Q&A: Zohar
Zohar
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I saw that the Rabbi argues that Kabbalah and the Zohar are basically just spiritual intuitions that may be helpful for some of us, much like Hasidism and the like, and that they contain nothing binding.
But regarding the actual writing of the Zohar, it seems that the great rabbis of Israel treated it as something that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai himself wrote (even though that still would not make it binding, yet it seems to me that if he really wrote it, one should relate to it more seriously than if one of the medieval authorities wrote it). Does the Rabbi also think that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in fact wrote the Zohar? From what I have read I concluded that he did not, but two things are difficult for me. A: as mentioned, it seems that many of the great rabbis of Israel agreed that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai composed it, even though they knew about the objections that had been raised against this. (And it seems to me that critical sense was not lacking in them.) B: if it really was not written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai but by someone else who was essentially a forger and liar, it is strange that he managed to write such things and reach such spiritual insights that the great rabbis of Israel would discuss them.
Answer
Hello Reuven.
This is an age-old question that many have already trodden over. Apparently there are things in the Zohar that come from Rabbi Shimon, but it is quite clear that he did not write or edit it. It contains sayings of Amoraim, and probably even later additions as well.
Why some of the great rabbis of Israel attributed the whole thing to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai—I have no solution. The later editor is not necessarily a forger. He may have innocently edited a book containing early sayings together with additions down to his own time. Why is that forgery? Does he write anywhere that the book is by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai? Is it his fault that people attributed it to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai?
And beyond all that, if one has confidence in some book, one can draw pearls from it regardless of the author’s intentions. Therefore, the fact that people studied it does not in itself prove very much.