Zohar

[alon]

Kabbalists will tell you the Zohar (זֹהַר, litSplendor or Radiance) was revealed over 2,000 years ago. They say it’s a spiritual text that explains the secrets of the Bible, the Universe, and every aspect of life; the nature of God, souls, sin, redemption, good and evil. They fail to mention (among many things) it also attempts to explain the origins of the universe. I’ve read that account, and I think they omit this because they don’t want you looking at it before you are sucked in; it is truly one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever read! Yet it became the foundational work in Kabbalah, which is pure Jewish mysticism! They also say it was composed by Rav Shimon bar Yochai, which as we’ll see is hotly contested by many Jews, and the entire work proven to be pseudepigraphic.

Condensed from: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-zohar
I've underlined some key things to consider, but I leave it to you to contemplate their meaning.

The Zohar is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. It is a mystical commentary on Torah, written in medieval Aramaic and medieval Hebrew.

Origin

The Zohar first appeared in Spain in the thirteenth century, and was published by a Jewish writer named Moses ben Shem-Tov de Leon. He ascribed this work to a rabbi of the second century, Simeon ben Yohai. Jewish historiography holds that during a time of Roman persecution, Rabbi Simeon hid in a cave for 13 years, studying the Torah with his son Eliezar. During this time he is said to have been inspired by God to write the Zohar.

The fact that the Zohar was found by one lone individual, Moses de Leon, taken together with the circumstance that it refers to historical events of the post-Talmudical period, caused the authenticity of the work to be questioned from the outset. There is a story how after the death of Moses de Leon, a rich man of Avila offered the widow a large sum of money for the original from which her husband had made the copy; and she then confessed that her husband himself was the author of the work. She had asked him several times why he had chosen to credit his own teachings to another, and he had always answered that doctrines put into the mouth of the miracle-working Simeon ben Yohai would be a rich source of profit.

Acceptance of Authenticity

Over time, however, the general view in the Jewish community came to be one of acceptance of Moses ben Shem-Tov's claims; the Zohar was held to be an authentic book of mysticism passed down from the second century.

The Zohar spread among the Jews with remarkable celerity. Scarcely fifty years had passed before it was quoted by many Cabalists. Its authority was so well established that Joseph ibn Shem-Tov drew from it arguments in his attacks against Maimonides. It exercised so great a charm upon the Cabalists that they could not believe such a book could have been written by any mortal unless he had been inspired from above; and this being the case, it was to be placed on the same level with the Bible.

Even non-mysticism oriented Judaism began to regard it as a sacred book and to invoke its authority. They were attracted by its glorification of man, its doctrine of immortality, and its ethical principles, which are more in keeping with the spirit of Talmudical Judaism than are those taught by the philosophers. The Zohar declared [man] to be the lord of the Creation, whose immortality is solely dependent upon his morality. According to the Zohar, the moral perfection of man influences the ideal world; for although the Sefirot expect everything from the Ein Sof (Heb.infinity), the Ein Sof itself is dependent upon man: he alone can bring about the divine effusion.

Rejection of Authenticity

* if the Zohar was the work of Simeon ben Yohai, it would have been mentioned by the Talmud, as has been the case with    other works of the Talmudic period;
* the Zohar contains names of rabbis who lived at a later period than that of Simeon;
* were Simeon ben Yohai the father of the Kabbalah, knowing by divine revelation the hidden meaning of the precepts, his  decisions on Jewish law would have been adopted by the Talmud; but this has not been done;
* were the Kabbalah a revealed doctrine, there would have been no divergence of opinion among the Kabbalists concerning  the mystic interpretation of the precepts ("Bechinat ha-Dat" ed. Vienna, 1833, p. 43).

Proof the book on which Zevi based his doctrines was a forgery.
* the Zohar misquotes passages of Scripture;
* misunderstands the Talmud;
* contains some ritual observances which were ordained by later rabbinical authorities;
* mentions the crusades against the Muslims (who did not exist in the second century);
* uses the expression "esnoga", which is a Portuguese corruption of "synagogue,"
* gives a mystical explanation of the Hebrew vowel-points, not introduced until long after the Talmudic period.

That de Leon himself was the most likely author of the Zohar.
* frequent errors in Aramaic grammar,
* its suspicious traces of Spanish words and sentence patterns,
* lack of knowledge of the land of Israel.
Other Jewish scholars have also suggested the possibility that the Zohar was written by a group of people, including de Leon. This theory generally presents de Leon as having been the leader of a mystical school, whose collective effort resulted in the Zohar.

Even if de Leon wrote the text, the entire contents of the book may not be fraudulent. Parts of it may be based on older works, and it was a common practice to ascribe the authorship of a document to an ancient rabbi in order to give the document more weight. It is possible that Moshe de Leon considered himself inspired to write this text.

Kabbalah itself probably originated in the 12th cen CE. Cabalistic claims:
* Kabbalah claims divine authorship, supposedly first given to the angels before God created the world.
** Why it was given to divine messengers (angels) when there was no one to receive the message is, to my knowledge  never explained.

Kabbalah is very difficult to understand. Only Jewish men who are at least 40 and well versed in the TNK, especially Torah can study Kabbalah in most sects which follow it. 
* It is said that Kabbalah is derived from ancient Hebraic priesthood practices that has the goal of human transformation.
** Self improvement is the primary objective of Cabalists.

Kabbalah was also said to be given 3 times through 3 men:
* Adam was first, and he got it from the Archangel Raziel as he and Chavah were being expelled from the Garden.
** Because people were more interested in the world than God the truth of Kabbalah was eventually lost. 
* Abraham next received it, supposedly from Melchizedek. 
** Kabbalah was (supposedly) part of the covenant God made with Abraham. 
** After the Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt it was again lost.
* And last it was given to Moses when he went up Mount Sinai
** The 1st time he received the 10 Commandments. 
** The 2nd time he (supposedly) received the Kabbalah.

“When Torah was transmitted to Moses, myriads of celestial angels came to scorch him with flames from their Mouths, but the blessed Holy One sheltered him.” (The Zohar, www.sup.org/zohar/, p. 27).
* Why God would have to shelter Moshe from His own messengers is still a mystery to me.

The earliest Kabbalistic writing is called the Book of Formation. Tradition holds Abraham wrote the book, then placed it in a cave. It was later discovered and published as the Sepher Yetzirah. Another tradition says Rabbi Akiva, supposedly one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time wrote it.

14th century Spanish Kabbalist Moses De Leon then claimed he found the scrolls, written more than a thousand years earlier, hidden in a cave in Spain. Recent scholarship leans toward the idea that he is the one who wrote the Zohar. Contemporary Kabbalah is handed down through Isaac Luria (1534-1572), said to be the greatest Kabbalist of modern times and mathematician and geographer John Dee (1527-1608).

However as we saw from the Jewish Virtual Library itself, it is all a lie based on a pseudepigraphical work, probably manufactured by one man, Moses ben Shem-Tov de Leon. While there may be many truths presented in both the Zohar and Kabbalah, we know ha’satan typically couches his lies within a mountain of truth. This makes these texts very dangerous, as many have been sucked in and convinced of the veracity of Kabbalah, and only then given the stranger, more esoteric doctrines. Others have accepted false doctrines along with the “truths” they found in Kabbalah, bringing these back to their synagogues or churches.