  the zohar (, lit. splendor or radiance) is the foundational work in the literature of jewish mystical thought known as kabbalah.scholem, gershom and melila hellner-eshed. "zohar." encyclopaedia judaica. ed. michael berenbaum and fred skolnik. vol. 21. 2nd ed. detroit: macmillan reference usa, 2007. 647â664. gale virtual reference library. gale. it is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the torah (the five books of moses) and scriptural interpretations as well as material on mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. the zohar contains a discussion of the nature of god, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of ego to darkness and "true self" to "the light of god", and the relationship between the "universal energy" and man. its scriptural exegesis can be considered an esoteric form of the rabbinic literature known as midrash, which elaborates on the torah. the zohar is mostly written in what has been described as an exalted, eccentric style of aramaic. aramaic was the day-to-day language of israel in the second temple period (539 bce â 70 ce), was the original language of large sections of the biblical books of daniel and ezra, and is the main language of the talmud.beyer 1986: 38â43; casey 1998: 83â6, 88, 89â93; eerdmans 1975: 72. the zohar first appeared in spain in the 13th century, and was published by a jewish writer named moses de leon. de leon ascribed the work to shimon bar yochai ("rashbi"), a rabbi of the 2nd century during the roman persecution who, according to jewish legend, hid in a cave for thirteen years studying the torah and was inspired by the prophet elijah to write the zohar. this accords with the traditional claim by adherents that kabbalah is the concealed part of the oral torah. while the 
Apocalyptic_literature Hebrew-language_names Kabbalah_texts