A Journey into the Zohar: An Introduction to the Book of Radiance

An introduction to the Zohar, the crowning work of medieval Kabbalah. Includes original translations and analysis.

The crowning work of medieval Kabbalah, the Zohar is unlike any other work in the Jewish canon. Written in Aramaic, the Zohar contains complex mystical exegesis as well as a delightful epic narrative about the Companions—a group of sages who wander through second-century Israel discussing the Torah while encountering children, donkey drivers, and other surprising figures who reveal profound mysteries to them. Nathan Wolski offers original translations of episodes involving this mystical fellowship and goes on to provide a sustained reading of each. With particular emphasis on the literary and performative dimensions of the composition, Wolski takes the reader on a journey through the central themes and motifs of the zoharic world: kabbalistic hermeneutics, the structure of divinity, the nature of the soul, and, above all, the experiential core of the Zohar—the desire to be saturated and intoxicated with the flowing fluids of divinity. A Journey into the Zohar opens the mysterious, wondrous, and at times bewildering universe of one of the masterpieces of world mystical literature to a wider community of scholars, students, and general readers alike.

“The Zohar is one of those books that is next to impossible to comprehend without a teacher. However, a manual such as this one, could come close to filling the bill. Wolski’s structure is as simple and straightforward as the material allows.” — AJL Reviews

“Wolski does an excellent job of introducing and making sense of key elements in the zoharic texts … Readers who carefully work through the passages selected, together with Wolski’s narrative commentary, will gain a comprehensive sense of what the Zohar has to teach.” ― CHOICE

“With a poet’s heart and a scholar’s mind, Nathan Wolski guides us through the Zohar—the masterpiece of Kabbalah—revealing its wonder and mystery. His translations of these mystical narratives are superb, conveying the potency of the original Aramaic. His commentary reveals the ancient secrets with exquisite sensitivity. Readers who have been daunted by the Zohar now have a gateway and a path.” — Daniel Matt, translator and editor of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition

“Wolski’s book is elegantly written, erudite, and enlightening. It makes available to a much wider audience the kinds of religious thinking that went into the production of the Zohar. There is no book like it in English, and as an original commentary on the Zohar, it will have lasting value.” — Joel Hecker, author of Mystical Bodies, Mystical Meals: Eating and Embodiment in Medieval Kabbalah