Editing Zohar (section)

==Contents==
===Printings, editions, and indexing===
''Tikunei haZohar'' was first printed in [[Mantua]] in 1557. The main body of the ''Zohar'' was printed in [[Cremona]] in 1558 (a one-volume edition), in Mantua in 1558-1560 (a three-volume edition), and in [[Thessaloniki|Salonika]] in 1597 (a two-volume edition). Each of these editions included somewhat different texts.<ref name="editions">{{cite journal | last2 = Bendowska | first2 = Magda | last1 = Doktór | first1 = Jan | title = Sefer haZohar – the Battle for Editio Princeps | journal = Jewish History Quarterly | volume = 2 | issue = 242 | pages = 141–161 | year = 2012 | url = http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=581b3dcbc6a54d9980d90ddf7c38edfa | access-date = 30 January 2014 | archive-date = 2 February 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140202095552/http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=581b3dcbc6a54d9980d90ddf7c38edfa | url-status = dead }}</ref> When they were printed there were many partial manuscripts in circulation that were not available to the first printers. These were later printed as ''Zohar Chadash'' ({{lit|New Radiance}}), but ''Zohar Chadash'' actually contains parts that pertain to the ''Zohar'', as well as ''Tikunim'' (plural of ''Tikun'', "Repair", see also ''[[Tikkun olam]]'') that are akin to ''[[Tikunei haZohar]]'', as described below. The term ''Zohar'', in usage, may refer to just the first ''Zohar'' collection, with or without the applicable sections of ''Zohar Chadash'', or to the entire ''Zohar'' and Tikunim.
Citations referring to the ''Zohar'' conventionally follow the volume and page numbers of the Mantua edition, while citations referring to ''Tikkunei haZohar'' follow the edition of Ortakoy (Constantinople) 1719 whose text and pagination became the basis for most subsequent editions. Volumes II and III begin their numbering anew, so citation can be made by ''parashah'' and page number (e.g. ''Zohar: Nasso'' 127a), or by volume and page number (e.g. ''Zohar'' III:127a).{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}[[File:POLIN 11.jpg|thumb|An 1809 edition of the ''Zohar'', printed in [[Slavuta]], as seen in [[POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews]]]]

===The ''New Zohar'' (זוהר חדש)===
After the book of the ''Zohar'' had been printed (in Mantua and in Cremona, in the Jewish years 5318–5320 or 1558–1560? CE), many more manuscripts were found that included paragraphs pertaining to the ''Zohar'' which had not been included in printed editions. The manuscripts pertained also to all parts of the ''Zohar''; some were similar to ''Zohar'' on the Torah, some were similar to the inner parts of the ''Zohar'' (''Midrash haNe'elam, Sitrei Otiyot'' and more), and some pertained to ''[[Tikunei haZohar]]''. Some thirty years after the first edition of the ''Zohar'' was printed, the manuscripts were gathered and arranged according to the ''parashiyot'' of the Torah and the [[Five Megillot|megillot]] (apparently the arrangement was done by the Kabbalist, Avraham haLevi of [[Safed|Tsfat]]), and were printed first in Salonika in Jewish year 5357 (1587? CE), and then in Kraków (5363), and afterwards in various editions.<ref name="ohrz">Much of the information on contents and sections of the ''Zohar'' is found in the book ''Ohr haZohar''(אור הזוהר) by Rabbi Yehuda Shalom Gross, in Hebrew, published by Mifal Zohar Hoilumi, Ramat Beth Shemesh, Israel, Heb. year 5761 (2001 CE); also available at http://israel613.com/HA-ZOHAR/OR_HAZOHAR_2.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120410194128/http://israel613.com/HA-ZOHAR/OR_HAZOHAR_2.htm |date=2012-04-10}}, accessed March 1, 2012; explicit permission is given in both the printed and electronic book "to whoever desires to print paragraphs from this book, or the entire book, in any language, in any country, in order to increase Torah and fear of Heaven in the world and to awaken hearts our brothers the children of Yisrael in complete ''[[Repentance in Judaism|teshuvah]]''".</ref>

=== Structure ===
According to Scholem, the ''Zohar'' can be divided into 21 types of content, of which the first 18 (a.–s.) are the work of the original author (probably de Leon) and the final 3 (t.–v.) are the work of a later imitator.

'''a. Untitled Torah commentary'''

A "bulky part" which is "wholly composed of discursive commentaries on various passages from the Torah".<ref name=":0" />

'''b. Book of Concealment (ספרא דצניעותא)'''

A short part of only six pages, containing a commentary to the first six chapters of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]]. It is "highly oracular and obscure," citing no authorities and explaining nothing.

'''c. Greater Assembly (אדרא רבא)'''

This part contains an explanation of the oracular hints in the previous section. Ben Yochai's friends gather together to discuss secrets of Kabbalah. After the opening of the discussion by ben Yochai, the sages rise, one after the other, and lecture on the secret of Divinity, while ben Yochai adds to and responds to their words. The sages become steadily more ecstatic until three of them die. Scholem calls this part "architecturally perfect."

'''d. Lesser Assembly (אדרא זוטא)'''

Ben Yochai dies and a speech is quoted in which he explains the previous section.

'''e. Assembly of the Tabernacle (אדרא דמשכנא)'''

This part has the same structure as '''c.''' but discusses instead the mysticism of [[Jewish prayer|prayer]].

'''f. Palaces (היכלות)'''

Seven palaces of light are described, which are perceived by the devout in death. This description appears again in another passage, heavily embellished.

'''g. Secretum Secretorum (רזא דרזין)'''

An anonymous discourse on [[physiognomy]] and a discourse on [[chiromancy]] by ben Yochai.

'''h. Old Man (סבא)'''

An elaborate narrative about a speech by an old Kabbalist.

'''i. Child (ינוקא)'''

A story of a prodigy and his Kabbalistic speech.

'''k. Head of the Academy (רב מתיבתא)'''

A [[Pardes (legend)|Pardes]] narrative in which a head of the celestial academy reveals secrets about the destinies of the soul.

'''l. Secrets of Torah (סתרי תורה)'''

Allegorical and mystical interpretations of Torah passages.

'''m. [[Mishnah|Mishnas]] (מתניתין)'''

Imitations of the [[Mishnaic Hebrew|Mishnaic]] style, designed to introduce longer commentaries in the style of the Talmud.

'''n. Zohar to the Song of Songs'''

Kabbalistic commentary to the [[Song of Songs]].

'''o. Standard of Measure (קו המידה)'''

Profound interpretation of [[Shema Yisrael|Deut. 6:4]].

'''p. Secrets of Letters (סתרי אותיות)'''

A monologue by ben Yochai on the letters in the [[Names of God in Judaism|names of God]] and their use in creation.

'''q. Commentary to the [[Merkabah mysticism|Merkabah]]'''

'''r. Mystical Midrash (מדרש הנעלם)'''

A Kabbalistic commentary on the Torah, citing a wide variety of Talmudic sages. According to [[Moses ben Mordecai Zacuto|Ramaz]], it is fit to be called ''Midrash haNe'elam'' because "its topic is mostly the ''neshamah'' (an upper level of soul), the source of which is in ''[[Beri'ah]]'', which is the place of the upper [[Garden of Eden|Gan Eden]]; and it is written in the ''[[Pardes Rimonim|Pardes]]'' that [[midrash|drash]] is in ''Beri'ah''...&nbsp;and the revealed midrash is the secret of externality, and ''Midrash haNe'elam'' is the secret of internality, which is the neshamah. And this [[midrash|derush]] is founded on the neshamah; its name befits it—''Midrash haNe'elam''.<ref>the Ramaz, brought in ''Mikdash Melekh laZohar, parashat Vayeira'', Zalkova edition, p. 100</ref>

The language of ''Midrash haNe'elam'' is sometimes [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], sometimes Aramaic, and sometimes both mixed. Unlike the body of the ''Zohar'', its ''drashot'' are short and not long. Also, the topics it discusses—the work of Creation, the nature of the soul, the days of [[Messiah in Judaism|Mashiach]], and ''[[Olam Haba]]''—are not of the type found in the ''Zohar'', which are the nature of God, the [[Emanationism|emanation of worlds]], the "forces" of evil, and more.

'''s. Mystic Midrash on Ruth'''

A commentary on the [[Book of Ruth]] in the same style.

'''t. Faithful Shepherd (רעיא מהימנא)'''

By far the largest "book" included in the ''Zohar'', this is a Kabbalistic commentary on [[Moses]]' teachings revealed to ben Yochai and his friends.<ref name="ohrz" /> [[Moses ben Jacob Cordovero|Moshe Cordovero]] said, "Know that this book, which is called ''Ra'aya Meheimna'', which ben Yochai made with the [[tzadik]]im who are in Gan Eden, was a repair of the [[Shekhinah]], and an aid and support for it in the exile, for there is no aid or support for the Shekhinah besides the secrets of the Torah... And everything that he says here of the secrets and the concepts—it is all with the intention of unifying the Shekhinah and aiding it during the exile.<ref>''Ohr haChamah laZohar'', part 2, p. 115b, in the name of the Ramak</ref>

'''u. Rectifications of the Zohar (תקוני זוהר)'''
{{Main|Tikunei haZohar}}

''Tikunei haZohar'', which was printed as a separate book, includes seventy commentaries called ''Tikunim'' ({{lit|Repairs}}) and an additional eleven ''Tikunim''. In some editions, ''Tikunim'' are printed that were already printed in the ''Zohar Chadash'', which in their content and style also pertain to ''Tikunei haZohar''.<ref name="ohrz" />

Each of the seventy ''Tikunim'' of ''Tikunei haZohar'' begins by explaining the word ''Bereishit'' (בראשית), and continues by explaining other verses, mainly in ''[[Bereshit (parashah)|parashat Bereishit]]'', and also from the rest of [[Tanakh]]. And all this is in the way of ''[[Pardes (Jewish exegesis)|Sod]]'', in commentaries that reveal the hidden and mystical aspects of the Torah.

''Tikunei haZohar'' and ''Ra'aya Meheimna'' are similar in style, language, and concepts, and are different from the rest of the ''Zohar''. For example, the idea of the [[Four Worlds]] is found in ''Tikunei haZohar'' and ''Ra'aya Meheimna'' but not elsewhere, as is true of the very use of the term "Kabbalah". In terminology, what is called Kabbalah in ''Tikunei haZohar'' and ''Ra'aya Meheimna'' is simply called ''razin'' (clues or hints) in the rest of the ''Zohar''.<ref name="rys">According to Rabbi Yaakov Siegel, in an email dated February 29, 2012, to ~~Nissimnanach</ref> In ''Tikunei haZohar'' there are many references to ''chibura kadma'ah'' (meaning "the earlier book"). This refers to the main body of the ''Zohar''.<ref name="rys" />

'''v. Further Additions'''

These include later ''Tikkunim'' and other texts in the same style.