169) A RECENTLY DISCOVERED DOCUMENT SHOWING RAV KOOK’S POSITION ON THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE ZOHAR:
While many believe the Zohar to have been authored by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai during the second century CE, the fact is that authorship of the Zohar has been disputed by many Torah scholars over the centuries. Some believe the Zohar to have been written around the 13thcentury.
INTRODUCTION:
See Mysteries Behind the Origins of the Zohar.
In this article, we will look at a hitherto unknown document which was discovered relatively recently in a library in Jerusalem. It apparently gives unprecedented insight into Rav Kook’s (1865-1935) position on the issue of the authorship and age of the Zohar.
Rabbi David Bar-Hayim describes how some thirty odd years ago while looking through the National Library in Jerusalem – which contains a smaller library, specializing in matters relating to Kabbalah and known as the Gershom Scholem Library – he came across what appeared to be a nondescript file.THE STORY:
This file contained just three photocopied pages which had been stapled onto a piece of cardboard. The title read “Meyuchas leRav Kook” – attributed to Rav Kook.
- Bar-Hayim got permission to copy the three pages and immediately identified the handwriting as belonging to the foremost student of Rav Kook, R. David Cohen known as theNazir.
From Kotzk Blog, here.