Studies in the Zohar SUNY Series in Judaica: Hermeneutics, Mysticism, and Religion Michael Fishbane, Robert Goldenberg, and Arthur Green, Editors Studies in the Zohar Yehuda Liebes Translated from the Hebrew by Arnold Schwartz, Stephanie Nakache, Penina Peli STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS Production by Ruth Fisher Marketing by Theresa A. Swierzowski Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 1993 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address the State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, NY 12246 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Liebes, Yehuda. Studies in the Zohar / Yehuda Liebes ; translated from the Hebrew by Arnold Schwartz, Stephanie Nakache, Penina Peli. p. cm. — (SUNY series in Judaica) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-1189-3. - ISBN 0-7914-1190-7 (pbk.) 1. Zohar. 2. Cabala—History. 3. Messiah—Judaism—History of doctrines—Middle Ages, 600-1500. 4. Cabala and Christianity. I. Title. II. Series BM525.A59L54 1993 296.1'6-dc20 91-36469 CIP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 31 << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index Contents Preface vii 1 The Messiah of the Zohar: On R. Simeon bar Yohai as a Messianic Figure 1 2 How the Zohar Was Written 85 3 Christian Influences on the Zohar 139 Notes 163 Bibliography 245 Sources 249 Indices 251 << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index Preface Sefer ha-Zohar, "The Book of Splendour," the fundamental book of Kabbala and a world-renowned masterpiece, has been subject to a great deal of investigation. As a student I fell in love with the Zohar on first sight, and I was sure that I would not let go of it for many years to come. But, convinced that the major problems concerning this book had already been solved, I decided, with the advice and guidance of the late Professor Gershom Scholem, to delve into details of the Zohar, the product of which was my doctoral dissertation "Sections of the Zohar's Lexicon." As I was working on this, I started to have the feeling, which grew stronger and stronger, that the hitherto completed research had missed much of the essential nature of the Zohar and failed to explain what was behind its magic. The research had concentrated on theoretical questions, neglecting other aspects, precisely those which gave Kabbala its special character.1 Therefore, I wrote the long article "The Messiah of the Zohar,"2 which deals with the figure of the hero of the book, R. Simeon b. Y)hai. In this piece I strove to demonstrate that the "literary framework" of the Zohar, previously dealt with only for proving its unhistoricity, is essential for understanding the "content" of the book and is inseparably interwoven with it. I also contend that through the figure of R. Simeon the author of the Zohar tells us a great deal about himself and his self-consciousness. A decade afterwards I advanced further in this direction and wrote the article "How the Zohar was Written,"3 in which I proved, contrary to prior scholarly opinion, that the Zohar was not written by a single person. It was, rather, the product of a whole mystical circle, not unlike the circle R. Simeon described in it. This largely accounts for the special character of the book. This text contains these two articles as well as a third, "Christian Influences on the Zohar."4 Some chapters from "The vn << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index Vlll PREFACE Messiah of the Zohar" are omitted here, namely those dealing with ancient sources for the Zohar, and a chapter dealing with the way later Kabbalists grasped the Idra parts of the Zohar and the figure of R. Simeon b. Yohai. These Kabbalists, with whom the omitted chapter deals, are R. Moses Cordovero, R. Isaac Luria (Ha-Ari), R. Moses Luzzato, and R. Nahman of Bratslav. All the articles were written, and originally published, in Hebrew. The Hebrew versions include more philological and linguistic details, which I found to be unnecessary for the non-reader of Hebrew, for whom this volume is intended. "The Messiah of the Zohar" was translated by the late Mr. Arnold Schwarz, for an intended volume of the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities. Mrs. Devora Gamelieli worked on the English version of this article. "How the Zohar Was Written" was translated by Mrs. Stephanie Nakache. "Christian Influences" was translated, in an abridged form, by Mrs. Penina Peli, and was published, in this form, elsewhere.5 For this volume this translation was completed by Mrs. Nakache. The index was prepared by Mr. Haggay Rosmarin. << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index 1 The Messiah of the Zohar: On R. Simeon bar %hai as a Messianic Figure Gershom Scholem maintains that the history of the Kabbala ought to be divided into two periods, each distinguished by a different attitude toward the idea of redemption.1 In the first period, up to the expulsion from Spain, historical and national redemption was not in the forefront of Kabbalistic concerns. "The medieval Kabbalists,,, Scholem writes, believed more in "a personal, mystical redemption which signified the individual's escape from history to a time before history" than in a messianic hope focused on the end of days.2 The Lurianic Kabbala, on the other hand, is concerned primarily with cosmic tikkun (restoration, perfection), and consequently also with national tikkun, a process that is to culminate at the end of days.3 According to Scholem, the Zohar's approach does not differ in this regard from that of the medieval Kabbalists.4 He also maintains that the Messiah in classical Kabbala—though this would not be true of Shabbateanism—has no active role to play in effecting the tikkun, but merely symbolizes by his advent the end of a process that took place before his arrival.5 Scholem's distinctions are basically correct. In this chapter, however, I wish to show that their validity must be restricted to only part of the literature of classical Kabbala. It has become apparent to me after further study that the Zohar contains two strata which must, for our purposes, be distinguished from one another: that comprising the majority of the Zoharic material, and that of the Idrot? Scholem's assertions hold for the former; I maintain, however, that the concern of the latter is primarily messianic. I shall try to prove that the messianic element within the Idrot already bears within itself the seeds of later Kabbalistic thought: we find in it an interesting and unique amalgam of mystical redemption and cosmic tikkun which signifies not the return of the world to what it once had been, but a messianic process establishing an unprecedented state. I shall also try to show that the Idra presents a messianic figure who is actively engaged in the process of the world's tikkun. While he is not the 1