Our last Zohar class

Tonight was the last class that we have been having with Rabbi Lee Moore on the Zohar. I can't remember if I have talked about the Zohar in my blog. This class took the place of Torah study when Rabbi Ahuvah left and Rabbi Lee Moore came as an interim. She had studied the Zohar with a scholar in Jewish mysticism, and she wanted to share what she had learned with us. The Zohar is a 13th century Spanish work, multi-volumed, written in Aramaic, and recently translated into English by Daniel Matt. We started in Vol. 9, and although Rabbi Lee had photocopied handouts, I bought Vol. 9 so I could read ahead. Here it is:

The Zohar, Vol. 9********************************************* It is not easy reading, but it is fascinating. This Volume is heavily annotated, which is helpful, because there is a lot going on that is pretty obscure. But once you begin to get the hang of it, it is very interesting and it is surprising how often these obscure interpretations of Hebrew scripture resonate with contemporary issues and realities. Tonight for example, there was a lot of discussion of gender, what it means to be a man and a woman, who is superior, who should walk in front of the other, etc. You would expect this medieval Jewish work to be typically patriarchal, but it isn't. There's a lot of gender confusion, ambiguity, displacement, with the notion of the man going behind the woman (the woman in this case being Shekinah, the female presence of God) being a more desirable position. I'm sorry that this study is ending, and I am hoping that somehow I can learn more about the Zohar. I may have to do it on my own, using the footnotes.

Rabbi Lee Moore