In all three of these examples, Ibn Tibbon emphasizes thecontemplative over the practical. He works with the same biblicaltexts singled out by Maimonides, but arrives at a differentphilosophical position. It is precisely this interestingphilosophical-exegetical give and take, the free discussion of ideaswithin a fixed biblical framework, that characterized the Maimonideantradition of philosophy and exegesis, which was founded by Ibn Tibbonand continued by his descendents, disciples, and admirers.
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The Hebrew is, in fact, an imitation of the aggadic style, but whenever it diverges from its literary sources it is seen to be a medieval Hebrew belonging to a time when philosophical terminology was widely used. The writer uses later philosophical terms quite openly, particularly in the earlier sections and in the Midrash on Ruth. At the same time the transition from this Hebrew to the Aramaic of the Midrash ha-Ne'lam itself and of the main part of the Zohar, which linguistically speaking are one and the same, can be clearly distinguished. The natural Hebrew of the author is here translated into an artificial Aramaic. While his Hebrew has counterparts in medieval literature, the Aramaic of the Zohar has no linguistic parallel, since it is compounded of all the Aramaic idioms that the author knew and which he used as the foundation for his artificial construction. The very use of the word targum (i, 89a) for the Aramaic language, instead of leshon Arami, which was used in the Talmud and Midrash, was a medieval practice. The Aramaic idioms are in the main the language of the Babylonian Talmud and the Targum Onkelos, together with the Galilean Aramaic of the other Targums, but they include only very little from the Jerusalem Talmud. Types of different idioms are used side by side indiscriminately, even in the same passage. Similar differences may be seen in the pronouns, both subjective and possessive, demonstrative and interrogative, and also in the conjugation of the verb. The Zohar uses these interchangeably, quite freely. Sometimes the Zohar adopts the Babylonian usage of a particular form, e.g., those forms of the perfect tense preceded by ka (ka amar) or the form of conjugation of the third person imperfect (leima). At other times the corresponding targumic forms are preferred. With the noun there is no longer any distinction between those forms which have the definitive alef suffix, and those which do not have it, and there is complete confusion. Even a form like tikla ḥada ("a wheel") is possible here. The constructive case is almost nonexistent and is mostly replaced by the use of di. In addition to the usual vocabulary new words are coined by analogy with formations that already exist in other words. So words like nehiru, neẓiẓu, ketatu come into being (for new words in the vocabulary, see below). As for adverbs, it uses indiscriminately words from both biblical and Babylonian Aramaic, and translations of medieval terms, like lefum sha'ata or kedein, in imitation of the use of az to join different parts of a sentence as in medieval Hebrew. With all the confusion of these forms there is, nevertheless, some sort of system and consistency. A kind of unified language is created which is common throughout all the parts mentioned above. In addition to the basic forms drawn from the Aramaic idiom there are many characteristics which are peculiar to the language of the Zohar. The Zohar mixes up the conjunctions of the verb, using the pe'al instead of the pa'el and the af'el (lemizkei for lezakka'ah, lemei'al for le'a'ala'ah, lemeḥdei for leḥadda'ah) and also the af'el instead of the pe'al, e.g., olifana for yalfinan (among the most common words in the Zohar). It uses incorrect forms of the itpa'al or etpe'el (the two forms of the verb are indistinguishable), e.g., itsaddar or itsedar, itẓayyar or itẓeyar, itzakkei or itzekei, itẓerif, etc. In several instances, although only with certain verbs, it uses the itpa'al (or the etpe'el) as a transitive verb, e.g., it'arna milei, le-istammara or le-istemara orḥoi, leitdabbaka or le-itdebaka in the sense of "to attain." It gives new meanings to words, following their medieval usage: e.g., istallak with regard to the death of the righteous; itar, through the influence of hitorer, which in the Middle Ages was used in the sense of "to discuss a certain matter"; adbakuta in the sense of "intellectual perception"; ashgaḥuta in the sense of "providence"; shorsha in the sense of "basic principle." The conjunctive phrase im kol da used throughout in the sense of "nevertheless" (be-khol zot) is influenced by the translators from Arabic, as is the use of the word remez as a term for allegory.
Moses de Leon's Hebrew style reveals in many particulars those idiosyncrasies of the Aramaic of the Zohar indicated above, and we find especially those mistakes and errors of usage which are characteristic of the Zohar and are not found in the works of any other writer. He writes in this style even when his writing does not reflect the actual expositions of the Zohar, but expresses his own personal ideas or adds a new dimension to ideas in the Zohar. He has a completely unfettered control of the material in the Zohar and uses it like a man using his own property. He ties together expositions from different parts of the Zohar, adding to them combinations of themes and new expositions, which are in perfect accord with the zoharic spirit and show that his thinking is identical with that of the Zohar. In many cases his writings constitute an interpretation of difficult passages of the Zohar which later kabbalists did not interpret literally. Whenever in his writings he diverges freely from the subjects treated in the Zohar, his variations do not constitute any proof that he did not understand his "source." Sometimes he openly mentions the true literary sources which are concealed in the Zohar. The long passage from the Book of Enoch which is quoted in his Mishkan ha-Edut is written entirely in his own particular Hebrew style. Features which are peculiar to the Zohar, and which distinguish it from other contemporary kabbalistic works, recur in the works of Moses de Leon. These are in particular the exaggerated use of mythical imagery, the sexual symbolism developed with regard to the relationships between the Sefirot, and the striking interest shown in demonology and sorcery. Consequently, there is no reason to assume that an unknown author wrote the Zohar in the lifetime of Moses de Leon, and then passed it on to him. The authorship of Moses de Leon solves the problems raised by an analysis of the Zohar together with his Hebrew works. These books were largely written in order to prepare the ground for the publication of the texts of the Zohar which went hand in hand with this work. In particular, the Mishkan ha-Edut (1293) is full of recommendations and praise for the secret sources upon which it is based.
In Kabbalah: New Perspectives, Moshe Idel explored the spiritual and intellectual characteristics of the kabbalistic climate in which the Zohar was produced. He claimed that the circle of mystics responsible for the Zohar came into being out of the creative processes of a secondary elite of spiritual leadership. Idel distinguishes between a primary elite, comprising those scholars and rabbis who assumed central leadership roles in the community, and a secondary elite, the members of which constituted a second order of leadership characterized by the freedom to choose a creative and innovative path without seeking the approval of the legal and spiritual authorities of the time. In his book Absorbing Perfections he focused and extended his detailed and extensive research in the field of kabbalistic hermeneutics in which he explored the nature of the kabbalistic and zoharic symbol and the uniqueness of the symbolic-dynamic interpretation of the Zohar.
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