Sacred Texts  Judaism 

Jean Leon Gerome: Moses on Mount Sinai: Public domain image

Zohar: Bereshith to Lekh Lekha

by Nurho de Manhar

[1900-14]


This is the only extensive translation of a portion of the Zohar, the longest and one of the most important texts of the Kabbalah, in the public domain.

The Zohar is a Kabbalistic commentary on the Hebrew Bible. Long before the 'Bible Code,' Jewish scholars were attempting to wring deep meaning out of every syllable of the text of the Hebrew Bible, using numerology, gematria, and other techniques. Dozens of pages in this book are devoted to analyses of the hidden meaning behind first few letters of Genesis! This might seem ultra-pedantic; however, the Zohar makes the Biblical text come to life, brimming with mystical significance. Seemingly unimportant details and turns of phrase, which you may have read long ago and forgotten, lead to immense vistas of a mysterious world inside the world.

This is not a critical edition; written by a pseudonymous Theosophist, probably British, it is laced with out-of-place terminology such as 'Karma' and 'Planes.' It nevertheless lets you wade in the rip current of one of the most magical of the world's sacred texts, and leaves you gasping for air and wanting more.

NOTE: there is an extensive set of production notes on the Title Page.

--J.B. Hare 10/18/2005


Title Page
Preface

Introduction

The Lily
The Occult Origin of Alhim
The Mysticism of the Alphabet
The Initiation of Rabbi Hiya
The Mysterious Stranger
Abundant Goodness
Exposition of Bible Mysteries
The Fourteen Precepts

Genesis

Chapter I.
Chapter II.
Chapter III.
Chapter IV.
Chapter V. The King's Palaces
Chapter VI. On Israel or the Children of Light
Chapter VII. The Prayer of Rabbi Simeon
Chapter VIII. Previous Worlds and Races
Chapter IX.
Chapter X. Symbolisms of Man
Chapter XI. The Strange Visitor
Chapter XII. Symbolism of the Divine Life and Human Destiny
Chapter XIII.
Chapter XIV. A Kabbalistic Symposium by Rabbi Simeon's Students
Chapter XV.
Chapter XVI. A Symposium of Rabbi Simeon's Students
Chapter XVII. The Devachanic or Heavenly Spheres
Chapter XVIII. Higher Devachanic or Heavenly Spheres
Chapter XIX. Rabbi Simeon's Discourse on Prayer
Chapter XX. Devachanic Spheres and Mansions.
Chapter XXI.
Chapter XXII.
Chapter XXIII.
Chapter XXIV. Further Kabbalistic Expositions of the Six Days Of Creation
Chapter XXV.
Chapter XXVI.
Chapter XXVII.
Chapter XXVIII. Rabbi Simeon's Analogies of the Divine Life in Man
Chapter XXIX.
Chapter XXX. The Two Serpents, Astral Fluid and the Animal Nature
Chapter XXXI. A Further Symposium of Rabbi Simeon's Students
Chapter XXXII.
Chapter XXXIII. Traditions Concerning Adam
Chapter XXXIV. Male and Female Created He Them.
Chapter XXXV. The Antediluvians and Their Magical Arts
Chapter XXXVI.
Chapter XXXVII. Of the Patriarch Henoch and the Sin of the Antediluvians
Chapter XXXVIII. The Divine Compassion
Chapter XXXIX.
Chapter XL. Traditions Concerning Noah
Chapter XLI.
Chapter XLII.
Chapter XLIII.
Chapter XLIV.
Chapter XLV. Kabbalistic Explanation of the Feast of Tabernacles and The Loulab
Chapter XLVI. The Occultism of Sacrifices
Chapter XLVII. A Vexata Questio In Biblical Philology
Chapter XLVIII. Kabbalistic Explanation of the Goat Azazel
Chapter XLIX. Rabbi Simeon's Reflections on the Supreme and Its Union with Human Souls
Chapter L
Chapter LI. The Occult Meaning of the Six Hundred Years of Noah's Life
Chapter LII. Adam Sitting at the Gate of the Garden of Eden
Chapter LIII. Remarks on the Destroying Angel and the Antediluvians
Chapter LIV. Kabbalistic Remarks on the Covenant or Union of the Higher and Lower Self
Chapter LV. Various Kabbalistic Expositions of Biblical Texts
Chapter LVI. The Divine Lehaerot On Ezechiel's Visions.
Chapter LVII. The Mystery of the Bow in the Cloud
Chapter LVIII. Rabbi Jehuda's Discussion with the Merchant, on Jacob's Pillar
Chapter LIX. The Symbolism of the Foundation Stone
Chapter LX. Rabbi Simeon on Mysteries and the Higher Life
Chapter LXI. Symbolism of the Colors of the Bow in the Cloud
Chapter LXII. The Mystery Of The Cursing Of Canaan By Noah
Chapter LXIII. Remarks on Predestination
Chapter LXIV.
Chapter LXV. The Thaumaturgical Erection of Solomon's Temple
Chapter LXVI. The Mystery of the Logos
Chapter LXVII. The Idolatry Of The Postdiluvians
Chapter LXVIII. The Tower of Babel
Chapter LXIX. A Comparison Between Noah and Moses
Chapter LXX. Why the Animal was Destroyed by the Deluge
Chapter LXXI. The Gilgal Or Revolution Animarum
Chapter LXXII. And Every Living Substance Was Destroyed. . .
Chapter LXXIII. What Two Rabbis Learned From a Youth
Chapter LXXIV.
Chapter LXXV. Comparison Between Adam and the Postdiluvians
Chapter LXXVI. Rabbi Simeon on the Closing of the Sanctuary
Chapter LXXVII. The Object of Building the Tower of Babel
Chapter LXXVIII. The Primeval Language and the Book of Adam
Chapter LXXIX. On Words and the Philosophy of Sound
Chapter LXXX. Section Lekh Lekha or the Call of Abram
Chapter LXXXI. Interlocutory Explanations
Chapter LXXXII. Abraham's First Studies in Occultism
Chapter LXXXIII. Abraham's Initiation into the Lesser Mysteries
Chapter LXXXIV. Abraham's Descent into Egypt for Initiation into the Higher Mysteries
Chapter LXXXV.
Chapter LXXXVI. Kabbalistic Cosmology
Chapter LXXXVII. Kabbalistic Philosophy of the Soul
Chapter LXXXVIII. Abraham's Initiatory Probation
Chapter LXXXIX. The Esoteric Explanation of Lot's Parting from Abraham
Chapter XC. Remarks on the Schekina
Chapter XCI. Rabbi Eleazar and Rabbi Hezekiah, and Their Nocturnal Studies
Chapter XCII. Rabbi Jose on the Seven Heavens or Firmaments
Chapter XCIII. Kabbalistic Remarks on Marriage
Chapter XCIV. On the Study of the Secret Doctrine
Chapter XCV. Rabbi Abba's Visit and What Occurred
Chapter XCVI. A Feast of the Circumcision
Chapter XCVII.
Chapter XCVIII.
Chapter XCIX. A Feast of Circumcision (Continued)
Chapter C
Chapter CI. Rabbi Abba's Punishment