TY - JOUR
T1 - The path of silence
T2 - An unknown story from a Zohar manuscript
AU - Meroz, Ronit
N1 - Funding Information:
1 This article is part of a more extensive research project on the Book of the Zohar and its manuscripts which is being supported by The Israel Science Foundation (no. 897/01, 1193/04). The research project involves the examination of the entire inventory of manuscripts and quotations from the Zohar—until now, approximately 660 sources have been located—and it will pave the way for the publication of a critical edition of the Zohar (the first portion, to be published soon, will be “Exodus”). The text presented here was discovered while scanning these Zohar manuscripts. I wish to express my gratitude to Neta Sobol, who provided assistance during this work. I also wish to thank Prof. Yehuda Liebes, Dr. Avriel Bar-Levav, and Neta Sobol for their comments as well as the Vatican library for granting permission to publish this text found in a manuscript in their possession.
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - This article presents a Zoharic story found in one manuscript only-ms. Vatican 206. The focal point of this story is the question whether in order to cleave to God while walking, one should make use of the homiletical discourse, which naturally involves a dialogue with one's walking partner, or whether one should focus one's heart and will on God in utter silence. Rabbi Yose represents the group consensus (widely described in the printed edition of the Zohar) as he expects Rabbi Abba to converse with him about matters of Torah; Rabbi Abba, on the other hand, represents ideas novel to that circle, probably under the influence of contemporary spiritualist trends. The story is very succinct, but its comparison to other Zoharic texts and the attention to the strong emotions alluded to between the lines reveal a rich plot. It seems that the fellows of the historical Zohar circle found themselves at a spiritual crossroads-one of them was attempting to undermine their dominant spiritual system and replace it with a more introverted one. It seems, however, that the fact that this story was excluded from the Zoharic corpus-it only appears in one manuscript-shows that the positive ending to this imaginary story, whereby Rabbi Yose silently agrees with Rabbi Abba, remains a wishful thought and that this attempt at incorporating new ways into the circle's traditions failed.
AB - This article presents a Zoharic story found in one manuscript only-ms. Vatican 206. The focal point of this story is the question whether in order to cleave to God while walking, one should make use of the homiletical discourse, which naturally involves a dialogue with one's walking partner, or whether one should focus one's heart and will on God in utter silence. Rabbi Yose represents the group consensus (widely described in the printed edition of the Zohar) as he expects Rabbi Abba to converse with him about matters of Torah; Rabbi Abba, on the other hand, represents ideas novel to that circle, probably under the influence of contemporary spiritualist trends. The story is very succinct, but its comparison to other Zoharic texts and the attention to the strong emotions alluded to between the lines reveal a rich plot. It seems that the fellows of the historical Zohar circle found themselves at a spiritual crossroads-one of them was attempting to undermine their dominant spiritual system and replace it with a more introverted one. It seems, however, that the fact that this story was excluded from the Zoharic corpus-it only appears in one manuscript-shows that the positive ending to this imaginary story, whereby Rabbi Yose silently agrees with Rabbi Abba, remains a wishful thought and that this attempt at incorporating new ways into the circle's traditions failed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=61949245375&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/187247107783876301
DO - 10.1163/187247107783876301
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AN - SCOPUS:61949245375
SN - 1025-9996
VL - 1
SP - 319
EP - 342
JO - European Journal of Jewish Studies
JF - European Journal of Jewish Studies
IS - 2
ER -