From: levene@aplpy.jhuapl.edu (Robert A. Levene)
Newsgroups: alt.messianic
Subject: Doctored Amsterdam Zohar
Date: 14 Oct 1992 20:54:28 -0500
Organization: Johns Hopkins University
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

Continuing from my anonymous friend...
-------

Mr. Carlson wrote:

     First of all, you can put aside the idea of your 'friend' being
     any kind of 'expert'!  Someone that woefully ignorant of the
     Amsterdam version of Zohar, could be not "Zohar expert".

There are at least 3 "Amsterdam" versions.  Carlson chose to quote
from a version doctored to include Christological references without
identifying it as a doctored text and not the standard Zohar.  It's as
if someone was to quote from the "Gospels," neglecting to say that it
was the "Gospel of Howard the Annointed" and not the standard NT.
Considering Mr. Carlson's missionary agenda though, his omission of
this critical information is not surprising.

     First of all, the Amsterdam version of Zohar is considered both
     ancient and genuine in Orthodox Judiasm!  Second, the passages
     you commented on are not the same that I'd posted on!

It may be ancient and genuine (in the sense that it is an existing
edition) but it is not authentic in that it is not a faithful copy of
the original Zohar.  Check it against all other extant editions and
you'll find it's truly "unique" (a veiled euphemism for "fake") as
Carlson acknowledged.  This is the crux: Carlson is a missionary who
quotes from non-standard texts without clearly identifying that he's
doing so.

     Third, this
     version is well known by almost all scholars, Rabbinic or no, down
     through the centuries!  While the majority of the quotes I gave
     are only found thus in the Amsterdam version, the ideas presented
     are outlined elsewhere in other versions of Zohar, to a lesser
     extent.  The only thing that is a 'fraud and a forgery' here, is
     RL stating that you are a 'Zohar expert'!

Well known perhaps, but still a forgery.  Those ideas are not outlined
anywhere in the standard Zohar.  I challenge Mr. Carlson to present
any Christological references in the standard Zohar.  

I wrote:

 > Regarding his typically-out-of-context mention of the Jewish
 > Encyclopedia's mention of Cabala: Unlike Christianity, the Cabala
 > does not ascribe divinity to the Unity's many different
 > manifestations into the physical world.

     Who's Cabala?!  If you were any kind of 'Zohar expert', then you'd
     know that from the time of Natan of Gaza on, the 'upgraded'
     version of the Lurianic Kabbalah did indeed take the dogma of the
     Tzimtzim and formulate it into a nature of the G-dhead that
     included an ascribing of the Divine to the Three aspects of
     El*him!

Mr. Carlson is in the proper company.  Shabbatai Zevi and the
Frankists were false messiahs who interpreted (and sometimes modified)
Jewish theology, scripture, and other sacred texts in a manner
somewhat analogous to Christianity and messianism.  By discarding
Judaism's fundamental beliefs, each of these movements became
something other than Judaism.  The earlier two movement's effects on
their respective Jewish communities were devastating.

Lurianic Cabala stands on its own to this day and ascribes divinity to
the Ein-Sof uniquely, consonant with Jewish theology.

     Accordingly, that El*him of Israel, was not the Ein-Sof,
     but was a second-cause dwelling within the Sefirah Tiferet.
     -It was revealed by this Sefirah, but not identical, as in yachid;
     but composite: as in Echad.  The Metatron was likewise expanded to
     include a visible Presence of HaShem, within The Angel of the
     L*RD/Covenant, - & considered the very HaShem Himself, though not
     the totality of the Presence of HaShem.  Where the heck do you
     think the Shabbatai Zevi-ites, and Frankists got there ideas in
     the first place!

Just as Christianity started with Judaism's theology, and interpreted
and redefined it to reflect Christian political and theological goals,
so did the Shabbatai Zevi-ites and the Frankists.  Judaism has had
many false messiahs.

     The Amsterdam
     Zohar, (which was NOT added to by "Christians"), is in accord
     with the Kabbalistic "trinity" movmenets which swept Europe, N.
     Africa, and the Middle East starting in the 17th centuries, and
     may very well represent an earlier base text, - which in later
     versions, (the Rabbinim being careful to not encourage further
     Jewish 'trinity' movements), chose to edit!

The Zohar was first published hundreds of years before the doctored
edition Carlson cited.  There is a standard Zohar and the one Carlson
cites is not it.

In another post Carlson writes:

	Rather than simply acknowledge that for almost 150 years in
	Judaism, there was a wide spread 'messianic' movement, - that
	held to a form of 'trinity' dogma, (and so not ignore a
	common-knowledge fact of a century and a half of historical
	evidence of this wide spread Orthodox kabbalistic trend), it
	seems that RL and his 'buddy', are more content to deny the
	existance of the whole affair, call a well known version of
	Zohar a fraud, and belittle and cast doubts on my person, -
	and so cloud the issue, - once again.

In his missionary efforts Carlson cited a deviant, doctored text and
until exposed, hid the fact.

The two movements he cites truly existed and all alt.messianic readers
should be aware of them, if only to understand what constitutes a
break with Judaism.  The Zvi-ites ended up as Moslems.  Many of the
Frankists (much like the "messianics") ended up as Christians.

Thank you.