The History of the Zohar: The Italian Connection
Over the centuries, various legends and rumors have sprung up surrounding the origins of the Zohar, the foundational text of the Kabbalah. As befits a book that is shrouded in mystery and difficult to understand, there are also differences of opinion regarding the circumstances under which it was composed. Jewish tradition attributes the composition of the Zohar to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, aka the Rashbi, the most important of the Tannaim (the rabbinic sages of the Mishna), who lived and worked during the second century CE. This writing credit to the Rashbi is primarily based on the fact that he is the main "protagonist" of the book, which includes many words that he is said to have uttered with his own lips. On the other hand, according to the latest historical research, the Zohar was compiled as the result of a long, continuous process through which a number of Zoharic anthologies were forged. These collections included the manuscripts of various Kabbalistic texts written during the Middle Ages by various Jewish authors, which were later combined into the book that we now know as the Zohar.
The transition into print was a significant milestone in the consolidation of the Zoharic anthologies into one single compilation. It was only after the first two editions of the Zohar were printed that the texts that had been passed down from generation to generation were sorted, compiled, and arranged in a certain order. Some of the texts that appeared in previous manuscripts were omitted from the final version. These first two versions were printed in the Italian cities of Mantua and Cremona between the years 1557 and 1560.
The first two printed editions of the Zohar are to a large extent quite parallel, aside from the fact that the edition printed in Mantua includes three volumes while the one printed in Cremona is concentrated in one volume only. From the similarity between these first two printed editions, it is clear that business espionage was already flourishing in the 16th century, and that the two competing printers had followed each other’s work, even changing their editorial plans based on what they discovered.
The printers from both printing houses collected many manuscripts to prepare their editions, and for each text, they decided which version to base their work on. The result was a book that did not match any manuscript. Most editions of the Zohar that have been printed since, right up to the present day, have followed the formats of Mantua and Cremona. That is why it can be said that the final, consolidated version of the most important Kabbalistic book in Judaism was decided by two Italian printers. And yet, additional texts were added to the subsequent editions that were printed over the years – including those that were omitted by the Italian printers, appeared in only one of those first two editions, or were composed by later Kabbalists who came after those first editions were printed.
Rare copies of the first two editions of the Zohar from Mantua and Cremona can be found at the National Library of Israel. Here, we have chosen to present the Mantua edition, which is the better-known of the two. Researchers explain that the printers of the Mantua edition worked in coordination with Kabbalists from Safed and saw a clear, Messianic context in the printing and distribution of the Zohar.
Over the centuries, various legends and rumors have sprung up surrounding the origins of the Zohar, the foundational text of the Kabbalah. As befits a book that is shrouded in mystery and difficult to understand, there are also differences of opinion regarding the circumstances under which it was composed. Jewish tradition attributes the composition of the Zohar to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, aka the Rashbi, the most important of the Tannaim (the rabbinic sages of the Mishna), who lived and worked during the second century CE. This writing credit to the Rashbi is primarily based on the fact that he is the main "protagonist" of the book, which includes many words that he is said to have uttered with his own lips. On the other hand, according to the latest historical research, the Zohar was compiled as the result of a long, continuous process through which a number of Zoharic anthologies were forged. These collections included the manuscripts of various Kabbalistic texts written during the Middle Ages by various Jewish authors, which were later combined into the book that we now know as the Zohar.
The transition into print was a significant milestone in the consolidation of the Zoharic anthologies into one single compilation. It was only after the first two editions of the Zohar were printed that the texts that had been passed down from generation to generation were sorted, compiled, and arranged in a certain order. Some of the texts that appeared in previous manuscripts were omitted from the final version. These first two versions were printed in the Italian cities of Mantua and Cremona between the years 1557 and 1560.
The first two printed editions of the Zohar are to a large extent quite parallel, aside from the fact that the edition printed in Mantua includes three volumes while the one printed in Cremona is concentrated in one volume only. From the similarity between these first two printed editions, it is clear that business espionage was already flourishing in the 16th century, and that the two competing printers had followed each other’s work, even changing their editorial plans based on what they discovered.
The printers from both printing houses collected many manuscripts to prepare their editions, and for each text, they decided which version to base their work on. The result was a book that did not match any manuscript. Most editions of the Zohar that have been printed since, right up to the present day, have followed the formats of Mantua and Cremona. That is why it can be said that the final, consolidated version of the most important Kabbalistic book in Judaism was decided by two Italian printers. And yet, additional texts were added to the subsequent editions that were printed over the years – including those that were omitted by the Italian printers, appeared in only one of those first two editions, or were composed by later Kabbalists who came after those first editions were printed.
Rare copies of the first two editions of the Zohar from Mantua and Cremona can be found at the National Library of Israel. Here, we have chosen to present the Mantua edition, which is the better-known of the two. Researchers explain that the printers of the Mantua edition worked in coordination with Kabbalists from Safed and saw a clear, Messianic context in the printing and distribution of the Zohar.
Over the centuries, various legends and rumors have sprung up surrounding the origins of the Zohar, the foundational text of the Kabbalah. As befits a book that is shrouded in mystery and difficult to understand, there are also differences of opinion regarding the circumstances under which it was composed. Jewish tradition attributes the composition of the Zohar to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, aka the Rashbi, the most important of the Tannaim (the rabbinic sages of the Mishna), who lived and worked during the second century CE. This writing credit to the Rashbi is primarily based on the fact that he is the main "protagonist" of the book, which includes many words that he is said to have uttered with his own lips. On the other hand, according to the latest historical research, the Zohar was compiled as the result of a long, continuous process through which a number of Zoharic anthologies were forged. These collections included the manuscripts of various Kabbalistic texts written during the Middle Ages by various Jewish authors, which were later combined into the book that we now know as the Zohar.
The transition into print was a significant milestone in the consolidation of the Zoharic anthologies into one single compilation. It was only after the first two editions of the Zohar were printed that the texts that had been passed down from generation to generation were sorted, compiled, and arranged in a certain order. Some of the texts that appeared in previous manuscripts were omitted from the final version. These first two versions were printed in the Italian cities of Mantua and Cremona between the years 1557 and 1560.
The first two printed editions of the Zohar are to a large extent quite parallel, aside from the fact that the edition printed in Mantua includes three volumes while the one printed in Cremona is concentrated in one volume only. From the similarity between these first two printed editions, it is clear that business espionage was already flourishing in the 16th century, and that the two competing printers had followed each other’s work, even changing their editorial plans based on what they discovered.
The printers from both printing houses collected many manuscripts to prepare their editions, and for each text, they decided which version to base their work on. The result was a book that did not match any manuscript. Most editions of the Zohar that have been printed since, right up to the present day, have followed the formats of Mantua and Cremona. That is why it can be said that the final, consolidated version of the most important Kabbalistic book in Judaism was decided by two Italian printers. And yet, additional texts were added to the subsequent editions that were printed over the years – including those that were omitted by the Italian printers, appeared in only one of those first two editions, or were composed by later Kabbalists who came after those first editions were printed.
Rare copies of the first two editions of the Zohar from Mantua and Cremona can be found at the National Library of Israel. Here, we have chosen to present the Mantua edition, which is the better-known of the two. Researchers explain that the printers of the Mantua edition worked in coordination with Kabbalists from Safed and saw a clear, Messianic context in the printing and distribution of the Zohar.
More Items
.jpg)
tab1img1=The Mantua edition of the Zohar, edited in coordination with Kabbalists from Safed (Tzfat)
.svg)
