[Avodah] Dating the Zohar

[Micha Berger]

Just seen on RJJBaker's blog:
    ...
	30. There are questions that are the garments of the Ha-lachah,
	NAMELY THE GARMENTS OF MALCHUT, of which it says "inwrought
	with gold" - as it is written: "The King's daughter is all
	glorious within: her clothing is in-wrought with gold" (Tehilim
	45:14). You, AMORAIM, cut THE GARMENT INWROUGHT WITH GOLD into
	several le-gal sentences and later fix and explain them away
	using various arguments.

	31. If one chapter of the Mishnah is missing, and it has been
	maintained that something is missing from the Mishnah, you fix
	it. FOR EXAMPLE, IN PLACES WHERE IT IS STATED IN THE GEMARA:
	"A CLAUSE HAS BEEN OMITTED, FOR THIS IS THE WAY WE HAVE LEARNED
	IT...," such is wanting that can be numbered. If a sim-pleton
	comes and spreads an evil report of the craftsman that cuts
	the garments, saying: The Torah is lacking - STATING THAT IN
	THIS PARAGRAPH OF THE MISHNAH, A CLAUSE HAS BEEN OMITTED. Yet,
	it is written: "The Torah of Hashem is perfect," (Tehilim 19:8)
	perfect in all the members of the body, the 248 positive precepts,
	as written: "You are all fair, my love; there is no blemish in
	you," (Shir Hashirim 4:7), and perfect in her garments. How can
	anything be lacking in the Mishnah?

	32. HE ANSWERS: Say to him - look carefully and find the MISSING
	piece. You may find it mixed with other verses and Mishnahyot,
	MEANING, IT IS THE CUSTOM OF THE TORAH TO BE LACKING IN ONE
	PLACE AND RICH IN ANOTHER. For it is the way of the craftsman to
	cut garments into several pieces, AND THAT WHICH IS MISSING IN
	ONE PLACE IS FILLED UP IN ANOTHER. The students, inexperienced
	in connecting the Halachah to those pieces THAT ARE IN ANOTHER
	PLACE, confuse the sentences and questions, and cannot explain the
	dilem-mas until the craftsman comes and explains all the doubts
	they have. At that time, Halachah the daughter, NAMELY MALCHUT,
	rises before the King, perfect in eve-rything, in body, garments
	and jewelry. And in it the verse comes true: "And I will look
	upon it, that I may remember the everlasting Covenant" (Beresheet
	9:16). Sometimes the craftsman has an experienced student whom
	he sends to correct them, NAMELY ELIJAH, AS WAS MENTIONED BEFORE.

    Note that this passage, in addressing the students of the Amoraim,
    is clearly set after the time of R' Shimon bar Yochai. It seems to
    start out criticizing the Amoraim for "cutting up the golden garment"
    of the Mishnah, but winds up praising them for bringing the disparate
    parts of the Mishnah together in a coherent whole. They do this
    by looking for what is missing, perhaps it can be found in another
    mishnah or in a midrash or Tosefta, and splice it in. Or perhaps they
    extrapolate what was missing, as in chasurei mechsera vehachi katani -
    "this is how the lacuna should be read".

    In any case, this is clearly the textual criticism that makes up
    much of the Gemara's discussion of Mishnayot. This story praises the
    early Amoraim for their textual activity (the early Amoraim feeling
    freer to emend the text of the Mishnah).

    If Rashb"i lived in the late Tannaitic period (according to the
    JE article on Simeon ben Yohai, citing Graetz, he fled to the cave
    c. 161), it had to have 50-100 years after his time that this story
    took place. Thus, this part of the Zohar necessarily postdates
    Rashb"i.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A wise man is careful during the Purim banquet
micha at aishdas.org        about things most people don't watch even on
http://www.aishdas.org   Yom Kippur.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                       - Rav Yisrael Salanter