory of the soul, based on a mystical interpretation of the laws of slavery in the Torah. It is inserted as part of the body of the Zohar on the portion Mishpatim (2: 9. Yanuka ("The Child"), the story of a wonder child, the son of the old man, Rav Hamnuna, who teaches the companions profound interpretations of the Grace after Meals and other matters, when they happen to be lodging in his mother's house. Stories concerning other children like this are found in other parts of the Zohar. In some manuscripts this story constitutes the section of the Zohar on the portion Devarim. In the printed edition it is found in the portion Balak (3: 1. Rav Metivta ("Head of the Academy"), an account of a visionary journey undertaken by Simeon b. Yoḥai and his pupils to the garden of Eden, and a long exposition by one of the heads of the celestial academy on the world to come and the mysteries of the soul. It is printed as part of the portion Shelaḥ Lekha (3: 1. The beginning is missing, as are certain parts from the middle and the end.(1.
Kav ha- Middah ("The Standard of Measure"), an explanation of the details of the mysteries of emanation in an interpretation of the Shema, in the form of a discourse by Simeon b. Yoḥai to his son, printed in Zohar Ḥadash (5. Sitrei Otiyyot ("Secrets of the Letters"), a discourse by Simeon b. Yoḥai on the letters of the Divine Names and the mysteries of emanation, printed in Zohar Ḥadash (1b–1. An interpretation of the vision of the chariot in Ezekiel, chapter 1, printed without a title in Zohar Ḥadash (3. Matnitin and Tosefta, numerous short pieces, written in a high- flown and obscure style, serving as a kind of Mishnah to the Talmud of the Zohar itself. The connection between these pieces and the expositions in the portions of the Zohar is clear at times trod and at others tenuous. Most of the pieces appear as utterances of a heavenly voice which is heard by the companions, and which urges them to open their hearts to an understanding of the mysteries. Many of them contain a summary of the idea of emanation and other major principles of Zohar teaching, couched in an enigmatic style. These pieces are scattered all over the Zohar. According to Abraham *Galante in his Zohorei Ḥammah (Venice, 1. Zohar saw an exposition which belonged to an argument in a particular exposition from the mishnayot and tosafot he put it between those pieces in order to give the exposition added force from the Tosefta and the Mishnah."(1. Sitrei Torah ("Secrets of the Torah"), certain pieces on verses from the Book of Genesis, which were printed in separate columns, parallel to the main text of the Zohar, in the portions No'aḥ, Lekh Lekha, Va- Yera, and Va- Yeẓe, and in Zohar Ḥadash in the portions Toledot and Va- Yeshev. There are several pieces titled Sitrei Torah in the printed editions – e. Sitrei Torah to the portion Aḥarei Mot in Zohar Ḥadash – but it is doubtful whether they really do belong to the Sitrei Torah. Similarly, there are manuscripts which designate the systematic interpretation of creation in 1: 1. Sitrei Torah to this section. However, its character is different from the other examples of Sitrei Torah, which contain mainly allegorical explanations of verses on the mysteries of the soul, whereas this piece explains the theory of emanation (in an anonymous discourse) in the style of the main part of the Zohar and the Matnitin.(1. Midrash ha- Ne'lam ("Concealed Midrash") on the Torah. This exists for the sections Bereshit, No'aḥ, Lekh Lekha in Zohar Ḥadash; for Va- Yera, Ḥayyei Sarah, and Toledot in the main body of the Zohar, in parallel columns; and for Va- Yeẓe in Zohar Ḥadash. The beginning of the section Va- Yeḥi in the printed editions, 1: 2. Midrash ha- Ne'lam to this portion, but there is some reason to believe, with several kabbalists, that these pages are a later addition.
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