Q&A: Denial of the Zohar
Denial of the Zohar
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I saw in a response to my question about whether a skeptic counts toward a prayer quorum that a discussion came up regarding someone who denies the Book of the Zohar.
Seemingly, why shouldn’t we say that someone who thinks that a person who denies the Book of the Zohar is considered a denier is himself a denier? After all, all our belief in the Oral Torah is only because of what we received from generation to generation, and everyone agrees that the Book of the Zohar was not received from generation to generation as part of the Oral Torah. So if so, someone who thinks that the Book of the Zohar is part of the Oral Torah is seemingly himself guilty of denial?
Answer
This is mere pilpul. First, one can accept the Oral Torah not only by force of transmission from generation to generation; each person has his own reasons. Second, even if you trust transmission from generation to generation, does that obligate you not to believe something that did not come through that transmission? If I ask my friend what time it is and accept his answer, am I a denier because there is no tradition that this is the time?
Discussion on Answer
Yes.
Do you also hold, regarding belief in the Written Torah, that the impression that it is true or public acceptance is sufficient, and that one does not need transmission from generation to generation? As I recall, Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi bases all belief in the Written Torah—and presumably the same would apply to the Oral Torah—on that basis.
It is sufficient, except that in my opinion it is hard to arrive at that impression without the transmission. It needs to be the word of God, unlike Jewish law and the Oral Torah.
But none of this matters, because as I already explained to you before, your inference is logically unfounded. Even if things are accepted because of tradition, accepting things without tradition is not denial and does not contradict it. Tradition can be a sufficient condition but not a necessary one.
And what Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi does is really not important from my perspective.
What do you mean by “each person has his own reasons”?
Can reasons like public acceptance or the truth of the claims bypass the tradition from generation to generation?