Q&A: Attributing the Book of the Zohar to Rashbi
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Attributing the Book of the Zohar to Rashbi
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi,
It is customary to attribute the Book of the Zohar to Rashbi, or at least to his approach… Beyond the historical-realistic discussion of the matter, on the level of content this seems a bit difficult, since the Zohar is very stringent regarding Jewish law, whereas the Rashbi we know from the Talmud is דווקא a major lenient voice in many cases…
Answer
That is the least significant difficulty with this mistaken attribution.
It isn’t a mistaken identification but a literary technique: attributing some work to a famous ancient figure. Other books were attributed to Adam, Enoch, Abraham our forefather, and many others.