THECLASSICSOFWESTERNSPIRITUALITY ALibraryoftheGreatSpiritualMasters PresidentandPublisher KevinA.Lynch,C.S.P. EDITORIALBOARD Editor-in-Chief RichardJ.Payne AssociateEditor JohnFarina EditorialConsultant EwertH.Cousins-Professor,FordhamUniversity,Bronx,N.Y. JohnE.Booty-ProfessorofChurchHistory,Episcopal DivinitySchol,Cambridge,Mass. JosephDan-ProfessorofKaballahintheDepartmentofJewish Thought,HebrewUniversity,Jerusalem, Israel. AlbertDeblaere-ProfessoroftheHistoryofSpirituality, GregorianUniversity,Rome,haly. LouisDupre-T.L.RiggsProfessorinPhilosophyof Religion,YaleUniversity,NewHaven,Conn. RozanneElderExecutiveVicePresident,Cistercian Publications,Kalamazoo,Mich. MirceaEliade-ProfessorintheDepartmentoftheHistoryof Religions,UniversityofChicago,Chicago,Ill. AnneFremantle-Teacher,EditorandWriter,NewYork,N.Y. KarlfriedFroelich-ProfessoroftheHistoryoftheEarlyand MedievalChurch,PrincetonTheologicalSeminary,Princeton,N.J. ArthurGreen-Associate Professor intheDepartment of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Phi ladelphia, Pa.StanleyS.Harakas-ProfessorofOrthodoxChristianEthics, HolyCross GreekOrthodoxSeminary,Brookline,Mass. JeanLclercq-Professor,InstituteofSpiritualityand InstituteofReligiousPsychology,'GregorianUniversity,Rome,haly. MiguelLeonPortilla-ProfessorMesoamericanCultures andLanguages,NationalUniversity ofMexico,UniversityCity, Mexico. GeorgeA.Maloney,S.}.-Director,JohnXXIII EumenicalCnter,FordhamUniversity,Bronx,N.Y. BernardMcGinn-Professor of Hi storical TheologyandHi story of Christianity,Uni versity of Chicago Di vi nity School,Chi cago,Il l .JohnMeyendorff-Professor of ChurchHi story,Fordham Uni versity, Bronx,N.Y., andProfessor of Patristics and Church History, St. \'ladi mi r's Semi nary, Tuckahoe, N. Y.SeyyedHosseinNasr-Professor of Islamics,Department of Religi on,Templ e Uni versity,Phi ladelphia, Pa. ,and Visiti ng Professor, HarvardUni versity,Cambri dge,Mass. HeikoA.Oberman-Di rector,Institute fuer Spaetmi ttelalterundReformation, Lni versitaet Tuebingen,West Germany.AlfonsoOrtiz-Professor of Anthropology,Lni versity of New Mexico,Al buquerque, -. 1ex. ;Fellow,The Center for Advanced Study,Stanford, Cal i f. ,RaimundoPanikkar-Professor,Department of Reli gi ous Studies,Uni versity of Ca li fornia at Santa Barbara, Cal i f. JaroslavPelikan-Sterl i ng Professor of Hi storyandReli gi ous Studies,YaleLni versity, ew Haven,Conn.FazlarRahman-Professor of Islamic Thought,Department of Near EasternLanguages and Ci vi l ization, University of Chicago, Chicago,I l l .AnnemarieB. Schimmel-Professor of Hi ndu 1usl i m Cul ture, Harvard Lni versity, Cambridge,1ass. SandraM.Schneiders-Assistant Professor of :ew TestamentStudi esand Spi ri tual i ty,Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley,Cal i f. HustonSmith-Thomas J .WatsonProfessor of Religi on,Adjunct Professor of Phi losophy, SyracuseCni versity, Syracuse,;. Y.JohnR.Sommerfeldt-Professor of Hi story.Lni versity of Dal las,Irvi ng, Texas.DavidSteindl-Rast-1onk of Mount Savior 1onastery, Pine City,N. Y.WilliamC.Sturtevant-GeneralEditor,Handbook of North AmericanI ndi ans,Smi thsonianInstitution,Washi ngton,D. C.DavidTracy-Professor of Theology,Vni versity of Chicago Di vi nitySchool,Chicago,Il l .VictorTurner-Wi l l i am B. KenanProfessori n Anthropology, The Center forAdvanced Study,Lni versity of \'irgi ni a, Charlottesvi l le,\'a. KallistosWare-Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford; Spal di ng Lecturer i n Eastern OrthodoxStudies,Oxford Uni versity, England.her T Bok of Enlightemt TRANSLATON AND INTRODUCTION BY DANIELCHANANMATT PREFACE BY ARHUR GREEN PAULISTPRESS NEWYORKRMSEYTORONTO CoverArt: MICHAELBOGDANOWisanative of Houston,Texas.He nowli vesnearBostonand iscompletingaJurisDoctordegreeatHarvardLawSchoolwhilecontinuingwithhis art."Myart ismotivatedby adesire to communicatewithpeople,toexpressfeeli ngs and ideasthatcannot necessarilybecapturedbyword,"hesays. Copyright1 983byDanielChananMatt Allrightsreserved.Nopart of thisbookmaybereproduced ortransmittedinanyform or byanymeans,electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,recording, or by any informationstorageandretrievalsystemwithoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher. Libraryof Congress CatalogCardNumber: 83-82 1 45 ISBN: 0-809 1 -2 387-8(paper) 0-809 1 -0320-6(cloth) PublishedbyPaulistPress 545IslandRoad,Ramsey,N.J.0746 Printedandboundinthe UnitedStatesof America CONTENTS Preface Foreword I ntroduction The Ten Sefirot How To Look at Torah Zohar on Genesis The Creation of Elohim TheHidden Light Adam's Si n Male and Female After the Flood Zohar Abram, the Soul-Breath Abram' s Descenti nto Egypt Openi ngs An Offeri ng to God The Bi ndi ng of Abraham and Isaac Jacob's Journey Joseph's Dream Seduction Above andBelow Jacob's Garment of Days Zohar onExodus The Bi rth of Moses Mosesandthe Blazing Bush Moses andHisFather-i n-Law ColorsandEnl i ghtenment Pharaoh,Israel, and God Manna andWi sdom Is There Anyone Li ke Moses? Al lof Israel Saw the Letters VII xi i iXV 35 43 47 49 5154 55 57 60 63 65 69 72 75 80 84 9197 99 1 02 1 05 1 07 1 1 11 1 31 1 7 1 1 9 CONTENTS TheOldManandtheBeautiful Maiden The Gift of Dwelling The Secret of Sabbath The GoldenCalf Zohar onLeviticus, Numbers, andDeuteronomy !rban and 0/ah,Drawing Near andAscending Guests i n the Sukkah God, Israel, and Shekhinah Threshing OuttheSecrets TheRabbisEncounter a Child Mi racles The Wedding Celebration Notes Appendix Glossary Bibliography I ndex to Zohar Passages I ndexes Vlll 1 2 11 2 71 3 21 3 3143 145 1 48 1 5 31 631 70 1 77 1 821 913 01303 307 3 1 13 1 3TOMYPARENTS, TO\'AHGITEL ANDHA-RAVE\'1YONAH HA-LE\'1, WHOHAVE NURTUREDMEWITHLOVE AND TORAH ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ihavebeenblessedwithwiseteachersandunderstandi ngavrayya. HereIthankafewwhoreadportionsofthemanuscript: Pamela Adelman, Alexander Altmann, MichaelFishbane,Arthur Green,Burt Jacobson,SteveJoseph,AnaMassie,JoMi lgrom,StephenMi tchell,Sara Shendelman, and David Wi nston. Iam gratefulto JohnFarina and Richard Payne, editors atPaulist Press, for their help and encouragement. Editor of This Volume DANIEL CHANAN MATTteaches at the Center forJudaic Studies inthe Graduate TheologicalUnion, Berkeley,Cal i forni a. He received hisPh.D.from Brandeis University and has taught at Boston Uni versityandtheUniversityof TexasatAustin.HiseditionofDavidben Yehudah he-I: Iasid's Book of Mirrorswas publ ished by ScholarsPress i n 1 982.Author of the Preface ARTHUR GREEN is astudent of Jewish mysticism andtheology.He isAssociateProfessorof ReligiousStudiesattheUni versityof Pennsylvani a. HisanthologyYourWordIsFire,co-editedwi thBarryW. Holtz, was publishedbyPaul ist Press in1 977. Tormented Master: ALife of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav appearedin1 979. Dr. Green serves onthe editori alboard of the Classics of Western Spi rituality Series. PREFACE Onewhodelvesi ntothereligiousliteratureofsomefiguresand periods cannever forget the profound l i nkthat exists between spiritualcreativityandthepoeticimagination. ThereaderofSolomonGabirolorJudahHaleviamongthemedievalHebrewpoets,l ikethe readerofJohnoftheCross,tol i mi ttheconsiderationtofel low Spaniards,wi l l perforcesee howthepoeticvehi cl e andthereligious message converge to i nfl uence andmediate one another.This i s not so obviously the case with the Zohar, the magnum opus ofSpani sh-JewishKabbalahinthelatethi rteenthcentury.Herethe thicketof symbolismisso dense, andthe Aramaicprosei n whichthe workispresentedoftensoobscure,thatthesenseof thepoetic i snot i mmediatelyapparent. TheauthoroftheZoharwas,however,possessed of atrulymagnificentl i teraryimagination,andhe createdout of the emerging kabbalistic tradition awork of masterfulpoetic scope, though doi ng so wi thout recourse to those specifi c literary canonsthat distinguished"poetry" i n his age.Worki ng with an already establ i shed systemofsymboliccorrespondences(thesefrot,aswi l l beexplained below),Moses deLeon was able to keep the conventionalizedreli gious languageinthebackground,andtosingloftilyofl i ghtsandsparks, sunandmoon,flowi ng streamsandrivers,and,mostpassionately,of the unending love between the celestialBridegroom andHisBride.Suchwasthefateofthiswork,however,thati tcametobe increasingly veneratedby generations of devoteeswhosoughtto make itspoetrytransparent,toseebeyondthei mageryi ntothe"true" religious meani ng of the text, exegeting it much as the early rabbis had theBi ble,tofindineachwordorphrasepreviouslyunseenlayersof sacredmeani ng.Askabbalisticthoughtitself developed,particularly afterthesixteenthcentury,anewandi nfi nitelymorecomplicated systemof symbols,basedonfurtherdevelopmentofzoharicthemes, supplanted the old.Now the purpose of exegesis became a rereadi ng of the Zohar i n this later spirit, seeking to find the Lurianic teachi ng, as i t was called,i nthe more venerable source.Commentariesof the Zohar becameincreasi nglyi l legibletothenoninitiate,andevenoncedeci-Xll lPREFACE pheredhadincreasi nglylittletodowiththeoriginalmeani ng ofthe Zohar text. As moderns have turned their attention once again to the study of Zohar,largelyunderthei nspirationofGershomScholemandhis Jerusalem school of kabbalistichistory,the task of exegesis has turned againto peshat,the attempt toreconstructthesymbolicmeaning ofthe Zohar's fantasy-laden means of expression.Here too, however, the goal i s to someextentone of penetratingbeyondthe surface content ofthe work, translating i tsuniquepoetic back intothe conventionalsymbolclusters of kabbalistic tradition.It isthe strengthof the workbeforeus that its edi torhas refused to follow such a generally accepted method. The work you are about to read, bothi n selection andtranslation,is an act of daring, the creation of ayoung scholar undauntedbytheconventionsofthe academy.He seeksto do nothi ng less than to recover de Leon the poet,to allow the Zohar to be read,perhaps for the firsttime si ncei t emerged from the author's mi ndi nto the written word,first as a work of poetic i magi nation, and only second,throughahighly competent seriesofnotes,as a textbook of kabbal istic symbolism.Itis characteristic oftheeditor and hisi ntent thathe chose toplace thenotesatadistancefromthetext itself,sothatthereaderbeleftthechoiceofwhen-andi ndeed whether-to consult them.Inbothreadings,thatoftranslationaloneandthatoftextas explicatedinthenotes,Matt'sBookof Enligbtenmentisonethatthe Zohar'sauthorwouldenj oy,andonethat thethoughtfulreaderwi l lfind enriching,onmore than one level. Arthur Green XIV FOREWORD Seferha-Zohar,theBookofSplendor,Radiance,Enlightenment,1has amazed and overwhelmed readers for seven centuries.TheZoharisthe majortextofKabbalah,theJewishmysticaltradition.Itisarrangedin theformofacommentaryonthe Torah,theFiveBooksofMoses.Itis amosaicofBible,midrash(seeGlossary),medieval homily,fiction,and fantasy.Itscentralthemeistheinterplayofhumananddivinerealities.ItslanguageisapeculiarbrandofAramaic thatbreakstherulesof grammarandinventswords. WhowrotetheZohar?Thequestionhasbeendebatedeversince thefirsthand-writtenbookletsweredistributedinSpainlateinthe thirteenthcentury.TheIntroductionbelowtellsthestoryofthe answer. TheZoharisimmense.Thisvolumecontainsapproximately2 percentoftheentirework.It ispresumptuoustopickandchoosefrom amysticalcorpus,butIhave tried toselect passagesthatarespiritually evocativeandthatdemonstratetheuniquenessoftheZohar'sencounterwith Torah.Ihavesuppliedthepassageswithtitles,andoccasionallyomittedmaterialwithinapassage,inwhichcasetheomissionis indicatedbyellipsispoints.AnindexattheendofthevolumeidentifiesthelocationofthepassagesintheZohar.Thetranslationattempts toconveythelyricalflavoroftheoriginalwithoutsmoothingawayits roughvibrancy. TheZoharisanesotericandcrypticwork,acommentarythat requiresacommentary.Thenotesinthesecondhalfofthevolumeare designedtoguidethereaderthroughthemazeofkabbalisticsymbolismandtoidentifyrabbinicsourcesandzoharic parallels.HereIhave reliedespeciallyonKetemPazbyShim'onLabi;Orha-f!ammah,edited byAvrahamAzulai;Ni?O?eiZoharbyRe'uvenMargaliot(printedin hiseditionoftheZohar);.Mishnatha-ZoharbyIsaiahTishby;andthe worksofGershomScholem(nishmatoeden).Isuggestthatthereader firstencountereachpassageonhisown,andthengobacktostudyit withthenotes,whichareunnumbered(exceptintheForewordand Introduction)andkeyedtoaparticularZoharselection. XV FOREWORD Theteachings of Kabbalahareprofoundandpowerful .Onewho hopes to enter andemergeinpeacemustbecareful , persevering,and receptive.Follow the wordsto what lies beyond andwithin. Open the gates of i magination.Let Zohar alethe I neffable. XVI INTRODUCTION Withthel ight createdby Godduring the sixdaysof Creation Adam could see fromone end of the worldtothe other. Godhidtheli ght away for therighteousi n thehereafter. WheredidHe hideit? In the Torah. SowhenIopenTheBookoflobar,Iseethewholeworld. -Israel son of El i 'ezer the Ba 'a/ ShemTov TheZoharhaskeptme Jewish.-Pi nhas of Koretz Hasidic rabbi 11 Sevenhundredyearsago,aSpanishJewishmysticnamedMoses de Leon began circul ating booklets to his friends and fel low kabbal ists. These booklets contai nedteachings and tales that hadnever beenseen orheard.Mosesclai medthathewasmerelythescri be,copyi ng from anancientbookofwisdom. Theoriginalhadbeencomposedinthe ci rcleofRabbiShi m'onsonof Yoai , afamousteacherof thesecond centurywhol i vedinthelandofIsraeland,accordi ngtotradi ti on,spent twelve years secludedi n a cave.After Rabbi Shi m' on' s death,so thestorygoes,thebookwashiddenawayorsecretlyhandeddown frommaster todi sciple. Onlyrecentlyhad it been sent fromIsrael to CataloniainnortheasternSpain.Thenitfel l i ntothehandsof Moses de Leonof Guadalajara. He tookit uponhi mself tospread the ancient secrets,copyi ngportionsfromtheoriginalmanuscriptandofferi ng them for sale.But historyi mpi nged.In1 2 91the Mamluks conquered the ci ty of Acre i nIsrael andmassacredmost of the Jewi sh and Chri sti an i nhabitants.One of the fewwho managed to escape was a young man named IsaacsonofSamuel. HejourneyedtoItalyandeventuallytoSpai n,arri vi ng i n Toledoi n1 305.Isaac,wholaterbecame one of the leadi ng kabbali stsofthefourteenthcentury,wasamazedatthereportshe heardaboutthenewlydi scoveredMi drashofRabbiShi m' on. The bookhadsupposedlybeenwritteninIsrael,butIsaacwas fromIsrael and had never heard of it.Accordi ng to hi s diary,Isaac sought out those whopossessedthe bookletsandwasi nformedthatthedistributorwasMosesdeLeon, whomhe locatedi nVal ladol i d.Moses assuredhimthatheownedthe originalmanuscriptcomposedbythe ancient sage, andthat hewould let Isaac see i t i f he came to Avi la, where Moses now l i ved. They parted company. Mosessetout forhishome,butontheway,inthe townof Arevalo,hebecameillanddied. WhenIsaacheard the news,hewent straight to Avi la to seei f anyone there knew the truthabout the book. Hewastoldthati mmediatelyfollowingMoses'death,thewi feof Josephde Avi l a,thetax collector of theprovince,hadofferedher son 3 INTRODUCTION inmarriage tothe daughter of Moses deLeon's widowin exchange for theancient manuscript. Moses'widow hadresponded: ThusandmoremayGoddotomei fmyhusbandever possessedsuchabook!Hewroteitentirelyfromhisown head.When I saw him writing withnothi ng in front of hi m,I saidtohi m, "Whydoyousaythatyouarecopyi ngfroma bookwhenthere isnobook?Youare writing fromyour head. Wouldn't i t be better to say so? Youwould have more honor! " He answeredme,"If I told them my secret, that Iam writing frommyownmi nd,theywouldpayno.attentiontomy words,andtheywouldpaynothingforthem.Theywould say: ' Heisinventing themoutof hisi magination. ' Butnow thattheyhearthatIamcopyingfromTheBookof Zohar composedbyRabbiShim'onsonof Yoai throughtheHoly Spi rit,they buythesewordsatahighprice, asyou see wi th your veryeyes! " Isaac was aghast when he heard thi s story. He traveled on to make further inqui ries andfound support for Moses' clai m that the book was ancient.He heard a report that Rabbi Jacob, a former student of Moses deLeon,hadswornthat"the Zohar composedbyRabbiShi m'onson of Yoai. . . "Andhere the citation from Isaac's diarybreaks of.2 Moses de Leon's name faded. The Zohar was gradually accepted as theancientwisdom of RabbiShim'onandhisci rcle.By the middle of thesixteenthcentury,i trankedwiththeBibleandtheTal mudasa sacredtext.Whilekabbali stsdel vedi ntoitsmysteries,OrientalJews chantedthestrangeAramaic,oftenunawareof thel i teralsense.But bothgroups,andcountless others,wereinspiredandupl i ftedbythe Holy Zohar.3 4 2 WhowasMosesdeLeon?Devotedscribe or devious author? As wi thmany mystics, the facts of Moses' l i fe are scarce.In one of hisbooks,he callshi mself"MosessonofShemTovfromthecityof Leon. "4 The year of his bi rthis unknown, but by1 264he was engaged inthestudyofphilosophy,forinthatyearaHebrewtranslationof Mai monides'Guideof thePerplexedwascopied"fortheerudite[hamaskil]RabbiMosesdeLeon. "5(TheGuide,completedabout1 200i n Egypt,wasagrandioseattemptatasynthesisofJewishfaithand Ari stotelianphilosophy.)Philosophy,however,wasnotMosesde Leon'sonlyundertaki ng.Hei mmersedhi mself i nrabbi ni c literature andwasalsodrawntotheteachings of Kabbalah. Kabbalahmeans"recei vi ng"andreferstothatwhichi shanded downbytradition. Formanycenturiesthewordwasusedqui te generally,butbythetimeofMosesdeLeon,thetermKabbalah denotedesotericteachings,techniquesofmeditation, andagrowi ng bodyofmysticalliterature.Akabbalisticmovementhademergedi n Provence and Cataloni atowardthe end of thetwelfthand the beginningofthethi rteenthcenturies.ThefamousrabbiNamanidesof Gerona exploredthe teachings and helped Kabbalahgainwideracceptance.ThemovementspreadwestwardtoCastile(centralSpain).Wandering southfromLeon,Moses came toknow some of thekabbalistsandwasi ntroducedto the Bahir ("Brightness"),themaintext of Proven