Zohar: Annotated & Explained

by Daniel C. Matt (Translator), Andrew Harvey (Foreword by)

Overview

The best-selling author of The Essential Kabbalah now
offers readers the best introduction to the Zohar.

The splendor and enigmatic appeal of the Zohar, the major text of the Jewish mystical tradition, has never intrigued readers of all faiths more than it does today. But how can we truly understand it?

Daniel C. Matt brings together in one place the most important teachings from the Zohar, the cornerstone of Kabbalah—described as a mixture of theology, mystical psychology, anthropology, myth, and poetry—alongside facing-page stories, notes, and historical background that illuminate and explain the text. Ideal for the first-time reader with no prior knowledge of Jewish mysticism.

Guides readers step-by-step through the texts that make up the Zohar—midrash, mystical fantasy, commentary, and Hebrew scripture—and explains the inner meanings of this sacred text, recognized by kabbalists as the most important work of mystical teaching, in a way that is both spiritually enlightening and intellectually fascinating.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594733581
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	06/01/2002
Series:	SkyLight Illuminations
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Daniel C. Matt is a leading authority on the Zohar and Kabbalah. He is the author of the best-selling The Essential Kabbalah (HarperSanFrancisco, translated into seven languages); Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment (Paulist Press); God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony Between Science and Spirituality; and Zohar: Annotated and Explained (Jewish Lights). He is also the author of the annotated translation The Zohar: Pritzker Edition (Stanford University Press). He has so far completed six volumes of this immense project, which has been hailed as "a monumental contribution to the history of Jewish thought." Formerly professor of Jewish spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Daniel C. Matt now resides in Berkeley.
Daniel C. Matt is available to speak on the following topics:

• Shekhinah: The Feminine Half of God
• Raising the Sparks: Finding God in the Material World
• The Mystical Meaning of Torah
• The Zohar: Masterpiece of Kabbalah
• God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony between Science and Spirituality

Click here to contact the author.

Andrew Harvey is the author of many critically acclaimed books, including Son of Man. His memoir A Journey in Ladakh was praised as "one of the best books available on the Western experience of Tibetan spiritual life." His just-published memoir Sun at Midnight was praised by Deepak Chopra, who said, "for those who have gone through the dark night of the soul and for those seeking a genuine understanding of spirituality, this is a very inspiring story." Harvey is also the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Born in India, he was the youngest person ever awarded a fellowship to All Souls College, Oxford. He has devoted the past thirty years of his life to study and experiencing the world's spiritual traditions and is widely recognized as one of our greatest communicators of mysticism and contemplative living today.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix
Preface xix
Introduction to the Zohar xxi
About the Translation and Annotation xxxi
Notes to the Introduction to the Zohar xxxiii

1. The Essence of Torah 3
2. How to Look at Torah 5
3. The Creation of God 11
4. The Hidden Light 15
5. Adam's Sin 19
6. Male and Female 21
7. Openings 25
8. The Binding of Abraham and Isaac 31
9. Joseph's Dream 37
10. Jacob's Garment of Days 45
11. All of Israel Saw the Letters 55
12. The Old Man and the Ravishing Maiden 59
13. The Gift of Dwelling 73
14. The Secret of Sabbath 83
15. The Aroma of Infinity 87
16. God, Israel, and Shekhinah 91
17. The Wedding Celebration 111

Notes 126
Glossary 130
Suggested Readings 133
Index of Zohar Passages 135
About SkyLight Paths 136