Reflecting on Judaism

The following discussion on the Zohar is based upon the traditional belief, recent research and logistic probability.
 
Traditional belief.
 
The introduction to the Zohar published by the Soncino Press states ‘The Zohar purports to be a record of discourse carried on between Rabbi Simion Bar Yohai, who lived in the second century of the Common Era, and certain contemporary mystical exegetes. There is a story in the Talmud that Simion and his son, in order to escape the fury of the Roman persecution, hid themselves in a cave for 13 years, during which time they gave themselves up to those mystical speculations of God, Torah and the universe which compose the Zohar. Simion came thus to be regarded as the author of the Zohar.’ Its contents have been variously explained as deriving from ‘mystical visions’, ‘hidden wisdom’, ‘Elijah the Prophet’, ‘secret lore’ and similar.
 
There is no doubt that the Zohar is widely revered, has influenced rabbis, is studied by tens of thousand of Jews many of whom, including rabbis, refer to it as the ‘Holy Zohar’. It devotes a good deal of attention to the coming of the Messiah and is studied intensively by its devotees who consider it to be Judaism’s third most holy book after the Tenach and the Talmud. 
 
Recent research.
 
The Soncino’s introduction continues ‘ Scholarship and research has forced us to dismiss this supposition (that Simion wrote the Zohar) as nothing more than legend. Even the most superficial perusal of any section of the Zohar will convince the reader of the absurdity of this view of its high antiquity. The merest tyro in Rabbinic literature will find in the Zohar a great many Rabbinical and mystical comments and observations which belong, without question, to  periods later than that in which Simion Bar Yohai lived.’ This view is shared by many leading Rabbis and research Scholars including Rabbi Jacob Emden of the 18th Century, Graetz, the famous 19th Century historian and Bible Scholar and Professor Gershom Sholem, the acknowledged leading authority on Kabbalah (Jewish Mysticism) of the 20th Century.
 
A more elaborate version, more acceptable to modern Scholars attributes the Zohar to a 13th Century Kabbalistic writer, Moses de Leon of Granada in Spain who was certainly the first to make the Zohar known to the general public.   They allege that Moses de Leon published the Zohar as the work of Simion Bar Yohai, professing to have transcribed the copies which he issued from an ancient manuscript which had come into his possession. His story was, at the time, dismissed by both mystics no less than by mystics' opponents and even Moses’ widow confessed that her husband possessed no such manuscript and that he wrote the work himself. When asked why he did not publish in his own name, she replied that using the name of Simion would prove more lucrative.  It is interesting to note that the popularity of the Zohar took off only after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain when their spirits were low and when they needed comforting. The Zohar proved to be very comforting indeed.
 
Logistical Probability.  
 
My copy of the Zohar comprises 5 volumes each containing over four hundred pages; over 2000 pages in all. Should the Zohar be manuscript one might estimate that at least 3/4000 sheets of size A4 parchment or Papyrus would be required (or several scrolls of an equivalent dimensios) to enable Simion to write it. Now where would he, who at the time was a fugitive from the Roman Authorities, and hiding in caves for thirteen years, have been able to acquire, and subsequently store, so much expensive and voluminous parchment/papyrus and ink? His ‘Writings’ disappeared, they say, and then reappeared, we are asked to believe, complete and undamaged, some 1200 years later in Spain in the possession of Moses de Leon. Are we really expected to believe and accept this story as authentic?
 
Does it matter whether the Zohar is the authentic writings of Simion or just a pseudographic hoax? Many scholars were appalled at the use of the work by followers of Shabbetai Zevi and others to subvert Judaism. Some believe that Laws and Customs based on the Zohar found their way into standard Codes whilst others believe that it is a foreign shoot implanted into Judaism to encourage involvement with the supernatural, superstition and the irrational in religion, all concepts contrary to the plain teachings of the Torah. By all accounts the Zohar is a remarkable and imaginative book worthy of a place in the history of Jewish writings. However, for those who passionately believe that only Judaism contains the absolute truth, as emphasised in the current discussion on the Chief Rabbi’s Sack’s new book ‘The Dignity of Difference’, how can they accept and believe in the concepts described in the Zohar, whoever is the author? 
October 2002