Sefer ha-Zohar
(The Book of Radiance) has amazed readers ever since it emerged in Spain over seven hundred years ago. Written in a lyrical Aramaic, the
Zohar
, the masterpiece of Kabbalah, features mystical interpretation of the Torah, from Genesis to Deuteronomy.
The twelfth volume of
The Zohar: Pritzker Edition
presents an assortment of discrete Zoharic compositions. The first two chapters contain different versions of the Zoharic
Heikhalot
, descriptions of the heavenly halls or palaces that the soul of the kabbalist traverses during prayer.
Piqqudin
, or Commandments, is a kabbalistic treatment of the mystical reasons for the commandments.
Raza de-Razin
(Mystery of Mysteries) is a diagnostic manual for the ancient and medieval science of physiognomy, determining people's character based on physical appearance.
Sitrei Otiyyot
(Secrets of the Letters) is a mystical essay that maps out the emergence of divine and mundane reality from the tetragrammaton,
YHVH
.
Qav ha-Middah
(Line of Measure) is another mystical essay that describes the divine instrument used by God to gauge the mystical overflow to the ten
sefirot
. The commentary on
Merkevet Yehezqel
(Ezekiel's Chariot) interprets the details of the prophet Ezekiel's chariot-vision. Beginning with the description of the four creatures, the
demonstrates how Divinity and the cosmos comprise a series of quaternities that pervade all Being.
The last main chapter includes Zoharic commentary to various portions of the Torah. The volume closes with a short appendix of passages that printers have labeled
Tosefta
despite their not fitting into that genre—a suitable end to the
whose parameters and composition will remain ever mysterious.