Wikipedia: "The Zohar first appeared in Spain in the 13th century, and was published by a Jewish writer named Moses de Leon. De Leon ascribed the work to Shimon bar Yochai, a rabbi of the second century CE"
Orthodox Jews generally accept that this was indeed the work of R' Shimon bar Yochai, but it seems to be a subject of controversy.
(Shimshon, I think you mentioned this in one derech hashem class.)
Nachum, great idea! You are already ahead of the game of most bloggers out there, - mostly unsuccesful bloggers. The best blogs on the internet are those that draw groups of people.
Most orthodox Jews today believe that the Zohar was actually written by the Rashbi. However, Rabbi Leon Modena, a very important Morano leader in Amsterdam and some say the rabbi of Spinoza argued for the later composition of the Zohar based on the language but he did not provide a detailed study. Rabbi Yaakov Emden in Mitpachas Sefarim argues that there are actually many errors in the Zohar. But he credits the ideas that lend to the foundation of the work to the antiguity, maybe even to the Rashbi. I think the reason why most Orthodox Jews ascribe the Zohar to the Rashbi is in response to the maskilic stance that the Zohar was entirely a product of the 13th century. Amazingly, Gershom Scholem who made the study of Kabbalah an actual discipline in scholarship tried to date the Zohar to the antiquity in the 1920's and 1930's but in his book "Major Trends of Jewish Mysticism" (1941) he presents a long discussion (p. 156-243) about the Zohar's 13th century origins.
1. Why do you think it most likely that the Orthodox Jewish stance is based on opposing the maskillim rather than mesora?
2. Scholem seems to have concluded that the Zohar is from the 13th century, but are there other historians on a similar level to Scholem who instead date the zohar to antiquity?
(On second thought, you probably want to know why Scholem revoked what he had held for decade(s) before jumping to conclusions about his stance and what we can learn from it.)
Nachum, great idea! You are already ahead of the game of most bloggers out there, - mostly unsuccesful bloggers. The best blogs on the internet are those that draw groups of people.
ReplyDeleteMost orthodox Jews today believe that the Zohar was actually written by the Rashbi. However, Rabbi Leon Modena, a very important Morano leader in Amsterdam and some say the rabbi of Spinoza argued for the later composition of the Zohar based on the language but he did not provide a detailed study. Rabbi Yaakov Emden in Mitpachas Sefarim argues that there are actually many errors in the Zohar. But he credits the ideas that lend to the foundation of the work to the antiguity, maybe even to the Rashbi. I think the reason why most Orthodox Jews ascribe the Zohar to the Rashbi is in response to the maskilic stance that the Zohar was entirely a product of the 13th century. Amazingly, Gershom Scholem who made the study of Kabbalah an actual discipline in scholarship tried to date the Zohar to the antiquity in the 1920's and 1930's but in his book "Major Trends of Jewish Mysticism" (1941) he presents a long discussion (p. 156-243) about the Zohar's 13th century origins.
Shimshon, you should make that a post, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteShimshon,
ReplyDelete1. Why do you think it most likely that the Orthodox Jewish stance is based on opposing the maskillim rather than mesora?
2. Scholem seems to have concluded that the Zohar is from the 13th century, but are there other historians on a similar level to Scholem who instead date the zohar to antiquity?
(On second thought, you probably want to know why Scholem revoked what he had held for decade(s) before jumping to conclusions about his stance and what we can learn from it.)
ReplyDelete