The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, Volume One

Book Overview

The first two volumes of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, translated with commentary by Daniel C. Matt, cover more than half of the Zohar's commentary on the Book of Genesis (through Genesis 32:3). This is the first translation ever made from a critical Aramaic text of the Zohar, which has been established by Professor Matt based on a wide range of original manuscripts. The extensive commentary, appearing at the bottom of each page, clarifies the kabbalistic symbolism and terminology, and cites sources and parallels from biblical, rabbinic, and kabbalistic texts. The translator's introduction is accompanied by a second introduction written by Arthur Green, discussing the origin and significance of the Zohar.

For ancillary materials, including the Aramaic text, please visit SUP's Zohar Home Page www.sup.org/zohar/.

Further information on the Zohar:

Sefer ha-Zohar, "The Book of Radiance," has amazed and overwhelmed readers ever since it emerged mysteriously in medieval Spain toward the end of the thirteenth century. Written in a unique Aramaic, this masterpiece of Kabbalah exceeds the dimensions of a normal book; it is virtually a body of literature, comprising over twenty discrete sections. The bulk of the Zohar consists of a running commentary on the Torah, from Genesis through Deuteronomy. This translation begins and focuses here in what are projected to be ten volumes. Two subsequent volumes will cover other, shorter sections.

The Zohar's commentary is composed in the form of a mystical novel. The hero is Rabbi Shim'on son of Yohai, a saintly disciple of Rabbi Akiva who lived in the second century in the land of Israel. In the Zohar, Rabbi Shim'on and his companions wander through the hills of Galilee, discovering and sharing secrets of Torah.

On one level, biblical figures such as Abraham and Sarah are the main characters, and the mystical companions interpret their words, actions, and personalities. On a deeper level, the text of the Bible is simply the starting point, a springboard for the imagination. For example, when God commands Abraham, Lekh lekha, Go forth... to the land that I will show you (Genesis 12:1), Rabbi El'azar ignores idiomatic usage and insists on reading the words more literally than they were intended, hyperliterally: Lekh lekha, Go to yourself Search deep within to discover your true self.

At times, the companions themselves become the main characters, and we read about their dramatic mystical sessions with Rabbi Shim'on or their adventures on the road, for example, an encounter with a cantankerous old donkey driver who turns out to be a master of wisdom in disguise.

Ultimately, the plot of the Zohar focuses on the ten sefirot, the various stages of God's inner life, aspects of divine personality, both feminine and masculine. By penetrating the literal surface of the Torah, the mystical commentators transform the biblical narrative into a biography of God. The entire Torah is read as one continuous divine name, expressing divine being. Even a seemingly insignificant verse can reveal the inner dynamics of the sefirot--how God feels, responds and acts, how She and He (the divine feminine and masculine) relate intimately with each other and with the world.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804747474
• ISBN13: 9780804747479
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Length: 584 Pages
• Weight: 2.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 7.4" x 10.4"

Customer Reviews

It is Safe to make the case: A Landmark, Scholarly, Authoritative, EnglishTranslation by a world-cl

The first of three volumes of a projected 12-volume comprehensively annotated English translation by noted world-class scholar Daniel C. Matt and the Stanford University Press. The first cloth volume is 536 pages and covers just the first 16 chapters of Genesis. Matt based in Berkley and Jerusalem has unearthed many of the major surviving manuscripts of the original language. The extensive commentary, appearing at the bottom of each page, clarifies the Kabbalistic symbolism and terminology, and cites sources and parallels from biblical, rabbinic, and Kabbalistic texts. The translator's introduction is accompanied by a second introduction written by Arthur Green, discussing the origin and significance of the Zohar. This work has justifiably won the Koret Jewish Book Award for Philosophy and Thought, 2003-2004 for both The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, Volumes I and II. The Zohar ('Splendor, radiance') is accepted as the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism and is one of the greatest hidden works of Judaism and Western culture. Revered next to the Torah and Talmud, the Zohar is not one book, but a span of awesome, esoteric literature, a Midrash, homily on the Torah written in the form of a mystical novel. In it a group of rabbis (the "Hevrah") wander through the hills of Galilee, discovering and sharing secrets of Torah,(the five books of Moses) whose linguistic character is medieval Aramaic and medieval Hebrew. A dazzling mystical dialectic of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, sin, redemption, good and evil, suffering and related topics The Zohar assumes four kinds of Biblical exegesis: Peshat ("simple/literal meaning"), Remez ("hint/allusion"), Derash ("interpretative/anagogical), and Sod ("secret/mystic"). The initial letters of these letters (P, R, D, S) form together the word PaRDeS ("Paradise/orchard"), which became the designation for the fourfold meaning of which the mystical sense is the highest part. The mystic allegory in the Zohar is based on the principle that all visible things, including natural phenomena, have both an exoteric, visible(Niglah) reality and an esoteric, hidden (Nistar) reality, the latter of which instructs Man in that which is invisible. This principle is the necessary the fundamental doctrine of the Zohar. According to that doctrine, as the universe is a gradation of emanations, it follows that the human mind may recognize in each effect the supreme mark, and thus ascend to the cause of all causes. The Ein Sof, the Endless one. The Zohar first appeared in Spain in the 13th century, by a Jewish writer named Moses de Leon. De Leon himself ascribed the Zohar to a rabbi of the second century Tannah, Shimon bar Yochai. The Talmud records Rabbi Shimon's true and rash words caused him to hide in a cave for 13 years studying the Torah with his son, Elazar. During this time he was inspired by Elijah the Prophet to write the Zohar. Scarcely fifty years had pas

Worth the time and expense (vol I and vol II)

Though Daniel Matt did not include an interlinear text or page-facing translation and commentary text in this translation, it is most worthy of being in any scholars library. Now I am not a Jew, but I can tell the hens from the roosters, and this translation and commentary is most extensive,.. it opens for those who are studying Jewish Mysticism 'from the outside' a jewel box of profound magnitude. In my mind if you seek G-d and wish to understand those that have gone before and may provide keys to that most vast mindset and who can expound the wonders of the Torah text and insights that require deeper seeking than face value reading, by all means start gathering these volumes! The Aramaic text is downloadable in PDF from the Stanford University (provided in the text notes). There are always detractors who criticize and scowl that 'the secrets are being given to the unworthy'... but we are talking the ways of G-d here, and He has his own ways of bringing those that seek higher learning into His fold... if you have that calling... gather these books to you, they will not disappoint. Dr. Matt has done his best work to date in these volumes.

At last, the translation the Zohar deserves!

Professor Matt has given the Sefer ha-Zohar the translation students have longed for for generations. It is scholarly but literarily skillful. Most importantly, Matt's version is not overly interpretive. He knows how to put interpretive notes in the footnotes, not in the translation itself -- there are over 2400 footnotes in volume one! This allows the text to retain more of its original character and meaning. Some "translations" are so thick with the interpreter's beliefs that they are nearly useless.It's also important to note that this is the first translation of the Zohar based on a modern critical text. That means the Aramaic original used to translate from has been carefully compared and emended from old manuscript copies. While this Aramaic text is not reproduced in the book, it is available for free from the publisher, Stanford University Press. I printed it out, put it in a binder and shelve it next to the translation. The best of both worlds.This tremendous work of scholarship will certainly be the standard translation of the Zohar for our generation.

Best Zohar translation out there!

I've also got the Soncino edition as well as the Kabbalah Centre translation of Zohar and I must say this one is certainly the best. Daniel Matt provides an excellent set of footnotes which elucidate why he made the translation decisions he did for particular words and phrases in addition to giving a lot of background material from other Jewish texts. The Zohar is a particularly difficult text to translate due to the idiosyncratic nature of the pseudo-Aramaic it is written in in addition to the very abstract nature of the material covered. Having alternate readings of various passages available at one's fingertips is indispensible for those of us not qualified to read the text in its original language. While reading other translations, especially the Kabbalah Centre one, it was pretty obvious that the text's meaning was oversimplified and there was no way to avoid the translator's personal biases short of going back to the Aramaic text. The Soncino edition is similarly limited because it is only a translation of a small portion of the text. The only drawback to this particular edition is that the Aramaic text is not included, so one cannot simply look up the original phrases without resorting to an outside resource. Nevertheless, I strongly recommend this book for academics, mystics, or anyone who cares deeply about the meaning the author(s) of the Zohar were trying to convey. I'm looking forward to purchasing the additional volumes as they are released!