Faith
The Reliability of the Zohar
Question
Hello, I wanted to know whether everything written in the Zohar is true.
1. To the best of my knowledge, the Zohar was written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. If so, why is the book not mentioned in any source until the 13th century? For example, in the books of the Rambam?
2. If the Zohar is indeed authentic, why are insulting terms such as heretic used for anyone who does not believe in it? After all, we are obligated to believe in the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. In my opinion, the Zohar does not fall into the category of the Oral Torah.
3. And if the book was truly written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, what does that mean? Why am I obligated to believe in it? Who guarantees to me that these things are true?
4. The greatest tzaddik is Moshe Rabbeinu, and he did not mention anything from the Zohar. Surely it cannot be that Rabbi Shimon knew something that Moshe did not know. Now, if we assume that the Zohar is included in the Oral Torah, why were the Mishnah and Gemara transmitted into books 2,000 years ago, while the Zohar was published only 700 years ago?
5. And if it is considered a secret Torah that was transmitted only among sages, why did it not remain that way? Who decided that it should be revealed?
Answer
To the respected questioner,
The Zohar is true, and everything written there is true.
1. It is known that the Zohar was written in the time of the Tanna Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and was immediately hidden away because its purpose was to help the later generations, as is mentioned in the book itself. The book remained in genizah for about a thousand years until it was revealed near the time of the Ramban. Therefore, the book is not mentioned in the words of the Rambam, because the Rambam lived before the time of the Zohar's revelation.
2. The definition of the Oral Torah is everything that was transmitted from rabbi to student from the time of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace upon him, who received the entire Torah, including the definitions of the mitzvot, which were explained to him but were not written in the Written Torah and are called halacha leMoshe miSinai, from Sinai, in all four parts of Torah: peshat, remez, derash, and sod. Thus the holy Zohar, which includes the teachings of the Tannaim based on the principles transmitted to us generation after generation in the kabbalah portion of Torah, is certainly considered part of the Oral Torah.
3. The answer is as stated above: one must believe the words of the Zohar, like all the other parts of the Oral Torah that were transmitted to us in faith from generation to generation.
4. This is a good question: how is it possible that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai explained matters that Moshe Rabbeinu did not mention?
The answer to this question is found in the Gemara in Menachot 29b, from which it is evident that there are matters that were not explained by Moshe Rabbeinu but were explained in later generations, to the point that, according to what is related there in the Gemara, Moshe Rabbeinu did not even understand the matters that were said in a later generation. The explanation for this, according to works of hashkafah, is that as the generations became later and the level of their understanding declined from that of earlier generations, they required more explanation. These explanations are in fact a more detailed clarification of the earlier matters, which were stated simply and broadly. However, by nature, when the explanation is extended and a deep idea is presented to a different generation, different words and different examples must be used. Therefore Moshe Rabbeinu would not have understood the explanations of Rabbi Akiva, who lived 1,400 years after him in the time of the Tannaim; nevertheless, all of Rabbi Akiva's explanations came only to clarify what had already been said to Moshe Rabbeinu originally, at Sinai, as they said there in the Gemara. So too in the realm of sod, the matter is the same: Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who was a student of Rabbi Akiva, came to explain those same principles in the sod portion of Torah that had already been transmitted to Moshe Rabbeinu at Sinai.
The answer to the question of why the Zohar was published 700 years ago is as stated above: the Zohar was written in the time of the Mishnah and remained in genizah until about 700 years ago.
5. The reason the Zohar was written down is like the reason the Rambam gave for the writing of the Mishnayot, which had also been oral until then, in the time of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi. He saw that the students were diminishing and disappearing, and troubles were being renewed and coming, and the kingdom of Rome was spreading throughout the world and growing stronger, and Israel was being driven and going to the ends of the earth; so he compiled a work to be in everyone's possession so that they would learn it quickly and it would not be forgotten (Introduction of the Rambam to Seder Zeraim, in gloss). In other words, the reason for its writing was for its preservation, because if all the Mishnayot had remained oral, then when Israel was dispersed to all ends of the earth after the destruction of the Temple, they would have been forgotten. The same reason also applies to the writing down of the principles of the sod aspect of Torah, which were written in the Zohar, so that the essential matters would not be forgotten, even though the explanation of the matters was still transmitted orally from rabbi to student.
With blessings,
Rabbi Nachum
