Front Matter (PDF) - Stanford University Press

seem to be rather arbitrarily placed in one Torah portion or another. 3
to the three volumes is Zohar Ḥadash (New Zohar), a collection of
addition
that were omitted from the earliest printed Zohar editions but were
materials
culled from manuscript sources. Here we ®nd addenda to the Torah portions
later
but also partial commentaries on Ruth, Lamentations, and the Songof
Another work usually considered part of the Zohar literature is Tiqqunei
Songs.
a kabbalistic commentary on the openingverse of Genesis that expli-
Zohar,
it in seventy ways. This workÐalongwith the Ra'aya Meheimna or
cates
Shepherd'' passages published within the Zohar itself, mostly taking
``Faithful
form of a commentary on the commandmentsÐis seen by modern scholars
the
to be the work of a slightly later kabbalist, one who wrote perhaps in the
of the fourteenth century and saw himself as continuingthe
openingdecades
tradition.
Zohar
stated, the main body of the Zohar takes the form of midrash: a collection
As
of homiletical explications of the biblical text. The Zohar enters fully into
midrashic genre, even though that form of writing was considered antiquated
the
in the time and place where the Zohar was composed. Its authors were
learned in aggadah and used it ingeniously, often convincingly portrayingthemselves
especially
as ancient midrashic masters. But the anachronism of their
was intentional. The Zohar is an attempt to re-create a form of discourse
style
would have seemed appropriate to a work originating with its chief speak-
that
Rabbi Shim'on son of Yoḥai and those of his circle, who lived in the land
ers,
Israel eleven hundred years earlier. In fact, this medieval midrash is based
of
a thorough knowledge of the entire earlier Jewish tradition, including
on
philosophical, and esoteric works. Its purpose, as will quickly become
rabbinic,
to the reader, goes far beyond that of the ancient midrashic model. The
clear
seeks nothingless than to place the kabbalistic tradition, as it had
Zohar
over the precedingcenturies, into the mouths of these much-revered
developed
of antiquity and to use them as its mouthpiece for showing the reader
sages
the entire Torah is alive with kabbalistic secrets and veiled references to
that
``mystery of faith'' as the kabbalists taught it. In this sense, the Zohar may
the
seen as an attempt to create a new midrash or, as one scholar has put it, a
be
of the midrashic art in the Middle Ages.
renaissance
old midrashic homilies were often preceded by a series of ``Openings,''
The
proems in which the homilist would demonstrate his skill, pick-
introductory
way through a series of biblical associations eventually leadingup to
inghis
subject at hand. The Zohar too uses such ``Openings,'' but with a very dif-
the
purpose in mind. Here the preacher wants to ``open'' the scriptural verse
ferent
remove its outer shell, and ®nd its secret meaning. In this way, the verse
itself,
For a discussion of how these special sections of the Zohar have been handled in
3.
translation, see the Translator's Introduction.
this
Introduction
An
lvii
itself may serve as an openingor a gateway into the ``upper'' world for the one