The compilation of texts known as the Zohar represents the collective wisdom of various strands of Jewish mysticism, or kabbalah, up to the 13th century. This text examines how central doctrines of classical kabbalah took shape around the Zohar.

This is the first translation with commentary of selections from The Zohar, the major text of the Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition. This work was written in 13th-century Spain by Moses de Leon, a Spanish scholar.

The Science of Kabbalah (Pticha) is the first in a series of texts that Rav Michael Laitman, Kabbalist and scientist, designed to introduce readers to the special language and terminology of the Kabbalah. Here, Rav Laitman reveals authentic Kabbalah in a manner that is both rational and mature. Readers are gradually led to an understanding of the logical design of the Universe and the life whose home it is. The Science of Kabbalah, a revolutionary work that is unmatched in its clarity, depth, and appeal to the intellect, will enable readers to approach the more technical works of Baal HaSulam (Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag), such as 'Talmud Eser Sefirot' and Zohar. Although scientists and philosophers will delight in its illumination, laymen will also enjoy the satisfying answers to the riddles of life that only authentic Kabbalah provides. Now, travel through the pages and prepare for an astonishing journey into the 'Upper Worlds'.

There are numerous books written about Jewish mysticism, kabbalah, and the Zohar (Book of Radiance). The Zohar is written in code through the use of symbolism, euphemisms, figures of speech, ancient phraseology, and the Hebrew Bible or Tenakh. Tenakh is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of Masoretic Text’s three traditional subdivisions (Torah - the Five Books of Moses, Nevi’im - Prophets, and Ketuvim - writings). Thanks to the incredible scholarship of Professor Daniel Matt from Berkeley California the codes of the Zohar have become more comprehensible to the inquisitive reader. It was because of Professor Matt’s translation, explanations, and notes on the Zohar in his first seven volumes that I was moved to write this book. ”The Zohar is firmly rooted in tradition but thrives on discovery.”

An introduction to the Zohar, the crowning work of medieval Kabbalah. Includes original translations and analysis.

National Jewish Book Awards Finalist for the Nahum N. Sarna Memorial Award for Scholarship, 2016. From its first appearance, the Zohar has been one of the most sacred, authoritative, and influential books in Jewish culture. Many scholarly works have been dedicated to its mystical content, its literary style, and the question of its authorship. This book focuses on different issues: it examines the various ways in which the Zohar has been received by its readers and the impact it has had on Jewish culture, including the fluctuations in its status and value and the various cultural practices linked to these changes. This dynamic and multi-layered history throws important new light on many aspects of Jewish cultural history over the last seven centuries. Boaz Huss has broken new ground with this study, which examines of the reception and canonization of the Zohar as well as its criticism and rejection from its inception to the present day. His underlying assumption is that the different values attributed to the Zohar are not inherent qualities of the zoharic texts, but rather represent the way it has been perceived by its readers in different cultural contexts. He therefore considers not only the attribution of different qualities to the Zohar through time but also the people who were engaged in attributing such qualities and the social and cultural functions associated with their creation, re-creation, and rejection. For each historical period from the beginning of Zohar scholarship to the present, Huss considers the social conditions that stimulated the veneration of the Zohar as well as the factors that contributed to its rejection, alongside the cultural functions and consequences of each approach. Because the multiple modes of the reception of the Zohar have had a decisive influence on the history of Jewish culture, this highly innovative and wide-ranging approach to Zohar scholarship will have important repercussions for many areas of Jewish studies.

The Zohar is a mystical commentary on the Torah that is the basis for Kabbalah. This is a difficult book to translate. Matt, who has taught Jewish mysticism at Stanford University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is working his way through the book, giving a comprehensive annotation that offers background and explanations of the text, both his own and those of other scholars.

A translation of the Kabbalah for the layperson includes a compact presentation of each primary text and features a practical analysis and vital historical information that offer insight into the various aspects of Jewish mysticism.

For thousands of years, no book has been more shrouded in mystery than the Zohar, yet no book offers us greater wisdom. The central text of Kabbalah, the Zohar is a commentary on the Bible’s narratives, laws, and genealogies and a map of the spiritual landscape. In The Essential Zohar, the eminent kabbalist Rav P. S. Berg decodes its teachings on evil, redemption, human relationships, wealth and poverty, and other fundamental concerns from a practical, contemporary perspective. The Zohar and Kabbalah have traditionally been known as the world’s most esoteric sources of spiritual knowledge, but Rav Berg has dedicated his life to making this concentrated distillation of infinite wisdom available to people of all faiths so that we may use its principles to live each day in harmony with the divine.

As the first person to translate the entire 23-volume Zohar from Aramaic into modern English, Michael Berg is uniquely qualified to convey its timeless wisdom to a wider audience. In these pages, Michael deciphers the encoded words of the ancient sages, organizing and explaining them in a way that is easily comprehensible. In Secrets of the Zohar, he presents the wisdom from this great book in both Aramaic and English, as according to Kabbalah's greatest sages: The Light of the Creator is embodied in the Zohar's very letters and words, and scanning the Zohar in the original language reveals Light. This unique compilation allows readers to draw on the Zohar's full energy, by introducing some of the Zohar's most important stories, thus empowering through an intellectual spiritual connection.