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Sepher ha-Zohar (The Book of Splendor), the central work in the literature of the Kabbalah. Also known as the Mekhilta de-R. Simeon b. Yohai in Sefer ha-Gevul of R. David b. Judah he-Hasid; the Midrash de-R. Simeon b. Yohai, in several books dating from the period of the pupils of R. Solomon b. Abraham Adret, in the Livnat ha-Sappir of R. Joseph Angelino, the homilies of R. Joshua ibn Shu'ayb, and the books of R. Meir ibn Gabbai; Midrash ha-Zohar, according to R. Isaac b. Joseph ibn Munir; Midrash Yehi Or in the Menorat ha-Ma'or of R. Israel al-Nakawa, apparently because he had a manuscript of the Zohar which began with a commentary on the verse "Let there be light" (Gen. 1:3). Several statements from the Zohar were quoted in the first generation after its appearance, under the general title of Yerushalmi, in the writings of, for example, R. Isaac b. Sahula, R. Moses de Leon, and R. David b. Judah he-Hasid, and in the responsa of Rav Hai in the collection Sha'arei Teshuvah.
In its literary form the Zohar is a collection of several books or sections which include short midrashic statements, longer homilies, and discussions on many topics. The greater part of them purport to be the utterances of the tanna R. Simeon b. Yohai and his close companions (havrayya), but there are also long anonymous sections. It is not one book in the accepted sense of the term, but a complete body of literature which has been united under an inclusive title. |
