“An English version of Zohar, a guiding text of Jewish mysticism, offers new insights. - By David van Biema -TIME Magazine: April 19, 2004 issue

The road winds like a Talmudic discourse, first one way and then another, up toward Daniel Matt's home in Berkeley, California, hills. ‘There's a more direct route that my wife likes’, admits Matt, 53. ‘But I find this one more interesting.’

That's not surprising. Matt is embarked on a solo journey through one of most influential — and maddeningly difficult — works in history of religious literature. After six years of his labor, Stanford University Press has published first two books of his translation of Zohar, wellspring of Jewish mysticism, or Cabala. He will do nine more volumes, all rendered from Zohar's original Aramaic. The work has received ecstatic advance reviews (‘A superbly fashioned translation and a commentary that opens up Zohar to English-speaking world’, blurbed lit-crit colossus Harold Bloom), and two weeks ago it won a $10,000 Koret Jewish Book Award for ‘monumental contribution to history of Jewish thought’. Beneath praise runs an undercurrent of awe that someone was crazy enough to take on job.

The Zohar's elusiveness dates to its appearance in Spanish region of Castile around 1280. Written in Aramaic, a language Jews had not composed in for centuries, book was attributed to a great rabbi of a millennium earlier. But in fact, in 1930s scholars determined that it was penned by one Moses de Leon and his associates in 13th century.

De Leon had every reason to fake his work's pedigree: Zohar was far too radical to be accepted without a fabricated imprimatur. An utterly original 1,800-page mix of Torah commentary, parody, erotic poetry, numerology and experimental narrative devices, it crams some 400 subplots into a Chaucer-like {Chaucer is an alchemist too.} tale of a band of traveling sages. The book's form alone, says Matt, is ‘a challenge to normal workings of consciousness.’

Its theology is wilder still — nothing less than division of God's personality, which Judaism had always seen as a unity, into 10 interacting emanations, two of them female. One of these, Shekhinah, was Zohar's obsession, portal through which it pulled believers willy-nilly into divine drama. Only their prayer and good deeds could save her from hordes of demons and effect her mystic marriage to God's male aspect, a reunion described in sometimes erotic detail. ‘Without arousal below’, de Leon noted, ‘there is no arousal above.’

Remarkably, his book caught on. By 1600 Jewish world saw Zohar as its third holiest text, preceded only by Bible and Talmud. Cabalistic study and meditation flourished, and zoharic principles formed basis of Hasidic Judaism. The Zohar's use faded as Judaism absorbed just-the-facts influence of European Enlightenment, but it left behind dramatic mementos such as Bar Mitzvah coming-of-age celebration and gorgeous Friday-evening song welcoming God's "Sabbath bride". The Zohar also informs current Cabalistic resurgence, so fascinating to Jews and spiritual adventurers like Madonna. And this created new demand for an authoritative English version.

Enter Matt. By 1995 he had taught Jewish mysticism at university level, written a book comparing Cabala and scientific cosmology, and translated some Zohar excerpts. Nevertheless he was stunned when Margot Pritzker, wife of chairman of Hyatt Corp., who was studying book, offered to bankroll a full translation. ‘I told her, optimistically, that it might take 18 years’, Matt says. ‘And she said, 'You're not scaring me.'’

The result is not for everybody. From its opening, an extended discourse on image of a rose in Song of Songs ("Just as a rose has 13 petals, so Assembly of Israel has 13 qualities of compassion on every side"), first volume only plunges further into esoterica. Matt's commentary, which offers tidbits about ancient water clocks and silkworm's arrival in Spain, along with his exegesis of mystical concepts, is often twice as long as his translation. Yet there are those eager to use it. Says Samuel Cohon, a Tucson, Arizona, rabbi who has ordered 40 copies at his congregants' request: ‘I thought; 'It'll be too hard'. But there's a great desire to get at source. If this is a profound text, then let's see why.’

Matt still has slightly dazed look of an Ahab whose white whale has arrived un-hunted. He hopes to finish his task by age 70. It's not time that he will regret. ‘When I wake up, it's all I want to do’, he says. ‘I feel like I'm inside De Leon's mind now. I know tricks he's up to. And he's a genius. This is most astounding book in Judaism.’ It is a judgment his own work makes even clearer.” (7)

I am open to possibility that knowledge or tricks he finds are in Zohar and De Leon’s mind are long-standing knowledge systems which had been kept secret by likes of Tartessians of Spain and Southern France in a line of schools going back to pre-Christian eras. I have many inter-connections which have been made in other books and we have again touched a few of them in regards to Templars and Rennes-le-Chateau in this book.

WHAT WENT WRONG?

Since Light is impartial, does this justify Pharoah's position? Absolutely not.

The Zohar (3:47b) states, "The greatest revelation of G-dliness is Light that emerges from Darkness." Thus we see that not only is there value to darkness - but when we attempt to draw Light out from it, it becomes GREATEST display of G-dliness.

Reb Tzadok HaCohen adds following insight regarding darkness:

"The (Hebrew) word for darkness - choshech can be read in two different ways,(depending on whether we read interchangeable middle letter as a shin or a sin) A dot on right side will give us word choshech-darkness. A dot on left will yield word chosech-to withhold. What then is darkness but withholding of Light?"

If darkness is withholding of Light, our job in world then becomes to reveal it.

A good place to begin is within ourselves.

"Every time you find yourself at conflict with a part of yourself that is self sabotaging -the Pharoah part - remember that force of might that is behind this destructive part is really an unconscious and misdirected power, a "hardening" of G-d. When you unravel hardened heart, you will discover that intention is pure and power is G-dly, and thus, transformable." - Rabbi Avraham of Trisk (Magen Avraham)

What happens to those, such as Pharoah, who do not seek to "unravel hardened heart"?

When one does not take a personal accountability of their resistances to change, it is inevitable that plagues break out. It took 10 plagues until Pharoah, archetype of resistance, was able to surrender to inevitable change that awaited him.

This introduces us to our Second Law - Law of Accountability.

SECOND LAW - LAW OF ACCOUNTABILITY

In order to understand Metaphysics behind Law of Accountability we need to further understand what our role is in dealing with Light and Darkness.

According to Judaism's mystical tradition, when we encounter darkness, we have an option by which we are held accountable: to either push it away or to transform it. The difference is following:

"When light PUSHES AWAY darkness, eventually another darkness shall come. When darkness itself is TRANSFORMED into light, it is a Light that no darkness can ever again oppose. It is a higher grade of Light" (Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson zt"l - late Lubavitcher Rebbe).

The Pharoah of Torah text not only neglects to transform his darkness into light, or even push it away, but resists it, and thus becomes further hardened by it, as a result.

Again, this Pharoah part of ourselves is in truth a Divine part of ourselves but one that remains blocked and unevolved.

The greater resistance to Moshe (Moses) liberating force within, more we witness on ourselves strange behaviors, violent demonstrations of wrath, and crazy outbreaks of irrationality - in other words - plagues.

PHAROAH'S FATE - THE LAW OF CORRECTION

The universe shows us that our daily encounters in world will persuade us to embrace our inner contradictions, challenge us to make compromises while offering us reward of wholeness if we surrender to Reality.

Like Pharoah, when we resist what we perceive as an opposition or threat to our reality, we inevitably attract and must face conflict.

Like Pharoah, when we are unable to take appropriate actions, we inevitably become victims of Life's correction.

Like Pharoah, whatever we refuse to embrace about ourselves will ultimately deprive us of our peace.

G-d indeed hardens Pharoah's heart and indeed punishes him. But G-d is not one to blame for it. Pharoah is.

The text implies that during first five plagues, Pharoah hardened his own heart. It was not until end of plagues that text changes to "G-d hardening Pharoah's heart".

This is because although we are given free choice in this universe, it is only up to a point.

In Kabbalah we have what is called, "The Law of Vessel" or "Law of Correction" which means, universe (Vessel) has within it a self correcting mechanism. When anything reaches an extreme, Universe corrects it by brining it back into balance. When a body gets too cold, it shivers. When it gets too hot, it sweats. Likewise, according to Law of Vessel, if someone decides to do harm of their own volition, they are given free reign to do just that (which is nature of free choice), but there'll come a point where their ability to freely make their own wrongful moral and spiritual choices will be taken away from them, and both that person and their acts of evil will be undone. Therefore, as our Sages have taught, our Universe is comprised of a delicate balance, perfect in its own way, of both Mercy and Justice - Chesed and Gevurah.

In meantime, let us continue moving forward with honesty, humility and a willingness to be advocates for G-d's Light. Tomorrow still holds many seas to cross, a wilderness to wander, and a Promised Land that awaits both you and I.

Blessings, Rabbi Michael Ozair http://www.KabbalahCoach.com

Rabbi Michael Ozair is a spiritual life coach, counselor, teacher and consultant. He can be reached at coach@kabbalahcoach.com or by visiting his site at KabbalahCoach.com