The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, Volume Four [Hardcover]

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, lyrical 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 theZoharconsists of a running commentary on the Torah, from Genesis through Deuteronomy.

This fourth volume ofThe Zohar: Pritzker Editioncovers the first half of Exodus. Here we find mystical explorations of Pharaoh's enslavement of the Israelites, the birth of Moses, the deliverance from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the Revelation at Mount Sinai. Throughout, theZoharprobes the biblical text and seeks deeper meaningfor example, the nature of evil and its relation to the divine realm, the romance of Moses andShekhinah, and the inner meaning of the Ten Commandments. In the context of the miraculous splitting of the Red Sea, Rabbi Shim'on reveals the mysterious Name of 72, a complex divine name consisting of 216 letters (72 triads), formed out of three verses in Exodus 14.

These mystical interpretations are interwoven with tales of the Companionsrabbis wandering through the hills of Galilee, sharing their insights, coming upon wisdom in the most astonishing ways from a colorful cast of characters they meet on the road.

Daniel C. Matt is giving us what I hardly thought possible: a superbly fashioned translation and commentary that opens up theZoharto the English-speaking world The lucidity and overwhelming relevance of Matt'sZoharwill provide both common and uncommon readers with access to a work capable of changing the consciousness of those who enter it. Daniel C. Matt is a leading authority on Jewish mysticism. For over twenty years, he served as Professor of Jewish Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Cal³.