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Title: The Zohar: Pritzker Edition (Zohar. Pritzker Edition, Vol 1) by Daniel C. Matt ISBN: 0-8047-4747-4 Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr (T) Pub. Date: November, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Curb Your Enthusiasm
Comment: Stanford University Press and Professor Matt are certainly to be congratulated for attempting the Herculean task of translating into English, from 'scratch' (original Aramaic manuscripts), the entire Zohar, as well as adding running commentary based on Matt's so-called Kabbalistic expertise. Unfortunately, the latter's ego creeps in, taking too much poetic license in the translation itself, while his mystical interpretation of the difficult symbolism fails to compare with the luminous commentary of Isaiah Tishby in his multi-award winning masterpiece, "Wisdom of the Zohar".
Isaiah Tishby was Emeritus Professor of Philosophical, Mythical and Ethical Hebrew at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem until his death in 1992. He was awarded the Bialik Prize 1972, the Israel Prize 1979, and the Rothschild Prize 1982, mainly for his work on "The Wisdom of the Zohar". David Goldstein, late Curator of Hebrew Books and Manuscripts at the British Library, was awarded the Webber Prize 1987 for his translation shortly before he died.
Matt's arrogance is downright embarrassing as he unabashedly states his superior grasp of occulted Kabbalistic symbolism, trashing not only Rabbi Tishby but even the scholar/translator, Goldstein:
"After wrestling with Zoharic neologisms for years, I no longer share Tishby's view ("Wisdom of the Zohar", 1:66) that 'only rarely is it possible to determine their meaning from the context, while for the most part it is difficult even to guess what the author had in mind.' Still, I can appreciate the confession of David Goldstein (translator of "Wisdom of the Zohar"), who, after rendering several obscure lines directly from the Aramaic, writes 'The English translations given are purely hypothetical.'"
Because of the enormity of the undertaking, Matt's Zohar is already being hailed as unequaled and all the more impressive since his is a 'critical' edition, assembled directly from source manuscripts. Even though the Tishby/Goldstein Three-Volume set translates only about 25% of the Zohar, it is the meatier areas and, as stated above, the commentary is of such sublimity that at times it outshines the original channeled manuscript of Moses de Leon; and it certainly leaves Professor Matt's commentary wanting.
Still, the prospect of a fresh translation of the entire legendary work is an exciting one, and we can hope that eventually Mr. Matt will be humbled, as the great Tishby was, by the exasperating, ultimately enigmatic essence of many peculiar passages. Stanford is planning on releasing two volumes per year, so we can look forward to the complete 12-Volume set around 2009.
Rating: 5
Summary: BEST TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY ON THE ZOHAR YET
Comment: It is my opinion that this translation by Professor Daniel Matt will become THE Zohar of the future scholars and students. It is easy to understand, thanks to Professor Matt's extensive notes and explainations. It is a MUST for anyone who sincerily desires to understand the mind of the Jewish kabbalists of the Spanish period and later.
Rating: 5
Summary: At last, the translation the Zohar deserves!
Comment: Professor Matt has given the Sefer ha-Zohar the translation students have longed for for generations. It is scholarly but literarily skillful. Most importantly, Matt's version is not overly interpretive. He knows how to put interpretive notes in the footnotes, not in the translation itself -- there are over 2400 footnotes in volume one! This allows the text to retain more of its original character and meaning. Some "translations" are so thick with the interpreter's beliefs that they are nearly useless.
It's also important to note that this is the first translation of the Zohar based on a modern critical text. That means the Aramaic original used to translate from has been carefully compared and emended from old manuscript copies. While this Aramaic text is not reproduced in the book, it is available for free from the publisher, Stanford University Press. I printed it out, put it in a binder and shelve it next to the translation. The best of both worlds.
This tremendous work of scholarship will certainly be the standard translation of the Zohar for our generation.
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Title: The Zohar: Pritzker Edition (Zohar. Pritzker Edition, Vol 2) by Daniel C. Matt ISBN: 0804748683 Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr (T) Pub. Date: January, 2004 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: A Guide to the Zohar by Arthur Green ISBN: 0804749086 Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr (T) Pub. Date: January, 2004 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Opening the Tanya : Discovering the Moral and Mystical Teachings of a Classic Work of Kabbalah by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz ISBN: 078796798X Publisher: Jossey-Bass Pub. Date: 08 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Physician of the Soul, Healer of the Cosmos: Isaac Luria and His Kabbalistic Fellowship (Stanford Studies in Jewish History and Culture) by Lawrence Fine ISBN: 0804748268 Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Zohar: Annotated & Explained by Daniel Chanan Matt, Andrew Harvey ISBN: 1893361519 Publisher: Skylight Paths Pub Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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