Ancient Jewish Writings on the Trinity

[Yochanan5730]

Shlama Spyridon,

... It's origin is unknown though many Jews believe that it contains material which dates to the 2nd and has been passed down through the generations.

......Personally I don't know much about the Zohar or Kabbalah, as mysticsm is not a big interest of mine. There's a searchable version of the Zohar online here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/p=zohar/zohar">http://www.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/p=zohar/zohar</a><!-- m -->

Hope that helps.

its origin is in the 12th century, written solely by Moses de Leon. it's background is shady. Moses de Leon wrote "sections" of it from a manuscript he supposedly had, and he distibuted them amongst other scholars. they were fascinated to say the least. upon his death, the scholars went to his home to collect the 1st-2nd century document only to find that it never existed. His own wife had told them that he never had such a book, and that he wrote these things of himself. it is also reported, though sketchy itself, that Moses de Leon used a method of meditation called automatic writing to author the Zohar. with this as it's medium, it could then be said that he received it prophetically as a revelation from the past. however, we know that scripture doesn't promote such revelatory methods of the occult.

Personally, i believe that Moses de Leon wrote the book of his own thoughts. i believe that he was a rather withdrawn individual who was shy about sharing his own ideas of interpretation for fear of rejection. but to present them as someone elses work, especially that of an ancient sage of long ago, would at least give people the interest to look into it, and more readily receive it. i have found many interesting things in my studies of the Zohar over the past 15+ years. but if one isn't grounded in an understanding of the Torah and rabbinical traditions, they could easily misinterpret what they read from it such as groups like the Kabbalah Centre (Madonna's School).

now having mentioned Kabbalah Centre, i do not really recommend the Zohar website at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.kabbalah.com">http://www.kabbalah.com</a><!-- m -->. the translation is not a "pure" translation. infused within the text, in all caps, are the groups personal ideas of what the Zohar is saying. Many reputable Kabbalists of the traditional genre do not consider this group or their activities as being upright. i'm not going to tell anyone not to look, i'm just saying don't readily receive their personal inputs of the text.

much blessings in Yeshua,
Yochanan