The Zohar—Not without Attainment

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

The Zohar—Not without Attainment

All that The Zohar speaks of, even its legends, are the 10 Sefirot—
Keter, Hochma, Bina, Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, Yesod,
and Malchut—and their interactions. To a Kabbalist, the entries
and their various combinations are sufficient to reveal all the
spiritual worlds.
Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai (Rashbi), author of The Zohar, had
a big problem. He was debating with himself on how to convey
Kabbalah knowledge for future generations. He did not want to
expose people to the content in The Book of Zohar prematurely.
He was afraid this would only confuse and mislead people from
the true path.
To avoid confusion, he entrusted the writing in the hands
of Rabbi Aba, who knew how to write in a special way so only
the worthy would understand. Because of The Zohar’s special
language, only those who are already on the ladder of spiritual
degrees understand what is written there. The Zohar is only for
those who’ve already crossed the barrier and acquired some level
of spirituality. They are the ones who can understand the book,
according to their spiritual degree.
Tidbits
The happiest holiday in the Hebrew
calendar is Purim, when the story of
Haman and Mordechai is told. This holiday
represents the end of correction, and dictates
drinking until we cannot tell Haman from Mordechai,
egoism from altruism. This is because at
the end of correction, all desires are corrected
and work in order to give to the Creator, so it
doesn’t matter which desire you work with, it’ll
always be with the intention to give.

Today, most souls are too materialistic and egoistic to
understand The Zohar. They need tools to bring them into the
spiritual “zone” first. It’s like a space shuttle that needs a big
thrust before it can continue on its own engine. A supportive
environment, teacher, and correct books give your spiritual
understanding a “boost.”
There are different styles of writing in The Zohar. It was written
in different languages, depending on how they wanted to express
specific spiritual states. Sometimes the various languages create
confusion. When the book talks about laws, people may think
The Zohar is preaching morals. When it tells stories, people may
see them as fables. Without spiritual attainment, it is difficult to
understand what The Zohar is really about.
Some of The Zohar is written in the language of Kabbalah,
and some of it is written in the language of legends. Below are
examples of two such legends.