If Kabbalah has a central book, it is the Zohar. The name means "Splendor" or "Radiance," and it is enormous: a mystical commentary on the Torah, written mostly in Aramaic, spread across many volumes, full of stories, riddles, dialogues and descriptions of the hidden worlds.
Where it comes from
Tradition attributes the Zohar to the second-century sage Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who according to legend hid in a cave for thirteen years and received its secrets there. It became widely known in 13th-century Spain. Rav Berg followed the traditional attribution and treat the Zohar as a direct transmission of ancient wisdom.
Rav Berg's approach
For most of history, the Zohar was studied by very few people. Rav Berg's movement set out to put it into everyone's hands, and Rav Berg's son Michael Berg produced the first complete, unabridged English translation, published in 23 volumes.
They also taught something unusual: that the Zohar's power works even on a reader who doesn't understand the Aramaic. In their practice, simply scanning the letters with the eyes, with an open heart and a desire to connect, draws Light, in the way that sunlight warms you whether or not you understand photosynthesis. This practice of "scanning" the Zohar is a signature of Rav Berg's school.
How to start
- Begin with an English commentary or a short selection rather than trying to read the whole thing.
- Read slowly and let a single image or phrase stay with you through the day.
- If you want to try scanning, spend a few quiet minutes letting your eyes move over a page of the Aramaic from right to left, with a clear intention in mind.
A living book
In Rav Berg's telling, the Zohar isn't a museum piece. It's described as a tool for the present – a source of protection, clarity and connection for anyone willing to open it.