A big compliment for the teacher: I'm not Jewish, nor do I have a Jewish heritage, without context I'd be lost in this conversation, so I appreciate that you explain everything in such a way that even a gentile like myself can follow along. There's nothing worse than when an instruction manual says "rotate the bolt nine radians semiclockwise, applying no more than three watts per newton of force" and having no idea what a bolt is.
I read the Zohar is a great text concerning the Alchemical Marriage - The union of Divine Feminine (subconscious, intuition, right hemisphere) and Divine Masculine (conscious, the will, left hemisphere). Until each individual learns to 'knows thyself', bondage and misery will reign at the collective level.
This is the most fascinating video on the Kabbalah I have seen yet. The Zohar truly opens you up to an entirely new perception of the Jewish tradition. Your efforts are appreciated and hope to see more on the Zohar in the future. Usually, I would say this was too long but this was too damn short! Amazing work, thank you.
Blessings on your videos, I grew up with books such as Torah, Bible, Quran, Gita and Sacred Buddhist texts, this is what it’s meant by the idea of chosen people, it’s not by ethnicity it’s by actions and you are chosen to spread the light. You will revive the essence of Judaism. Ty 🌟
I’m a Buddhist these days and pretty deep into the dharma. It if I was properly introduced to the Kabbalah when I practiced Orthodox Judaism I’d prolly still be into Judaism. Crazy how things play out. Loved the talk!
The funny thing is I am Jew who used to be a Christian. If I had been properly introduced to liberal Jewish mysticism I might still be a Christian. But I think Hashem calls some of us to leave our home, the way he called Abraham. So that we can travel to a new land and bring new ideas, to help spread His Truth, which can be found in all of the most holy faiths, founded by true righteous teachers.
Most of the popular Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's Kabbalah writings were made for just your situation, he saw this unfortunate hole in modern day Judaism, he spoke about it specifically and tried to counter it. I am thankful for coming across a small book called The Thirteen Petalled Rose when I was a teenager that describes the nature of reality from a Jewish mystical perspective that forever ensured that I would remain on the Jewish path, but regardless, blessing to you on your path wherever it leads you :)
Curiously, @brandon637, I've studied several of the Nikayas and practice meditation from the Theravada school. I'm currently reading Daniel Matt's translation of The Zohar, and I'm seeing many parallels between Buddha's writings/descriptions on/of deep meditation/mystical experience & the mystical imagery/ descriptions in The Zohar. I'm also noticing correlations in some of their reflections on the psyche.
A really moving and awe-inspiring distillation of a breathtaking glimpse into the Zohar, Zevi!! We are so lucky to be in this moment of discovering. Edifying and so thought-provoking! It's more than I can even try to encapsulate in a comment. It's all encompassing filled with compassion and a spiritual paradigm shifting! Your delivery is just the right tone, and tempo! A moving epic arc!
I don’t label myself as anything. To stay open to all there is to learn. This is beautiful and true. Thank you for the beautiful delivery. From your heart to ours.
06:15 What we’re going to cover 06:59 Historical Context 08:51 Who wrote the Zohar? 13:00 Literary Structure of the Zohar 14:30 Core Ideas of the Zohar: 15:02 God: En Sof, Sefirot and a Divine Romance 26:50 The Human, the Fulcrum of the Cosmos 33:31 Torah, a Secret Code 41:12 The World, Illusions of Duality 43:50 The Meta-Story, From Exile to Redemption 48:58 Post Class Conversation, Knowing thru Love, Writing our own Zohar Subscribe to more quality Kabbalah and Mysticism content, for free: ua-cam.com/users/seekersofunity facebook: facebook.com/seekersofunity instagram: instagram.com/seekersofunity podcast: anchor.fm/seekersofunity website: www.seekersofunity.com
I was born in the Soviet Union where religion, esp ✡ was pretty much "illegal" and as a child I was horrified by the images and practices...no context, no kindness, anxiety etc. on top of that, my Jewish identity came from the surrounding antisemitism ( i.e. getting my nose broken in 1st grade for being something I never understood to begin with). Long story short (no pun intended) I've been struggling with G-dfaith and Judaism my entire life. My 3 religious trips to Israel further cemented my cynicism. I never stopped believing but never stopped challenging those beliefs either. Last week..I start exploring THIS and it's music to my ears.. I can't get enough. Thank you so much and G-d bless. P.S. years ago I purchased a book on the Zohar and found the language to be beautiful but before I got a chance to really dive in, my Rabbi borrowed it and never returned it. It wasn't long until I stopped caring, although I never forgot how fascinating thus book was to me. (My appreciation for Alex Grey's art and the music of Tool kept me intrigued with Kaballah ...little did I know that there is so much more that meets the (3rd) eye.)
Thank you Xander for sharing your story. It’s sad to hear all that you’ve gone through, glad though that you’ve found this work here to resonate with you. Feel free to check out the rest of channel and welcome to Seekers. With love, Zevi
By the way, what's your opinion on the art of Alex Grey and (some) of the music of Tool? Specifically the song Lateralus which is beyond lyirics.. ua-cam.com/video/Y7JG63IuaWs/v-deo.html. (The lyrics are in the comment section and are important.) Enjoy.
42:25 Here’s a modern analogy. The drama playing out on the TV screen is continuously sustained by the signal coming from the source and disappears the moment it is switched off.
Upon Dr. Sledge's suggestion that we view Speakers of Unity, I started with your conversation with Israel Knohl (which was quite interesting and informative and moving a-although I had a few questions) and then this moving introduction to the Zohar. Thank you so much. It was a generous, coherent, organized and passionate evocation of the Book and this fantastic, systematic and creative cosmology.. Thank you for alluding at the conclusion to a possibility (actually, it seemed to be your deep conviction) that the Zohar's immense wisdom and power may have effect even for those of us outside Judaism. I look forward to viewing the other lectures of SOU.
"I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your love" "I will bow down towards Your holy temple" "in the fear of You" -Zohar Admitted neophyte, here. Thank you for sharing. Seeking knowledge, understanding and getting closer to God's love, perfection...one best be careful witch teacher they hear or read, these days(Garbage in/Garbage out). Blessed to have found your video and even got a new tattoo idea! Blessings, in return to you, sir!
Through 2015, no one was able to confirm on line if the Zohar was a "book" or several books. I am glad that it has become more transparent since then ..
Please receive my most sincere compliments for having explained in a concrete, yet profound way, such a monumental and complex work as the Zohar. I am member of a Conservative community in Mexico. It makes me sad that a good number of members of my community mock about the Zohar in particular, and about Kabalah in general. It's a real shame. It would be great if within your videos you could recommend bibliography for those of us interested in learning more about the subject discussed. Warm regards.
I have never read the Zohar but it speaks to me of my experience and of what we all believe. We all are created in a place of extremes. Humanity is the feminine energy that has free choice. We are free to love God. Who is God? He is the masculine and He only loves. Humanity becomes the man when she chooses to love humanity unconditionally. Our image is in a reflection. First we love God and then we become His image. Then we love the other. Who is the other? Well, the other is the image. I am a Gentile who has always loved the perfect Jew. Who is the perfect Jew. Well, He is in the other. I see my love in my opposite so I see Him in you. I am in love with the Jew! We all are. We are here to experience being in love. When we become love our Son will be born 🙏💫🌟👌That means we all just know!! Messiah is here!
Water for my soul to hear about the outer and the inner; the above and below; the masculine and feminine; the inner mystery of the Torah, cloaked in It’s garment! Thank you!
Interesting, the only way i first found out about the Zohar was due to an amazing game called Xenosaga. It touches on a lot of Jewish/ Christian religion and the Zohar is a major importance in the series. Much appreciated for the information!
When the Baal HaSulam was asked about the author of the Zohar, he said that if wasn’t Shimon Bar Yochai, he was a person on the same caliber as the Rashbi.
… This was absolutely lovely and educational and quite moving… I just ordered the Pritzker edition of the Holy Zohar❤… I am a Mexican American with the last name Leyva… And it is said we are of the tribe of Levi…. This was a wonderful video.
IMHO. I believe, the masculine and feminine reunion is about combining the two aspects of each human back into one again. When we are born, we are one. We are blissful. We don't judge. As we grow in our various environments, we become separate selves. One part says to love all, be peace, help others, be kind. The other part becomes our other half and we may live with conflicting idea's such as, he's fat, she's stupid, those are brainless people, I hate them for.... or etc. We are no longer one. We have become two. We need to combine ourselves. Our Adam and Eve. Our male and female. (Sorry for the reference here, it's where I came from) Jesus says to "Enter the Kingdom of Heaven within, be like a small child". He's saying the same thing, simply nesting it in different cultural hues. Hearing you talk about this gives me goosebumps.
Higher, lower? Physical, spiritual? Conscious, sub-conscious? Is this reference to any or all of the following? In the cosmos? In the world? In the human? Are they regional variations of, "as below, so above?" These are such fun verbal puzzles. If you receive the world, the Tao will never leave you and you will be like a little child. Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching. There are many more similar references across the ages and from different cultures.
@@SeekersofUnity I haven't found anything on that book that interprets a story. Why is it so hard to find an actual story attached to the zohar? Just what is the world trying to hide? I've found bits and pieces on Raziel giving the book of Metatron to Aadam and Eve on separate websites through out the last decade but I can't find a single cover to cover story on the zohar. I appreciate the suggestion but is there something a bit more specific to the start to finish story aspect? Even the author Etian didn't seem to elaborate any form of a start to finish story.
I read the Zohar years ago and deeply enjoyed it. Recently when researching part of my family tree that I didn't know much about, I discovered that I'm descended from Moshe Ben Shem Tov, the main writer of the Zohar.
How fascinating that I come to this learning at a time of immense pain, both for Jews and from Jews, and can so clearly see that it is only from ignorant interpretations of religion, and not a fuller focus on it, leads us to these horrible conflicts in the world. Thank you.
I feel the truth in your expounding of the pictorial interpretation of YHVH. I try to interpret spiritual teachings as understanding my true self rather than something separate and above myself.
The perfect spirit split in two. Man Woman. Kind of like lighting two rockets at the same time taking off from one spot and never ending its flame and after creating an infinity of sparks they eventually come back together as one infinite devine entity
The notion of the true Torah (supernatural) being imperceivable to man (natural) and therefore needing some sort of translation into a natural state is really interesting to me. (33:00) It's reminiscent of the idea of bringing a four dimensional object into three dimensional space: Pure mathematics can do it, but I can't conceptualize it on my own, because I have no experiential relationship with any sort of fourth dimension. (Can a three dimensional brain think four dimensional thoughts?) But more to the point, even if I looked at a four dimensional object, and could interact with it, I'm not sure I could understand it, and I doubt that I could understand more than three dimensions of it. Humans see a small sliver of the electromagnetic spectrum, if you want to write a book, it doesn't make much sense to write it in infrared, even if that would be the best color for the project. Okay, on to the Spinoza video.
WOW!! You have united Heaven and Earth with this brilliantly beautiful explanation!! What a marvelous work of Art you have shared with us!! Thank you!! 🙏💖
It’s for wannabe wizards got it. If you ever say nothing for so long again I’m turning you in to the great khan, and you can answer for your nonsense directly to the authority of heaven.
Shalom Shalom!!! When someone is willfully blind, brazen dismissal of necessary inferences is not only possible, but a matter of course. It wasn't just that the curtain temple tore. The Talmud records that during the Day of Atonement, they had a tradition of tying a crimson strip of wool to the head of goat which they released, and there was an omen that indicated whether or not their sacrifices were accepted by God and their sins forgiven: the crimson ribbon would turn white. The Talmud records that during the tenure of a high priest called "Simon the Righteous" (Shimon HaTzaddik) this omen consistently happened: From the Talmud, Yoma 39a:15 (with intercalated explanations in English) תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה שֶׁשִּׁמֵּשׁ שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק, הָיָה גּוֹרָל עוֹלֶה בְּיָמִין. מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ, פְּעָמִים עוֹלֶה בְּיָמִין פְּעָמִים עוֹלֶה בִּשְׂמֹאל. וְהָיָה לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית מַלְבִּין. מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ, פְּעָמִים מַלְבִּין פְּעָמִים אֵינוֹ מַלְבִּין. וְהָיָה נֵר מַעֲרָבִי דּוֹלֵק. מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ, פְּעָמִים דּוֹלֵק פְּעָמִים כָּבֶה.§ The Sages taught: During all forty years that Shimon HaTzaddik served as High Priest, the lot for God arose in the right hand. From then onward, sometimes it arose in the right hand and sometimes it arose in the left hand. Furthermore, during his tenure as High Priest, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel turned white, indicating that the sins of the people had been forgiven, as it is written: “Though your sins be as crimson, they shall be white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). From then onward, it sometimes turned white and sometimes it did not turn white. Furthermore, the western lamp of the candelabrum would burn continuously as a sign that God’s presence rested upon the nation. From then onward, it sometimes burned and sometimes it went out. There were several other omens they looked for as indications that God accepted their atonement, as mentioned above: some sort of picking lots at random to see if the marked one ended up in the right hand of the high priest, and also the western lamp burning continuously. Yet the Talmud indicates that for the 40 years prior to the destruction of the Temple (the period following the crucifixion of Jesus), the crimson wool on the scapegoat never again turn white, nor did the several other omens of successful atonement ever again indicate that God accepted their atonement: From the Talmud, Yoma 39b:5 תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה קוֹדֶם חוּרְבַּן הַבַּיִת לֹא הָיָה גּוֹרָל עוֹלֶה בְּיָמִין, וְלֹא הָיָה לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית מַלְבִּין, וְלֹא הָיָה נֵר מַעֲרָבִי דּוֹלֵק. The Sages taught: During the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the lot for God always arose in the High Priest’s right hand; after his death, it occurred only occasionally; but during the forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, the lot for God did not arise in the High Priest’s right hand at all. So too, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel did not turn white, and the westernmost lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually. Think about this. Caiaphas (and the other plotters) had Jesus crucified, then the Temple curtain tore, and then for the next 40 years until the Temple was destroyed, the very omens that they looked to as confirmation that God accepted their sacrificial atonements stoped indicating that their atonements were accepted. That must be a grim sign to behold. You'd think that after seeing all this, he would think back to that moment when he spoke prophecy, and realize how badly he misinterpreted his own prophecy. John 11:45-53 [Preceding context: Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead.] 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. - If you were the high priest, how would you rationalize this? You couldn't. It would simply be denial, especially in light of all the signs that Jesus had performed. God gave Jesus as the atonement for our sins, and no other way was acceptable to him after Jesus made his sacrifice, offering his own blood on the cross. Not only did the Temple curtain tear, but the omens never again indicated that their sacrifices effected any sort of successful atonement from that time on to the point when the Temple was destroyed. However, even if Caiaphas was stiff-necked to the very end, not all the members of the Sanhedrin were that way. One extremely prominent member of the Sanhedrin, Menachem, who co-led the Sanhedrin with Hillel (you can't get more prominent than that!), abandoned the Sanhedrin to become a believer and follower of Jesus, and he took 80 pairs of disciples with him. Menachem even has a mention in the New Testament: he is mentioned in Acts 13:1 as "Manaen", who was a friend of Herod. The fact that he knew Herod and was a friend of Herod from childhood and had the gift of prophecy were apparently his identifiers. Dr. Joseph Shulam explains some of what other ancient sources says about this Menachem and what we can infer from this ancient evidence. Lecture - Joseph Shulam - Heretical Rabbis of the Talmud: Witnesses to the Power of Yeshua's Gospel It seemed that Menachem confronted what happened, and simply could not rationalize what happened in the Temple after Christ died, and actually did the hardest thing: abandoned his high position as a leader of the Sanhedrin to become a follower of Jesus. I'm sure Caiaphas witnessed Menachem abandoning his secure and socially prominent position as the co-leader of the Sanhedrin. I'm sure there were serious and impassioned debates in the Sanhedrin over this. And given that Menachem led 80 pairs of disciples with him to become believers in Jesus, I'm sure he made a spirited defense of Jesus as the Messiah, with all the reasoning and evidence he could muster, and evangelized everyone in his hearing. By the time all that was done, Caiaphas had absolutely no good rationalization.
So I'm watching this right after watching one of the videos on the zohar on esoterica. The material here compliments everything I just learned in the other video in such a beautiful way.
Thank you for this. You have such enthusiasm and love for the Zohar and you imparted it beautifully throughout that lecture! For people who want to learn Zohar for the first time: What's the best way to do it in order to attain this love and enthusiasm for the Zohar? Is a literal understanding the best way or should we be looking for a more complex understanding like Rav Ashlag. You suggested the Pritsker edition Zohar. Should we just start from the beginning and read through? When you learn Zohar what translations and commentaries do you use and what do you have in mind when reading? Is there any tips to use when learning Zohar, that you could give us to make learning Zohar meaningful and understandable for us seekers?
Thank you so much Daniel. i'm glad the love came through. The only way to fall in love with the ocean is by diving straight into the water, so long as you don't drown. Nothing will ever replace the original words. If you can read Hebrew/Aramaic i'd recommend just starting to read, even with little comprehension at first. The words have a rhythm, poetry and song of their own which will never be translated, which will pull you in. The next step would be to ask simply what the text is trying to say, the Zohar is built with strata upon strata of meaning. Just start from top and only excavate once you feel you have somewhat of a grasp of that level. The Pritzker Edition is a great way to go about it, both because of the superb artistry of the translation, Matt really makes an attempt to capture something of the original that cannot be captured, and secondly because of his notations that make the text all that more understandable. He really did a superb job. There are some classic commentaries on the Zohar which make from a great learning companion alongside the text, unfortunately most are only available in Hebrew, there's Ohr Yakar from the Ramak, Ateres Tzvi from the Zhidichoer, and of course the Sulam from the Baal HaSulam, which may even be available in English, and for something a little more aimed at comprehension try the Matov Midvash and Nitzutzei Orot from Rav Kook. i don't think my practice is anything worth emulating unfortunately so i might skip that question lol, but a great thought to keep in mind while learning is "v'taher libenu l'ovdecha b'emes" - to purify our hearts to serve You with truth, You and You and You and You. All You. And yes, lastly and probably most importantly, the Zohar was written by a holy chabura (group (of friends)) about a holy chabura and i believe was intended to read by a holy chubara/chaburot. So find a group of holy friends, brothers and sisters and embark on the holy journey together, even assign roles and have each holy person read that part. It will be a magical experience when done right, infinity better than when done alone. Best of luck on your journey, be safe, and keep seeking Much love, Zevi p.s i'd love to know how it goes and if you have luck putting together a chabura, i'd love love love to hear about it. chag sameach 😘
929th to like! Thanks for the amazing lecture! It brought joy, much joy. I was reminded of two teachings. I was taught how dancing doesn't heal us, the dancing is the healing: connection to the world, our ancestors and our selves. And I was taught that since the messiah is absent in body that by doing for our neighbour what we would do for ourselves we become the hands and feet of the messiah-- without mercy, all is lost. Now i have been taught that knowing by love is dancing for the messiah. Much love!
I didn't know about this teaching on dance - where is it from? I do Israeli dancing - I always feel the presence of G-d when I dance. I feel in touch with the Divine energy. There's nothing like it.
@@dianastevenson131 Thanks for the question! First I hope to acknowledge the earth beneath my feet. I live on Mi'kma'ki land. Kjipuktuk is the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq Nation. I was taught about how dancing is the healing from my Anishinaabe teacher. With dancing we ask permission to channel the blessings of the four directions, earth and sky, fire and water, before and after. The parallels with the Sefer Yetzirah are striking, eh?
Amazzzing.. Just amazing. Looking at "it" from an eclectic Christian Buberite kinda Taoist perspective, you're telling me that the Zohar is a detailed technical love 💘 making manual that tells ways of participating with the Imminent Presence of G_D's incarnating Messianic Love... Wowza. Gotta get a copy of that preferred translation you spoke about.. !!
The Hermetica also is saying a similar thing about God, that the concept is beyond our understanding. I'm planning to get into reading The Zohar. I'm not Jewish but I am a spiritual person.
Amazing instruction and delivery of wisdom and knowledge. I see and receive the information you are saying. ❤ Your energy is awesome and will be checking out your other vids 😊
Hi Henrik. Reshit means "first", Chochma is called Reshit because it is the first of the knowable, consciousness sefirot. Keter in the Zohar is seen as beyond understanding and counting, the "hidden of all hidden ones" in the language of the Zohar. The connection between Chochma and Reshit is also seen by the Kabbalists in the biblical verse "*reshit chochma* yirat Hashem" - fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Psalm 111:10
This was a great perspective on the Zohar! Thank your for opening your heart and time, and may blessings and wellsprings of Love-Light flow thru you. 🙏 ❤️💛💚 Peace be with you, and the power of the Spirit to bring forth Justice and Freedom Omnipresent & Unlimited❣️ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ
Is there an particular starting point for a weirdo Christian like myself to engage this material? Any recommended primer texts (or videos, i suppose)? Or is just jumping into the Zohar the move? Been loving this series Zevi. Bless you and everyone involved.
I’m learning about Jewish mysticism and I have been enjoying your perspectives. I hope you don’t mind that I ask questions in your comments section-what are the colors of the 10 sefirah?
I’m glad you’re enjoying it. With pleasure. Here’s from my colleagues at chabad.org: Rabbi Moshe Kordovero in his book Pardes Rimonin (Gate of Colors Chapter 2) lists the connection between the sefirot and their colors: 1. Crown / Keter - either a blinding invisible light, or the whitest white. 2. Wisdom / Chokhmah - Some say it includes all colors (white), others say blue. 3. Understanding / Binah - Yellow and Green (either green itself, or the color that creates green when mixed with blue. 4. Lovingkindness / Hesed - White or light blue. 5. Strength/Judgement/Restraint / Gevurah - Red and Gold. 6. Beauty/Mercy / Tiferes - Yellow and Violet. 7. Eternity/Victory / Netzakh - Light Pink. 8. Splendor/Humility / Hod - Dark Pink. 9. Foundation/Connection / Yesod - Orange or brown/black. 10. Sovereignty / Malkhus - Blue or mixture of all colors or navy, depending on which level of malchus we are referring to.
Heyy, Zevi! I've been exploring mystical themes and traditions this last period and revisiting your lectures. My knowledge of and experience with the mysticism of Judaism is still minimal, and I find it hard and daunting to choose where to start. Is there a good source for starting travelers you'd recommend to get the basics of Kabbalah, and also to start adding some practices and rituals to my daily life? Is the Zohar the best start for that?
There’s Christian who try to synthesize Kabbalah and Christian doctrine and New Testament, but I’ve talked with one and I’ve done a bit of research (only a bit), and it doesn’t seem to logically work for me.
Amazing stuff so much research and detail. Where did you learn all this from? You sound like an aincent professor. Minor detail, the Shabbot queen is mentioned in the Talmud. So it is Not a Zoher First. I listened till the end. But I had to give up in the middle of the 10 Safirot, was a bit too much for me. Chazak Vamatz, may you go from strength to strength.
42:35 From what I've gathered in cosmology, if spacetime and all particle patterning quantum fields collapsed back to the hot, dense pre-expansion state it would be a quark-gluon plasma (quagma) of undifferentiated charge trillions of times denser and hotter (energy density) than protons and neutrons. There's an interesting story about Krishna's childhood and how his mother saw the entire universe in his mouth. In consideration of an infinite unified God state before creation and the contraction that made voided spacetime (universe) by it's word (self expression "I am" via accoustic/vibrational cavitation). Then it would be simple to mythologize the process as the opening of God's mouth (spacetime, a universe). The Word would be the form shaping nature of the fundamtal vibrating quantum fields that pattern all the particles that everything is composed of. Many lead quantum and theoretical physicists say these fields are the primary objects in the universe. Imho they would be the "letters" of the Word. "They do not cease moving day or night..." The Word tends toward fulfillment =)
I found all contents very interesting. In particular, the concept of exile and the concept of co-creation, if I may use this word, are what most attracted my attention. All the contents are, anyway, very interesting.
@@SeekersofUnity Just to start, your talk on how God is infinite and beyond words, and the God mentioned in the Bible is part of creation and cannot describe the true Creator - the first words in the Tao Te Ching are: The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth, the named is the mother of the ten thousand things. The idea of Tao being infinite but also manifest is present all over the Tao Te Ching, as is the idea of the masculine/feminine aspects of the Tao. A lot of it was quite similar!
Thank you so much for your teaching! It's really an honor to learn about such a beautiful tradition and you're a great presenter. I found your channel via Dr Sledge's Esoterica and I just love you both ☺️
Thank you for your "two Zohars" comment. You're so right that it is beside the point to discuss authorship. I have often found myself scoffing at the certainty with which scholars state that Moshe de Leon is "undoubtedly" the author of the Zohar. It seems like a very colonial (and to me limiting) notion of authorship, that of whoever put pen to paper first shall have their name in there. When that sort of colonial notion of authorship meets oral tradition, it becomes confused, does not know where to put its hands or how to approach something created outside of that colonial consciousness. I fully agree that all that energy would be better spent in reading and understanding the teachings of the Zohar itself. The Zohar is a jewel distilling a very long and profound oral tradition, and that to me is why its radiance so transcendentally surpasses any other commentaries. It comes in the form of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's wisdom, regardless of who first put pen to paper. And yet the Zohar transcends its own "bookness", and so it follows that it transcends authorship as well. It is the hidden light of the Torah, revealed. And anyone not humbled by that can say whatever they want. :)
Wow, i couldn’t agree more Mariana. So well said. And thank you so much for joining in supporting this project by the way. I didn’t get a chance to thank you personally yet, but it means so much to us. Thank you.
@@SeekersofUnity Thank you for showing up and doing the work. I have found you precisely at the time when I am stepping up in my own journey to find out what it means to do the work not as a master but as a student and lover of Mystery who just wants to create more room for these conversations to be had. Please receive my gratitude and two handfuls of glittery confetti all the way from Southern Brasil. As I once heard Kevin Costner say, "If you build it, they will come!" (:
You’ve filled my heart with glittering confetti. We will continue to build it together. “The morning cometh,” for we have striven to create it. - Isaiah 21:11
Amazing video:) Could you recommend a good english translation and version of the book? I am confused now because I find very different books and don't know which one to start with. Thanks🙏🏼:)
Love that. We are part of the divine. As Yeshua stated, we are all the Christ. The inner man. The Spirit. The only fault or “sin” I Have ever seen is us thinking we are separate individuals and also separated from God. The only place this can even take place is within the mind of the human. It is the mind (thoughts) that needed to be brought to the truth that the body is the vehicle of the divine yet having through the biological “evolution” animalistic patterns that most allow to control them. The only enemy I personally have ever had is my own though patterns.
24:23 I think the New Testament provides excellent evidence that this idea existed within Judaism well before the Zohar. This is exactly the connection I was talking about with Sophiology. The connection is around the figure of Wisdom (which Mary is clearly to be seen as an incarnation of even if my fellow Catholics won't admit it) Are you familiar with Margret Barker's work? I actually think her reconstruction of Temple mysticism does two important things. One it establishes great antiquity to some of the ideas you are talking about, and secondly it shows just how Jewish Christianity was and opens up a Sophianic bridge for Christians and Jews to see each other in a totally new way.
Right, you'd know this better than me but i think we can see the roots going all the way back to the femininize hypostasized Wisdom, Chochma of the Book of Proverbs, particularly as taken up later by the rabbinic tradition. And of course the beautiful and enchanting Sophia of Gnosticism ;)
@@SeekersofUnity yes, this in fact actually what Solovyov and Bulgakov develop. Solovyov in particular pursues Sophia through Jewish and gnostic sources. Margret Barker's scholarship is interesting here because she traces the traditions of Lady Wisdom back to the first temple.
MAGNIFICENT! Thank you The ferrar Fenton edition is the only translation that I've found that translates brasheet as "with headship" be- rashit... changes the ENTIRE story
This is a fabulous video. I bought a book on Lilith due to my astrology and shadow work ... the book refers to the Zohar on the first few pages I read so I found your video in search and really enjoyed the content. Do you have any others on the Zohar?
Listening to this... so much of it sounds like Christianity. God as imminent/economic- Athanasian Creed. The feminine of God- Christ/church. Good video. As a Lutheran pastor, I really appreciate this. Going back and relearning Hebrew. 😎thank you.
The Levels of Understanding you lay out here are EXACTLY the same as the levels of understanding articulated in the original source Canonical Text of Chinese Medicine - the Nei Jing Su Wen - Yellow Emperor's Classic . . . I will try to find the quote for you.
Which translation of the Zohar is recommended? I'm not Jewish, and I am only fluent in English. I'm a Latter-Day Saint, but I felt impressed with Rabbi Rashbi's story about meeting with Elijah. I saw parallels in the few short things I heard Elijah told Rashbi that are also within the Book of Enoch. I want to explore more of the sacred texts, and learn more about our God. (Yes, I believe I serve the same God as the Jews.)
18:30 exactly. We cannot grasp all of Him in a single cup of emanations. That's why His Cup overflowed. Through His wisdom of self, we are. Only Through him we are even able to try and grasp him. Him whose name is truly ineffable. Praised be Him, the eternal Sustainer of thought of Self. Him is the cup
It's truly astounding just how far later Jewish texts take Jewish theology away from what is contained in the Tanakh. The Tetragrammaton going from the name of God, He who causes to become, to a figure of a human being, is a quite extraordinary change in interpretation.
There is a very clear Gnostic influence in this Zorah text, with God, He whose name is the Tetragrammaton, being put in the place of the Gnostic Demiurge.
My Great (X5) Grandfather Rabbi Shalom Ben Moses Buzaglo was one of the men that translated the zohar to hebrew. He was tortured by the sultan in Morocco and fled to England.
The opinion that Moshe de Leon wrote The Zohar is not only an academic position. There are jewish authorities that hold this position as well. Among them being, Yakov Emden, (Ya'avetz), Yechezkel Landau who states In his sefer Derushei HaTzlach, he argues that the Zohar is to be considered unreliable as it came into our hands many hundreds of years after Rashbi's death and it lacks an unbroken mesorah as to its authenticity, among other reasons. There are others who state that it is permissible to believe that The Zohar was not written by The Rashbi. Among them are, Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, and Rabbi Gedaliah Nadel.
When you used the term "theoeroticism" which makes a lot of sense, it makes me want to discuss this with a close friend who is deep into studying the Torah for the last few years. The thing is, he's recovering from an addiction to porn and I was wondering how to bring this up without triggering him..or if I should bring it up at all..
That’s a thought question. I wonder how familiar he is with Kabbalistic of Chasidic thought. If he is this concept/theme is kinda hard to escape and he should probably be aware of it already.
I really can't wait to read the Zohar. These ideas sound a lot like the stuff I've been thinking about God my whole life. Is it possible to find an English translation of the "Holy Zohar" as you put it?
With all due respect, you should read the Timaeus by Plato. @15:02 you talk about the "new" God concept brought by the kabbalah, but Plato was there centuries before. I understand people dedicate their limited time to a special subject, but the "unknownable God" was there first with Plato.
Fascinating, really. I am going to hear it again and again. The contents are very complex. I already attended some lessons on Zohar, but they did not transmit at all this richness of contents.
Hey Gianluigi, You're most welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for joining us. Feel free to listen as many times as your heart desires. Love, Zevi
So much research and clear explanations, combined with enthusiasm. Thanks !! Who is the voice behind the curtain (the gentleman who moderated the questions following your talk)?
Where can I buy a FULL and UNABRIGDED aramaic original edition of the Zohar, containing all text that holy martyr Rabbi Hillel Zeitlin kept one volume in his hands? I find a lot of strange editions online, mostly from the "Kabbalah centre" of "Rav" Berg. But I wish to own an edition fully kosher, complete, including every volume that holy martyr Rav Hillel Zeitlin held to be authoritative. I live in Germany, but I would like to order this edition either from Israel or the US or from whatever place possible. Thank you very much and G'd bless!
What is the best version of the Zohar to study? I know Hebrew and have significant knowledge of Aramaic so I can use the original. Also what are the best Zohar commentaries?
If you can read Aramaic then you should read it in the original of course. If you’d like some English the Pritzker Edition is best. For commentaries you have the Ramak’s Or Yakar, Rav Ashlag’s Sulam and Rav Frish’s Matok M’dvash among others. Enjoy.
Shalom, could you help me understand the history of canonizing the mishnah and zohar? How can they be on the same level of reverence as the Torah, considering Deuteronomy/Devarim 4:2? And that they are written so long after the Nevuah?
Thank you Sean for the question. The Zohar does not come to add any new mitzvot, and the Mishna is only there to elucidate the mitzvot already given in the Torah. Also, to say they’re on the same level of reverence would be inaccurate. I hope I didn’t misrepresent their relationship in my class.
@@SeekersofUnity forgive me if I misunderstood when you said the Zohar is “parallel” to the Talmud and Torah, and the way it has been stored in some Shul’s, alongside/similarly to Torah. From what I understand, the first writings emerged around 12th century(?); I’d like to understand how one can infer that it is consistent more ancient teachings/understanding..
The test of its consistency is in what it inspires. It in inspires a love for G-d and one’s fellow, it is consistent. “It’s ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths lead to peace.”
@@SeekersofUnity that’s wonderful. But from what I understand, it also teaches concepts like gilgul, which I struggle to see evidence of in the Tanakh (maybe with the exception of Eliyahu’s “return” prophesied in Malachi). For example, when the spirit of Samuel is stirred up in 1 Samuel 28..
Believing or disbelief in the concept of Gilgul are both fine positions within Judaism. The question is how one behaves towards G-d and their fellow human as a result.
there are so many parallels with platonism that i dont doubt it goes back to the 2nd century. also though predating him by centuries, it also reminds me of derrida, in re-examining texts, though he was primarily focused on the political. i'm personally much more interested mystical/spiritual reinterpretations than political.
Hello, I appreciate your videos. What should I read or understand before reading the Zohar (Daniel C. Matt edition)? Can someone go straight to that book?
Thank you Álen. I’d recommend reading some introductory material, just to familiarize yourself with the context, imagery and mythological imagination you’ll encounter. But going straight to the text is okay, particularly with Matt’s helpful running notes and commentary.
I don’t know what the best is but Arthur Green has written some very good introductory work to the Zohar which beautifully balances academic rigor and sympathetic appreciation toward the text.
@@SeekersofUnity Thanks! I will dive into this after finishing my books on Adriaan Koerbagh (one of Spinoza's dearest friends, and a more radical spinozist than Spinoza himself). Keep up the good work, Zevi!
Love that. When I learned that the Aramaic word for “word”, Miltha, was not words on a page but so much more, pretty much almost impossible to define, it was amazing. I came from westernized Christianity after having a divine encounter and it was beautifully horrible haha.
A big compliment for the teacher: I'm not Jewish, nor do I have a Jewish heritage, without context I'd be lost in this conversation, so I appreciate that you explain everything in such a way that even a gentile like myself can follow along.
There's nothing worse than when an instruction manual says "rotate the bolt nine radians semiclockwise, applying no more than three watts per newton of force" and having no idea what a bolt is.
You’re most welcome my friend. I’m glad it was accessible. Welcome back 🙏🏼
@@SeekersofUnity You just let me know when my commentary starts getting annoying, I'm always bad about that. 😅
Never 😘
Stop learning zohar
@@wallerasWhy explain plz
I read the Zohar is a great text concerning the Alchemical Marriage - The union of Divine Feminine (subconscious, intuition, right hemisphere) and Divine Masculine (conscious, the will, left hemisphere). Until each individual learns to 'knows thyself', bondage and misery will reign at the collective level.
The Zohar is the worst thing to ever happen to Judaism. Yahweh is very displeased; the Judgement is near!
Womp womp.
@@SeekersofUnity Zohar is Hebrew Gnosticism. The Freemasons would be proud. Those who deny Yahweh will reap the wrath of God when He returns!
The vehicle, symbol, and representation of the Zohar model seems to be latently installed in Jesus and the New Testament.
Good knowing!!!
This is the most fascinating video on the Kabbalah I have seen yet. The Zohar truly opens you up to an entirely new perception of the Jewish tradition. Your efforts are appreciated and hope to see more on the Zohar in the future. Usually, I would say this was too long but this was too damn short! Amazing work, thank you.
You’re most welcome friend. Thank you for being here with us on the journey. It’s an honor to be able to share with you that which was shared with me.
Blessings on your videos, I grew up with books such as Torah, Bible, Quran, Gita and Sacred Buddhist texts, this is what it’s meant by the idea of chosen people, it’s not by ethnicity it’s by actions and you are chosen to spread the light. You will revive the essence of Judaism. Ty 🌟
I’m a Buddhist these days and pretty deep into the dharma. It if I was properly introduced to the Kabbalah when I practiced Orthodox Judaism I’d prolly still be into Judaism. Crazy how things play out. Loved the talk!
Thanks Brandon. Welcome to the channel 🙏🏼
The funny thing is I am Jew who used to be a Christian. If I had been properly introduced to liberal Jewish mysticism I might still be a Christian. But I think Hashem calls some of us to leave our home, the way he called Abraham. So that we can travel to a new land and bring new ideas, to help spread His Truth, which can be found in all of the most holy faiths, founded by true righteous teachers.
They're all talking about the same thing though. At its core all "religion" is there out of the desire to understand truth
Most of the popular Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's Kabbalah writings were made for just your situation, he saw this unfortunate hole in modern day Judaism, he spoke about it specifically and tried to counter it. I am thankful for coming across a small book called The Thirteen Petalled Rose when I was a teenager that describes the nature of reality from a Jewish mystical perspective that forever ensured that I would remain on the Jewish path, but regardless, blessing to you on your path wherever it leads you :)
Curiously, @brandon637, I've studied several of the Nikayas and practice meditation from the Theravada school. I'm currently reading Daniel Matt's translation of The Zohar, and I'm seeing many parallels between Buddha's writings/descriptions on/of deep meditation/mystical experience & the mystical imagery/ descriptions in The Zohar. I'm also noticing correlations in some of their reflections on the psyche.
A really moving and awe-inspiring distillation of a breathtaking glimpse into the Zohar, Zevi!! We are so lucky to be in this moment of discovering. Edifying and so thought-provoking! It's more than I can even try to encapsulate in a comment. It's all encompassing filled with compassion and a spiritual paradigm shifting! Your delivery is just the right tone, and tempo! A moving epic arc!
You’re so very welcome. Thank you for joining us to learn and for your delightful comment.
I don’t label myself as anything. To stay open to all there is to learn. This is beautiful and true. Thank you for the beautiful delivery. From your heart to ours.
06:15 What we’re going to cover
06:59 Historical Context
08:51 Who wrote the Zohar?
13:00 Literary Structure of the Zohar
14:30 Core Ideas of the Zohar:
15:02 God: En Sof, Sefirot and a Divine Romance
26:50 The Human, the Fulcrum of the Cosmos
33:31 Torah, a Secret Code
41:12 The World, Illusions of Duality
43:50 The Meta-Story, From Exile to Redemption
48:58 Post Class Conversation, Knowing thru Love, Writing our own Zohar
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We Out Here
I was born in the Soviet Union where religion, esp ✡ was pretty much "illegal" and as a child I was horrified by the images and practices...no context, no kindness, anxiety etc. on top of that, my Jewish identity came from the surrounding antisemitism ( i.e. getting my nose broken in 1st grade for being something I never understood to begin with).
Long story short (no pun intended) I've been struggling with G-dfaith and Judaism my entire life. My 3 religious trips to Israel further cemented my cynicism. I never stopped believing but never stopped challenging those beliefs either.
Last week..I start exploring THIS and it's music to my ears.. I can't get enough. Thank you so much and G-d bless.
P.S. years ago I purchased a book on the Zohar and found the language to be beautiful but before I got a chance to really dive in, my Rabbi borrowed it and never returned it. It wasn't long until I stopped caring, although I never forgot how fascinating thus book was to me. (My appreciation for Alex Grey's art and the music of Tool kept me intrigued with Kaballah ...little did I know that there is so much more that meets the (3rd) eye.)
Thank you Xander for sharing your story. It’s sad to hear all that you’ve gone through, glad though that you’ve found this work here to resonate with you. Feel free to check out the rest of channel and welcome to Seekers. With love, Zevi
@@SeekersofUnity many thanks and blessings Zevi. I'm already hooked. Keep doing what you do. Good Shabbos brother.
By the way, what's your opinion on the art of Alex Grey and (some) of the music of Tool? Specifically the song Lateralus which is beyond lyirics..
ua-cam.com/video/Y7JG63IuaWs/v-deo.html. (The lyrics are in the comment section and are important.) Enjoy.
I think Alex’s art is really epic. I don’t know Tool’s music but I’ll check it out. Thanks for sharing it.
42:25 Here’s a modern analogy. The drama playing out on the TV screen is continuously sustained by the signal coming from the source and disappears the moment it is switched off.
Thank you, that's a wonderful metaphor.
I like the way you synthesize and translate huge concepts into a comprehensible language, your eyes light up when you teach! Yashar Koach!
Thank you friend. That's a beautiful thing to say. Thank you dearly.
Upon Dr. Sledge's suggestion that we view Speakers of Unity, I started with your conversation with Israel Knohl (which was quite interesting and informative and moving a-although I had a few questions) and then this moving introduction to the Zohar. Thank you so much. It was a generous, coherent, organized and passionate evocation of the Book and this fantastic, systematic and creative cosmology.. Thank you for alluding at the conclusion to a possibility (actually, it seemed to be your deep conviction) that the Zohar's immense wisdom and power may have effect even for those of us outside Judaism. I look forward to viewing the other lectures of SOU.
Thank you friend. Welcome to the channel.
"I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your love"
"I will bow down towards Your holy temple"
"in the fear of You"
-Zohar
Admitted neophyte, here.
Thank you for sharing.
Seeking knowledge, understanding and getting closer to God's love, perfection...one best be careful witch teacher they hear or read, these days(Garbage in/Garbage out). Blessed to have found your video and even got a new tattoo idea!
Blessings, in return to you, sir!
Through 2015, no one was able to confirm on line if the Zohar was a "book" or several books. I am glad that it has become more transparent since then ..
Please receive my most sincere compliments for having explained in a concrete, yet profound way, such a monumental and complex work as the Zohar. I am member of a Conservative community in Mexico. It makes me sad that a good number of members of my community mock about the Zohar in particular, and about Kabalah in general. It's a real shame. It would be great if within your videos you could recommend bibliography for those of us interested in learning more about the subject discussed. Warm regards.
You’re so very welcome Daniel. Thank you for your kind compliments and suggestions. Yours, Zevi
I have never read the Zohar but it speaks to me of my experience and of what we all believe. We all are created in a place of extremes. Humanity is the feminine energy that has free choice. We are free to love God. Who is God? He is the masculine and He only loves. Humanity becomes the man when she chooses to love humanity unconditionally. Our image is in a reflection. First we love God and then we become His image. Then we love the other. Who is the other? Well, the other is the image. I am a Gentile who has always loved the perfect Jew. Who is the perfect Jew. Well, He is in the other. I see my love in my opposite so I see Him in you. I am in love with the Jew! We all are. We are here to experience being in love. When we become love our Son will be born 🙏💫🌟👌That means we all just know!! Messiah is here!
You are a excellent speaker and good at holding my interest through out the whole video.
Thank you so much, that's really sweet of you to say.
Water for my soul to hear about the outer and the inner; the above and below; the masculine and feminine; the inner mystery of the Torah, cloaked in It’s garment! Thank you!
You’re most welcome Michael. Thank you for joining us for this great work.
Interesting, the only way i first found out about the Zohar was due to an amazing game called Xenosaga. It touches on a lot of Jewish/ Christian religion and the Zohar is a major importance in the series. Much appreciated for the information!
You’re most welcome 🙏🏼
When the Baal HaSulam was asked about the author of the Zohar, he said that if wasn’t Shimon Bar Yochai, he was a person on the same caliber as the Rashbi.
Dr. Sledge recommended your channel and I DID catch your live zohar at esoterica. Marvelous. Thank you.
You’re most welcome 🙏🏼
… This was absolutely lovely and educational and quite moving… I just ordered the Pritzker edition of the Holy Zohar❤… I am a Mexican American with the last name Leyva… And it is said we are of the tribe of Levi…. This was a wonderful video.
Thanks!
You’re most welcome 🙏🏼
IMHO. I believe, the masculine and feminine reunion is about combining the two aspects of each human back into one again. When we are born, we are one. We are blissful. We don't judge.
As we grow in our various environments, we become separate selves. One part says to love all, be peace, help others, be kind.
The other part becomes our other half and we may live with conflicting idea's such as, he's fat, she's stupid, those are brainless people, I hate them for.... or etc. We are no longer one. We have become two.
We need to combine ourselves. Our Adam and Eve. Our male and female. (Sorry for the reference here, it's where I came from) Jesus says to "Enter the Kingdom of Heaven within, be like a small child". He's saying the same thing, simply nesting it in different cultural hues.
Hearing you talk about this gives me goosebumps.
Higher, lower? Physical, spiritual? Conscious, sub-conscious? Is this reference to any or all of the following? In the cosmos? In the world? In the human? Are they regional variations of, "as below, so above?" These are such fun verbal puzzles.
If you receive the world, the Tao will never leave you and you will be like a little child. Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching. There are many more similar references across the ages and from different cultures.
Thank you. As someone who had no prior knowledge of the Zohar, I found this deeply moving and very helpful.
Thank you Anya, I’m glad it was helpful and moving. With love, Zevi
@@SeekersofUnity Does the Zohar tell an actual story? If so would you know where I could find it?
Check out The Art of Mystical Narrative: A Poetics of the Zohar by Eitan Fishbane.
@@SeekersofUnity I haven't found anything on that book that interprets a story. Why is it so hard to find an actual story attached to the zohar? Just what is the world trying to hide? I've found bits and pieces on Raziel giving the book of Metatron to Aadam and Eve on separate websites through out the last decade but I can't find a single cover to cover story on the zohar. I appreciate the suggestion but is there something a bit more specific to the start to finish story aspect? Even the author Etian didn't seem to elaborate any form of a start to finish story.
43:50 The Meta-Story, From Exile to Redemption
I read the Zohar years ago and deeply enjoyed it. Recently when researching part of my family tree that I didn't know much about, I discovered that I'm descended from Moshe Ben Shem Tov, the main writer of the Zohar.
How fascinating that I come to this learning at a time of immense pain, both for Jews and from Jews, and can so clearly see that it is only from ignorant interpretations of religion, and not a fuller focus on it, leads us to these horrible conflicts in the world.
Thank you.
I feel the truth in your expounding of the pictorial interpretation of YHVH. I try to interpret spiritual teachings as understanding my true self rather than something separate and above myself.
Question: How many books make up the Zohar? I've seen various collections with 23, 24 etc. volumes. * You answered my question in video. Thank you.
Amen.
I feel so blessed to have received this beautiful introduction. I pray this is only the beginning of my journey into the teaching of Kabbalah.
The perfect spirit split in two. Man Woman. Kind of like lighting two rockets at the same time taking off from one spot and never ending its flame and after creating an infinity of sparks they eventually come back together as one infinite devine entity
Love being trans and jewish and about theurgy this is all super empowering
The notion of the true Torah (supernatural) being imperceivable to man (natural) and therefore needing some sort of translation into a natural state is really interesting to me. (33:00) It's reminiscent of the idea of bringing a four dimensional object into three dimensional space: Pure mathematics can do it, but I can't conceptualize it on my own, because I have no experiential relationship with any sort of fourth dimension. (Can a three dimensional brain think four dimensional thoughts?) But more to the point, even if I looked at a four dimensional object, and could interact with it, I'm not sure I could understand it, and I doubt that I could understand more than three dimensions of it.
Humans see a small sliver of the electromagnetic spectrum, if you want to write a book, it doesn't make much sense to write it in infrared, even if that would be the best color for the project.
Okay, on to the Spinoza video.
WOW!! You have united Heaven and Earth with this brilliantly beautiful explanation!!
What a marvelous work of Art you have shared with us!! Thank you!! 🙏💖
It’s for wannabe wizards got it. If you ever say nothing for so long again I’m turning you in to the great khan, and you can answer for your nonsense directly to the authority of heaven.
Shalom Shalom!!!
When someone is willfully blind, brazen dismissal of necessary inferences is not only possible, but a matter of course.
It wasn't just that the curtain temple tore. The Talmud records that during the Day of Atonement, they had a tradition of tying a crimson strip of wool to the head of goat which they released, and there was an omen that indicated whether or not their sacrifices were accepted by God and their sins forgiven: the crimson ribbon would turn white. The Talmud records that during the tenure of a high priest called "Simon the Righteous" (Shimon HaTzaddik) this omen consistently happened:
From the Talmud, Yoma 39a:15 (with intercalated explanations in English)
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה שֶׁשִּׁמֵּשׁ שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק, הָיָה גּוֹרָל עוֹלֶה בְּיָמִין. מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ, פְּעָמִים עוֹלֶה בְּיָמִין פְּעָמִים עוֹלֶה בִּשְׂמֹאל. וְהָיָה לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית מַלְבִּין. מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ, פְּעָמִים מַלְבִּין פְּעָמִים אֵינוֹ מַלְבִּין. וְהָיָה נֵר מַעֲרָבִי דּוֹלֵק. מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ, פְּעָמִים דּוֹלֵק פְּעָמִים כָּבֶה.§
The Sages taught: During all forty years that Shimon HaTzaddik served as High Priest, the lot for God arose in the right hand. From then onward, sometimes it arose in the right hand and sometimes it arose in the left hand. Furthermore, during his tenure as High Priest, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel turned white, indicating that the sins of the people had been forgiven, as it is written: “Though your sins be as crimson, they shall be white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). From then onward, it sometimes turned white and sometimes it did not turn white. Furthermore, the western lamp of the candelabrum would burn continuously as a sign that God’s presence rested upon the nation. From then onward, it sometimes burned and sometimes it went out.
There were several other omens they looked for as indications that God accepted their atonement, as mentioned above: some sort of picking lots at random to see if the marked one ended up in the right hand of the high priest, and also the western lamp burning continuously.
Yet the Talmud indicates that for the 40 years prior to the destruction of the Temple (the period following the crucifixion of Jesus), the crimson wool on the scapegoat never again turn white, nor did the several other omens of successful atonement ever again indicate that God accepted their atonement:
From the Talmud, Yoma 39b:5
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה קוֹדֶם חוּרְבַּן הַבַּיִת לֹא הָיָה גּוֹרָל עוֹלֶה בְּיָמִין, וְלֹא הָיָה לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית מַלְבִּין, וְלֹא הָיָה נֵר מַעֲרָבִי דּוֹלֵק.
The Sages taught: During the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the lot for God always arose in the High Priest’s right hand; after his death, it occurred only occasionally; but during the forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, the lot for God did not arise in the High Priest’s right hand at all. So too, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel did not turn white, and the westernmost lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually.
Think about this.
Caiaphas (and the other plotters) had Jesus crucified, then the Temple curtain tore, and then for the next 40 years until the Temple was destroyed, the very omens that they looked to as confirmation that God accepted their sacrificial atonements stoped indicating that their atonements were accepted. That must be a grim sign to behold. You'd think that after seeing all this, he would think back to that moment when he spoke prophecy, and realize how badly he misinterpreted his own prophecy.
John 11:45-53
[Preceding context: Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead.] 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
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If you were the high priest, how would you rationalize this? You couldn't. It would simply be denial, especially in light of all the signs that Jesus had performed. God gave Jesus as the atonement for our sins, and no other way was acceptable to him after Jesus made his sacrifice, offering his own blood on the cross. Not only did the Temple curtain tear, but the omens never again indicated that their sacrifices effected any sort of successful atonement from that time on to the point when the Temple was destroyed.
However, even if Caiaphas was stiff-necked to the very end, not all the members of the Sanhedrin were that way. One extremely prominent member of the Sanhedrin, Menachem, who co-led the Sanhedrin with Hillel (you can't get more prominent than that!), abandoned the Sanhedrin to become a believer and follower of Jesus, and he took 80 pairs of disciples with him. Menachem even has a mention in the New Testament: he is mentioned in Acts 13:1 as "Manaen", who was a friend of Herod. The fact that he knew Herod and was a friend of Herod from childhood and had the gift of prophecy were apparently his identifiers.
Dr. Joseph Shulam explains some of what other ancient sources says about this Menachem and what we can infer from this ancient evidence.
Lecture - Joseph Shulam - Heretical Rabbis of the Talmud: Witnesses to the Power of Yeshua's Gospel
It seemed that Menachem confronted what happened, and simply could not rationalize what happened in the Temple after Christ died, and actually did the hardest thing: abandoned his high position as a leader of the Sanhedrin to become a follower of Jesus.
I'm sure Caiaphas witnessed Menachem abandoning his secure and socially prominent position as the co-leader of the Sanhedrin. I'm sure there were serious and impassioned debates in the Sanhedrin over this. And given that Menachem led 80 pairs of disciples with him to become believers in Jesus, I'm sure he made a spirited defense of Jesus as the Messiah, with all the reasoning and evidence he could muster, and evangelized everyone in his hearing. By the time all that was done, Caiaphas had absolutely no good rationalization.
So I'm watching this right after watching one of the videos on the zohar on esoterica. The material here compliments everything I just learned in the other video in such a beautiful way.
Honored that you're spending time with us here after hanging out with my friend :)
My pleasure. 🫶
Thank you for this. You have such enthusiasm and love for the Zohar and you imparted it beautifully throughout that lecture!
For people who want to learn Zohar for the first time: What's the best way to do it in order to attain this love and enthusiasm for the Zohar?
Is a literal understanding the best way or should we be looking for a more complex understanding like Rav Ashlag. You suggested the Pritsker edition Zohar. Should we just start from the beginning and read through?
When you learn Zohar what translations and commentaries do you use and what do you have in mind when reading?
Is there any tips to use when learning Zohar, that you could give us to make learning Zohar meaningful and understandable for us seekers?
Thank you so much Daniel. i'm glad the love came through.
The only way to fall in love with the ocean is by diving straight into the water, so long as you don't drown.
Nothing will ever replace the original words. If you can read Hebrew/Aramaic i'd recommend just starting to read, even with little comprehension at first. The words have a rhythm, poetry and song of their own which will never be translated, which will pull you in.
The next step would be to ask simply what the text is trying to say, the Zohar is built with strata upon strata of meaning. Just start from top and only excavate once you feel you have somewhat of a grasp of that level.
The Pritzker Edition is a great way to go about it, both because of the superb artistry of the translation, Matt really makes an attempt to capture something of the original that cannot be captured, and secondly because of his notations that make the text all that more understandable. He really did a superb job.
There are some classic commentaries on the Zohar which make from a great learning companion alongside the text, unfortunately most are only available in Hebrew, there's Ohr Yakar from the Ramak, Ateres Tzvi from the Zhidichoer, and of course the Sulam from the Baal HaSulam, which may even be available in English, and for something a little more aimed at comprehension try the Matov Midvash and Nitzutzei Orot from Rav Kook.
i don't think my practice is anything worth emulating unfortunately so i might skip that question lol, but a great thought to keep in mind while learning is "v'taher libenu l'ovdecha b'emes" - to purify our hearts to serve You with truth, You and You and You and You. All You.
And yes, lastly and probably most importantly, the Zohar was written by a holy chabura (group (of friends)) about a holy chabura and i believe was intended to read by a holy chubara/chaburot. So find a group of holy friends, brothers and sisters and embark on the holy journey together, even assign roles and have each holy person read that part. It will be a magical experience when done right, infinity better than when done alone.
Best of luck on your journey, be safe, and keep seeking
Much love,
Zevi
p.s i'd love to know how it goes and if you have luck putting together a chabura, i'd love love love to hear about it. chag sameach 😘
@@SeekersofUnity Maybe you would lead those of us here who are interested, in a group learning of the Zohar over zoom?
It's an interesting idea, but i have serious doubts about it working
929th to like! Thanks for the amazing lecture! It brought joy, much joy. I was reminded of two teachings. I was taught how dancing doesn't heal us, the dancing is the healing: connection to the world, our ancestors and our selves. And I was taught that since the messiah is absent in body that by doing for our neighbour what we would do for ourselves we become the hands and feet of the messiah-- without mercy, all is lost. Now i have been taught that knowing by love is dancing for the messiah. Much love!
I didn't know about this teaching on dance - where is it from? I do Israeli dancing - I always feel the presence of G-d when I dance. I feel in touch with the Divine energy. There's nothing like it.
@@dianastevenson131 Thanks for the question! First I hope to acknowledge the earth beneath my feet. I live on Mi'kma'ki land. Kjipuktuk is the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq Nation. I was taught about how dancing is the healing from my Anishinaabe teacher. With dancing we ask permission to channel the blessings of the four directions, earth and sky, fire and water, before and after. The parallels with the Sefer Yetzirah are striking, eh?
Amazzzing.. Just amazing. Looking at "it" from an eclectic Christian Buberite kinda Taoist perspective, you're telling me that the Zohar is a detailed technical love 💘 making manual that tells ways of participating with the Imminent Presence of G_D's incarnating Messianic Love... Wowza. Gotta get a copy of that preferred translation you spoke about.. !!
That was such a BEAUTIFUL PRESENTATION 👏 👏👏
Thank you🙏
The Hermetica also is saying a similar thing about God, that the concept is beyond our understanding. I'm planning to get into reading The Zohar. I'm not Jewish but I am a spiritual person.
Amazing instruction and delivery of wisdom and knowledge. I see and receive the information you are saying. ❤
Your energy is awesome and will be checking out your other vids 😊
The best video in YT about the Zohar, detailed and explained with care!
Thank you Sergio 🙏🏼
Sorry I did´nt get how Reshit and Chokhmah are related. Is it just two words for the same, Wisdom? And where is Keter in this system?
Hi Henrik. Reshit means "first", Chochma is called Reshit because it is the first of the knowable, consciousness sefirot. Keter in the Zohar is seen as beyond understanding and counting, the "hidden of all hidden ones" in the language of the Zohar. The connection between Chochma and Reshit is also seen by the Kabbalists in the biblical verse "*reshit chochma* yirat Hashem" - fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Psalm 111:10
This was a great perspective on the Zohar! Thank your for opening your heart and time, and may blessings and wellsprings of Love-Light flow thru you. 🙏 ❤️💛💚 Peace be with you, and the power of the Spirit to bring forth Justice and Freedom Omnipresent & Unlimited❣️ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ
You’re most welcome. Thank you friend 🙏🏼
I'm not Jewish and I just order the complete Zohar collection. Interesting material
Is there an particular starting point for a weirdo Christian like myself to engage this material? Any recommended primer texts (or videos, i suppose)? Or is just jumping into the Zohar the move? Been loving this series Zevi. Bless you and everyone involved.
I’m learning about Jewish mysticism and I have been enjoying your perspectives.
I hope you don’t mind that I ask questions in your comments section-what are the colors of the 10 sefirah?
I’m glad you’re enjoying it. With pleasure. Here’s from my colleagues at chabad.org: Rabbi Moshe Kordovero in his book Pardes Rimonin (Gate of Colors Chapter 2) lists the connection between the sefirot and their colors:
1. Crown / Keter - either a blinding invisible light, or the whitest white.
2. Wisdom / Chokhmah - Some say it includes all colors (white), others say blue.
3. Understanding / Binah - Yellow and Green (either green itself, or the color that creates green when mixed with blue.
4. Lovingkindness / Hesed - White or light blue.
5. Strength/Judgement/Restraint / Gevurah - Red and Gold.
6. Beauty/Mercy / Tiferes - Yellow and Violet.
7. Eternity/Victory / Netzakh - Light Pink.
8. Splendor/Humility / Hod - Dark Pink.
9. Foundation/Connection / Yesod - Orange or brown/black.
10. Sovereignty / Malkhus - Blue or mixture of all colors or navy, depending on which level of malchus we are referring to.
Great lesson. Thanks for being so clear, balanced and passionate about it. Chag Sameach! Joyful Simcha Torah!
You’re most welcome Caterina. Thank you.
The part about the breathing reminded me of Brahma
Heyy, Zevi! I've been exploring mystical themes and traditions this last period and revisiting your lectures. My knowledge of and experience with the mysticism of Judaism is still minimal, and I find it hard and daunting to choose where to start. Is there a good source for starting travelers you'd recommend to get the basics of Kabbalah, and also to start adding some practices and rituals to my daily life? Is the Zohar the best start for that?
Hello I'm a Christian and I just want to ask if the Teachings of Jesus Christ could be in a sense the Pre-Zohar version of what we know today?
There’s Christian who try to synthesize Kabbalah and Christian doctrine and New Testament, but I’ve talked with one and I’ve done a bit of research (only a bit), and it doesn’t seem to logically work for me.
Amazing stuff so much research and detail. Where did you learn all this from? You sound like an aincent professor.
Minor detail, the Shabbot queen is mentioned in the Talmud. So it is Not a Zoher First.
I listened till the end.
But I had to give up in the middle of the 10 Safirot, was a bit too much for me.
Chazak Vamatz, may you go from strength to strength.
42:35 From what I've gathered in cosmology, if spacetime and all particle patterning quantum fields collapsed back to the hot, dense pre-expansion state it would be a quark-gluon plasma (quagma) of undifferentiated charge trillions of times denser and hotter (energy density) than protons and neutrons.
There's an interesting story about Krishna's childhood and how his mother saw the entire universe in his mouth. In consideration of an infinite unified God state before creation and the contraction that made voided spacetime (universe) by it's word (self expression "I am" via accoustic/vibrational cavitation). Then it would be simple to mythologize the process as the opening of God's mouth (spacetime, a universe). The Word would be the form shaping nature of the fundamtal vibrating quantum fields that pattern all the particles that everything is composed of.
Many lead quantum and theoretical physicists say these fields are the primary objects in the universe. Imho they would be the "letters" of the Word. "They do not cease moving day or night..."
The Word tends toward fulfillment =)
Fascinating comparison. Thank you.
I found all contents very interesting. In particular, the concept of exile and the concept of co-creation, if I may use this word, are what most attracted my attention. All the contents are, anyway, very interesting.
Hi Gianluigi,
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for joining us for this class and for your sweet feedback.
Love,
Zevi
Wow, found you randomly on youtube and this is so fascinating. In a lot of ways, the Zohar sounds like the Tao Te Ching.
Thanks, glad you found it. Interesring, how're they similar?
@@SeekersofUnity Just to start, your talk on how God is infinite and beyond words, and the God mentioned in the Bible is part of creation and cannot describe the true Creator - the first words in the Tao Te Ching are: The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth, the named is the mother of the ten thousand things. The idea of Tao being infinite but also manifest is present all over the Tao Te Ching, as is the idea of the masculine/feminine aspects of the Tao. A lot of it was quite similar!
That's really really cool. Thank you. Time for a comparison video ;)
Yes the same
@@SeekersofUnity is the god mentioned in the bible actually the DEMIURGE of Gnosticism sir? Sure seems like his creation is f'd up.
Thank you so much for your teaching! It's really an honor to learn about such a beautiful tradition and you're a great presenter. I found your channel via Dr Sledge's Esoterica and I just love you both ☺️
You’re most welcome. Thank you for joining us 🙏🏼
Thank you for your "two Zohars" comment. You're so right that it is beside the point to discuss authorship. I have often found myself scoffing at the certainty with which scholars state that Moshe de Leon is "undoubtedly" the author of the Zohar.
It seems like a very colonial (and to me limiting) notion of authorship, that of whoever put pen to paper first shall have their name in there. When that sort of colonial notion of authorship meets oral tradition, it becomes confused, does not know where to put its hands or how to approach something created outside of that colonial consciousness. I fully agree that all that energy would be better spent in reading and understanding the teachings of the Zohar itself.
The Zohar is a jewel distilling a very long and profound oral tradition, and that to me is why its radiance so transcendentally surpasses any other commentaries. It comes in the form of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's wisdom, regardless of who first put pen to paper. And yet the Zohar transcends its own "bookness", and so it follows that it transcends authorship as well. It is the hidden light of the Torah, revealed. And anyone not humbled by that can say whatever they want. :)
Wow, i couldn’t agree more Mariana. So well said. And thank you so much for joining in supporting this project by the way. I didn’t get a chance to thank you personally yet, but it means so much to us. Thank you.
@@SeekersofUnity Thank you for showing up and doing the work. I have found you precisely at the time when I am stepping up in my own journey to find out what it means to do the work not as a master but as a student and lover of Mystery who just wants to create more room for these conversations to be had. Please receive my gratitude and two handfuls of glittery confetti all the way from Southern Brasil. As I once heard Kevin Costner say, "If you build it, they will come!" (:
You’ve filled my heart with glittering confetti. We will continue to build it together. “The morning cometh,” for we have striven to create it. - Isaiah 21:11
@@SeekersofUnity That's the quote I wish I'd gone for! LOL
My brother you did an outstanding job explaining such a complicated subject as the Zohar and Jewish mysticism..thx and shalom
Thank you Marc. You’re most welcome. Glad you liked it.
This is really inspiring. Your enthusiasm is infectious.
Shabbat as a Bride is amazing.
Amazing video:) Could you recommend a good english translation and version of the book? I am confused now because I find very different books and don't know which one to start with.
Thanks🙏🏼:)
Thanks friend. I’d go with Daniel Matt’s translation, the Pritzker edition, if you can afford it.
@@SeekersofUnity Thanks, so much! Yeah I guess, one book at a time :)
thank you for blowing my mind, another wonderful lesson! one again thank you and please share more of your wisdom with us :) have a blessed day!
Thank you so much Miron 😊 You too my friend.
Love that. We are part of the divine. As Yeshua stated, we are all the Christ. The inner man. The Spirit. The only fault or “sin” I Have ever seen is us thinking we are separate individuals and also separated from God. The only place this can even take place is within the mind of the human. It is the mind (thoughts) that needed to be brought to the truth that the body is the vehicle of the divine yet having through the biological “evolution” animalistic patterns that most allow to control them. The only enemy I personally have ever had is my own though patterns.
24:23 I think the New Testament provides excellent evidence that this idea existed within Judaism well before the Zohar. This is exactly the connection I was talking about with Sophiology. The connection is around the figure of Wisdom (which Mary is clearly to be seen as an incarnation of even if my fellow Catholics won't admit it) Are you familiar with Margret Barker's work? I actually think her reconstruction of Temple mysticism does two important things. One it establishes great antiquity to some of the ideas you are talking about, and secondly it shows just how Jewish Christianity was and opens up a Sophianic bridge for Christians and Jews to see each other in a totally new way.
Right, you'd know this better than me but i think we can see the roots going all the way back to the femininize hypostasized Wisdom, Chochma of the Book of Proverbs, particularly as taken up later by the rabbinic tradition. And of course the beautiful and enchanting Sophia of Gnosticism ;)
@@SeekersofUnity yes, this in fact actually what Solovyov and Bulgakov develop. Solovyov in particular pursues Sophia through Jewish and gnostic sources. Margret Barker's scholarship is interesting here because she traces the traditions of Lady Wisdom back to the first temple.
Thank you for the lecture . What the version of zohar you recommend to read( in english)? And can i order it online ?
Thank you
You’re most welcome. I recommend the Pritzker Edition, translated by Daniel Matt. It can be ordered online.
MAGNIFICENT!
Thank you
The ferrar Fenton edition is the only translation that I've found that translates brasheet as "with headship" be- rashit... changes the ENTIRE story
You're most welcome. Thank you.
Ah, yes, what one word can do.
@@SeekersofUnity
Thank you soooooo much, I will be following your work very closely!
This is a fabulous video. I bought a book on Lilith due to my astrology and shadow work ... the book refers to the Zohar on the first few pages I read so I found your video in search and really enjoyed the content. Do you have any others on the Zohar?
Thank you Penelope. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Here’s some more: ua-cam.com/users/liveqTkkHMuMbw0?si=QOCSGOKG8b3x4VCy
Thanks for this! So which of the English books/translations on the Zohar would you recommend?
You’re welcome. The Pritzker Edition by Daniel Matt.
Listening to this... so much of it sounds like Christianity. God as imminent/economic- Athanasian Creed. The feminine of God- Christ/church. Good video. As a Lutheran pastor, I really appreciate this. Going back and relearning Hebrew. 😎thank you.
You're most welcome Seth.
Can you please drop the links to part 2 and 3 of this series? I cannot find them. Thank you
Here's our Kabbalah playlist, enjoy: ua-cam.com/play/PL_7jcKJs6iwXMZBTUvza15Fh2C1Re16eZ.html
So brilliant! This has inspired me beyond my best wishes! Thank you! 🙏🏼
The Levels of Understanding you lay out here are EXACTLY the same as the levels of understanding articulated in the original source Canonical Text of Chinese Medicine - the Nei Jing Su Wen - Yellow Emperor's Classic . . . I will try to find the quote for you.
Thank you kavod harav .
You’re most welcome Sylvia.
Which translation of the Zohar is recommended? I'm not Jewish, and I am only fluent in English. I'm a Latter-Day Saint, but I felt impressed with Rabbi Rashbi's story about meeting with Elijah. I saw parallels in the few short things I heard Elijah told Rashbi that are also within the Book of Enoch. I want to explore more of the sacred texts, and learn more about our God. (Yes, I believe I serve the same God as the Jews.)
Welcome Kaitlyn. I recommend the Pritzker edition by Daniel Matt.
18:30 exactly. We cannot grasp all of Him in a single cup of emanations. That's why His Cup overflowed. Through His wisdom of self, we are. Only Through him we are even able to try and grasp him. Him whose name is truly ineffable. Praised be Him, the eternal Sustainer of thought of Self. Him is the cup
It's truly astounding just how far later Jewish texts take Jewish theology away from what is contained in the Tanakh. The Tetragrammaton going from the name of God, He who causes to become, to a figure of a human being, is a quite extraordinary change in interpretation.
There is a very clear Gnostic influence in this Zorah text, with God, He whose name is the Tetragrammaton, being put in the place of the Gnostic Demiurge.
My Great (X5) Grandfather Rabbi Shalom Ben Moses Buzaglo was one of the men that translated the zohar to hebrew. He was tortured by the sultan in Morocco and fled to England.
Wow that is wild. What an honor to have you joining us here. May his memory shine as a blessing to all of us.
Beautifully explained. Thank you. Blessing be upon You.
You’re most welcome. Thank you for joining us.
The opinion that Moshe de Leon wrote The Zohar is not only an academic position. There are jewish authorities that hold this position as well. Among them being, Yakov Emden, (Ya'avetz), Yechezkel Landau who states In his sefer Derushei HaTzlach, he argues that the Zohar is to be considered unreliable as it came into our hands many hundreds of years after Rashbi's death and it lacks an unbroken mesorah as to its authenticity, among other reasons. There are others who state that it is permissible to believe that The Zohar was not written by The Rashbi. Among them are, Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, and Rabbi Gedaliah Nadel.
Yes, that is correct. Thank you for pointing that out.
Thank you for the in-depth introduction ❤️
You’re most welcome Zohar 😉
Our Freemason's Lodge has monthly reflections on the Talmud and the Zohar. Further Light! Thank you.
FREEMASONRY COMES FROM SUFISM
When you used the term "theoeroticism" which makes a lot of sense, it makes me want to discuss this with a close friend who is deep into studying the Torah for the last few years.
The thing is, he's recovering from an addiction to porn and I was wondering how to bring this up without triggering him..or if I should bring it up at all..
That’s a thought question. I wonder how familiar he is with Kabbalistic of Chasidic thought. If he is this concept/theme is kinda hard to escape and he should probably be aware of it already.
you are brilliant.
All the ZOHAR I. S. a radiant brilliant Thought
I really can't wait to read the Zohar. These ideas sound a lot like the stuff I've been thinking about God my whole life.
Is it possible to find an English translation of the "Holy Zohar" as you put it?
Yes. There are a handful of translations available. The latest and most recommended is the Pritzker Edition Zohar.
@@SeekersofUnity thank you!
You’re most welcome.
With all due respect, you should read the Timaeus by Plato. @15:02 you talk about the "new" God concept brought by the kabbalah, but Plato was there centuries before. I understand people dedicate their limited time to a special subject, but the "unknownable God" was there first with Plato.
Your work is a treasure, Thank you!!
Thank you
Fascinating, really. I am going to hear it again and again. The contents are very complex. I already attended some lessons on Zohar, but they did not transmit at all this richness of contents.
Hey Gianluigi,
You're most welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for joining us. Feel free to listen as many times as your heart desires.
Love,
Zevi
So much research and clear explanations, combined with enthusiasm. Thanks !! Who is the voice behind the curtain (the gentleman who moderated the questions following your talk)?
You're most welcome. Thank you for the kind feedback :) That's my dear friend Rabbi Osher Feldman of the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation, Garden's Shul.
Where can I buy a FULL and UNABRIGDED aramaic original edition of the Zohar, containing all text that holy martyr Rabbi Hillel Zeitlin kept one volume in his hands? I find a lot of strange editions online, mostly from the "Kabbalah centre" of "Rav" Berg. But I wish to own an edition fully kosher, complete, including every volume that holy martyr Rav Hillel Zeitlin held to be authoritative. I live in Germany, but I would like to order this edition either from Israel or the US or from whatever place possible. Thank you very much and G'd bless!
What is the best version of the Zohar to study? I know Hebrew and have significant knowledge of Aramaic so I can use the original.
Also what are the best Zohar commentaries?
If you can read Aramaic then you should read it in the original of course. If you’d like some English the Pritzker Edition is best. For commentaries you have the Ramak’s Or Yakar, Rav Ashlag’s Sulam and Rav Frish’s Matok M’dvash among others. Enjoy.
can anyone tell me what copy to buy
I recommend the Pritzker Edition, translated by Daniel Matt.
Shalom, could you help me understand the history of canonizing the mishnah and zohar? How can they be on the same level of reverence as the Torah, considering Deuteronomy/Devarim 4:2? And that they are written so long after the Nevuah?
Thank you Sean for the question. The Zohar does not come to add any new mitzvot, and the Mishna is only there to elucidate the mitzvot already given in the Torah. Also, to say they’re on the same level of reverence would be inaccurate. I hope I didn’t misrepresent their relationship in my class.
@@SeekersofUnity forgive me if I misunderstood when you said the Zohar is “parallel” to the Talmud and Torah, and the way it has been stored in some Shul’s, alongside/similarly to Torah. From what I understand, the first writings emerged around 12th century(?); I’d like to understand how one can infer that it is consistent more ancient teachings/understanding..
The test of its consistency is in what it inspires. It in inspires a love for G-d and one’s fellow, it is consistent. “It’s ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths lead to peace.”
@@SeekersofUnity that’s wonderful. But from what I understand, it also teaches concepts like gilgul, which I struggle to see evidence of in the Tanakh (maybe with the exception of Eliyahu’s “return” prophesied in Malachi). For example, when the spirit of Samuel is stirred up in 1 Samuel 28..
Believing or disbelief in the concept of Gilgul are both fine positions within Judaism. The question is how one behaves towards G-d and their fellow human as a result.
Is it like Bhakti?
Yes they need Yoga!
Powerful video❤🎉
I’m reading it now and must say, so far it is beautiful. I wish I could read and understand faster.
how is Hashem an idea and how are we a reflection of Him if He created us
Good questions Chana.
No one created us….you do not have to believe in creation to believe in God…gd is not a belief…if gd is a belief we are doomed!
Congrats! That was a great lesson in many different ways, and I was inspired. Thanks!
You’re most welcome. Thank you Yariel 🙏🏼
there are so many parallels with platonism that i dont doubt it goes back to the 2nd century. also though predating him by centuries, it also reminds me of derrida, in re-examining texts, though he was primarily focused on the political. i'm personally much more interested mystical/spiritual reinterpretations than political.
Hello, I appreciate your videos. What should I read or understand before reading the Zohar (Daniel C. Matt edition)? Can someone go straight to that book?
Thank you Álen. I’d recommend reading some introductory material, just to familiarize yourself with the context, imagery and mythological imagination you’ll encounter. But going straight to the text is okay, particularly with Matt’s helpful running notes and commentary.
@@SeekersofUnity What is the best introductory material to start out with, Zevi?
I don’t know what the best is but Arthur Green has written some very good introductory work to the Zohar which beautifully balances academic rigor and sympathetic appreciation toward the text.
@@SeekersofUnity Thanks! I will dive into this after finishing my books on Adriaan Koerbagh (one of Spinoza's dearest friends, and a more radical spinozist than Spinoza himself).
Keep up the good work, Zevi!
🙏🏼☺️
All sensible through the collective soul.
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Love that. When I learned that the Aramaic word for “word”, Miltha, was not words on a page but so much more, pretty much almost impossible to define, it was amazing. I came from westernized Christianity after having a divine encounter and it was beautifully horrible haha.