The splendor and enigmatic appeal of the Zohar, the major text of the Jewish mystical tradition, has never intrigued readers of all faiths more than it does today. But how can we truly understand it?

Daniel C. Matt brings together in one place the most important teachings from the Zohar, the cornerstone of Kabbalah—described as a mixture of theology, mystical psychology, anthropology, myth, and poetry—alongside facing-page stories, notes, and historical background that illuminate and explain the text. Ideal for the first-time reader with no prior knowledge of Jewish mysticism.

Guides readers step-by-step through the texts that make up the Zohar—midrash, commentary, and Hebrew scripture—and explains the inner meanings of this sacred text, recognized by kabbalists as the most important work of mystical teaching, in a way that is both spiritually enlightening and intellectually fascinating.

Dr. Daniel C. Matt is a highly respected authority on the Zohar and Kabbalah. He is the author of the best-selling The Essential Kabbalah (Harper San Francisco), Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment (Paulist Press), and God & the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony Between Science & Spirituality (Jewish Lights). Formerly professor of Jewish mysticism at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, Dr. Matt is currently living in Jerusalem and working on the first complete annotated English translation of the Zohar.

Andrew Harvey, SkyLight Illuminations series editor, was born in India and educated at Oxford. He has devoted more than twenty-five years to study and writing on the world’s spiritual and mystical traditions. He is the author of more than thirty books, including The Direct Path: Creating a Journey to the Divine through the World’s Mystical Traditions.