Quotes:Zohar

H. P. Blavatsky

Zohar. Or Sohar. A compendium of Kabbalistic Theosophy, which shares with the Sepher Yetzirah the reputation of being the oldest extant treatise on the Hebrew esoteric religious doctrines. Tradition assigns its authorship to Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai, AD. 80, but modern criticism is inclined to believe that a very large portion of the volume is no older than 1280, when it was certainly edited and published by Rabbi Moses de Leon, of Guadalaxara in Spain. The reader should consult the references to these two names. In Lucifer (Vol. I., p. 141) will be found also notes on this subject : further discussion will be attainable in the works of Zunz, Graetz, Jost, Steinschneider, Frankel and Ginsburg. The work of Franck (in French) upon the Kabalah may be referred to with advantage. The truth seems to lie in a middle path, viz., that while Moses de Leon was the first to produce the volume as a whole, yet a large part of some of its constituent tracts consists of traditional dogmas and illustrations, which have come down from the time of Simeon ben Jochai and the Second Temple. There are portions of the doctrines of the Zohar which bear the impress of Chaldee thought and civilization, to which the Jewish race had been exposed in the Babylonish captivity. Yet on the other hand, to condemn the theory that it is ancient in its entirety, it is noticed that the Crusades are mentioned; that a quotation is made from a hymn by Ibn Gebirol, A,D. 1050; that the asserted author, Simeon ben Jochai, is spoken of as more eminent than Moses; that it mentions the vowel‐points, which did not come into use until Rabbi Mocha (AD. 570) introduced them to fix the pronunciation of words as a help to his pupils, and lastly, that it mentions ‐a comet which can be proved by the evidence of the context to have appeared in 1264. There is no English translation of the Zohar as a whole, nor even a Latin one. The Hebrew editions obtainable are those of Mantua, 1558; Cremona, 1560; and Lublin, 1623. The work of Knorr von Rosenroth called Kabbala Denudata includes several of the treatises of the Zohar, but not all of them, both in Hebrew and Latin. MacGregor Mathers has published an English translation of three of these treatises, the Book of Concealed Mystery, the Greater and the Lesser Holy Assembly, and his work includes an original introduction to the subject. The principal tracts included in the Zohar are : — “ The Hidden Midrash”, “The Mysteries of the Pentateuch”, “The Mansions and Abodes of Paradise and Gaihinnom”, “The Faithful Shepherd”, “The Secret of Secrets”, “Discourse of the Aged in Mishpatim” (punishment of souls), “The Januka or Discourse of the Young Man”, and “The Tosephta and Mathanithan”, which are additional essays on Emanation and the Sephiroth, in addition to the three important treatises mentioned above. In this storehouse may be found the origin of all the later developments of Kabbalistic teaching. [w.w.w.]

Source: H. P. Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary, art. Zohar

Zirkoff, Boris

*Zohar, or Midrash ha-Zohar and Sepher ha-Zohar. See Vol. VII, p. 402, for complete data about Hebrew text and translations.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 1, p. 538

*Zohar or Book of Splendor. See Vol. VII, pp. 269-72, for comprehensive information on the subject.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 3, p. 539

Zohar or Midrash ha-Zohar and Sepher ha-Zohar. Hebrew text first printed in Mantua, Italy, 1558-60, in 3 vols., 4to. Preparations for this were made as early as 1556. The original stimulus for the printing seems to have come from Moses Bassola, of Pesaro, whose father was proof-reader at the press of Sonsino. At his solicitation, his disciple, Emmanuel of Benevento, undertook to publish the Zohar, by bearing the expense and assisting at the press. Its publication was further favored by Rabbi Isaac ben Emmanuel de Lattes, of Rome, who wrote an Introduction for it, and by the Cardinal Archbishop of Mantua, who issued a statement on its behalf.—Other editions are those of Cremona (1558, fol.), Lublin (1623), Amsterdam (1714 and 1806), Livorno, 1791, Vilna, (1911).—*C. Knorr von Rosenroth, Kabbala denudata. Latin and Hebrew. Vol. I, Sulzbach, 1677-78; Vol. II, Frankfurt; J. D. Zunneri, 1684. Combines both Mantua and Cremona versions, together with other insertions.—*C. Liddell MacGregor Mathers, The Kabbalah Unveiled. From the Latin of Knorr von Rosenroth. London: George Redway, 1887. 8vo. viii, 359 pp. Includes: Siphra di-Zeni’uta, Idra Rabbah, and Idra Zula.—Jean de Pauly, Le Livre de la Splendeur. Doctrine ésotérique des Isréalites. Traduit pour la première fois sur le texte chaldaïque et accompagné de notes par J. de P. 6 vols. Paris, 1906-11.—Portions transi, into French by Éliphas Lévi, as Le Livre des Splendeurs Paris, 1894.—The standard English translation (partial only) is the one of Harry Sperling, Maurice Simon and Paul Levertoff. Five Vols. London and Bournemouth: Soncino Press, 1949. Vide p. 269 of the present volume for further data.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 7, p. 402

*Zohar. Succinct information concerning it may be found in Vol. VII, pp. 269–71, of the present Series.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 9, p. 461

*Zohar. See comprehensive information in Vol. VII, pp. 269-71, 402. Consult also the detailed Bibliography on the Zohar and Commentaries thereon in Dr. Gerhard Scholem, Bibliographia Kabbalistica. Leipzig: W. Drugulin, 1927, pp. 166 et seq.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 11, p. 596