The History of the Wisdom of Kabbalah

The first book that we have in this wisdom is The Book of Creation, which some attribute to Abraham the Patriarch, and so it is written on its cover. However, most authors attribute it to the Tanna, Rabbi Akiva. This seems to make sense since only in his days was writing permitted in the Oral Torah. Hence, besides the books of the Bible, we hardly have any books that predate the generation of Rabbi Akiva, due to the known prohibition that you are not permitted to say written words out loud, and you are not permitted to write down words that are said out loud. But after the ruin of the Temple and the scattering of the nation from its land, they feared that the Torah would be forgotten from Israel so they permitted the writing because “It is time to do for the Lord; they have broken Your Torah [law].”

At that time, the disciples of Rabbi Akiva began to write the whole of the Oral Torah that they knew. Each of them took upon himself a special faction. Rabbi Meir redacted the Mishnah, Rabbi Yehuda redacted the Tosaftot, and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai redacted the wisdom of Kabbalah in which they were proficient, and composed The Book of Zohar and the Tikkunim.

Thus, as the Mishnah is a compilation and assembly of laws and innovations of all the generations leading to the generation of Rabbi Meir, The Zohar is a compilation and assembly of the wisdom of Kabbalah from all the first ones who preceded Rashbi and were only written in Rashbi’s name because he redacted them. Of course, he also added his own innovations.

However, the disciples of Rabbi Akiva did not sign their books so that no additions would be added to them. On the contrary, with their books, they created a beginning so that others who followed them would add clarifications, scrutinies, and innovations to the compositions that they had begun. This was the same manner that was customary when they engaged in Oral Torah, where the latter ones clarified and scrutinized, and sometimes disputed the view of the former ones, and added to the former ones. This is why you find in the Mishnah innovations and sayings from other Tannaim [pl. of Tanna] who lived after the time of Rabbi Meir.

This continued until the generation of Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi, who found that the generations were declining and were no longer worthy of disputing the former ones. Also, there was the fear that unworthy disciples would contradict the words of the former ones. Hence, he arose and sealed the Mishnah, and since then it has not been permitted to anyone to add anything to the Mishnah or dispute any of the rules introduced there.

However, there was no signing on The Zohar because it was intended for concealment and was absent among the masses except for among the heads of the generations, who secretly kept it. For this reason, the composition remained … and each of the heads of the generations added to it as he saw fit, and this continued until the time of our sages the Savoraim.

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