A Guide to the Zohar

Rating:
Summary: accessible and understandable
Review: There are many books on Kabbalah and the Zohar in English floating around these days, but this one is understandable, accessible, profound and academic. Professor Green introduced Daniel Matt to Ms Pritzker, and got the ball rolling on the what probably will be a 15 year translation project for the Pritzker Edition of the Zohar. This book is a companion that has been published in time to coincide with Volume 2 of the Pritzker edition. When I opened Volume 2, and started with Parshat Lekh Lekha of the Zohar, I was lost after sentence two. Green's book is an invaluable aid. As promised on the back cover, Green unravels the historical and intellectual origins of the Zohar's rich text and provides an excellent introduction to its themes, complex symbolism, narrative structure, and language. Topics include: The Kabbalistic Tradition: A Brief History Until the Zohar; Teachings of the Kabbalists: The Ten Sefirot; The Zohar: Midrash on the Torah; The Zohar Narrative; Mysticism of the Zohar; The Zohar in Historical Context; Selected Themes within the Zohar: Creation and Origins, Between Worlds, Evil and the Demonic, Torah and Revelation, The Commandments, Avodah : The Life of Worship, The Tsaddiq and the Life of Piety, ....; The Question of Authorship; The Language of the Zohar; and the Influence and Canonization of the Zohar. Chapter 5 on the narrative is a must read for anyone who dares to open a page of the Zohar.