[wideawake]

Traditional Kabalah, like the Madonna version, is built on a text called the Zohar - a text which is first attested in 1290.

It teaches such doctrines as metempsychosis (transmigration of souls), plurality of the Godhead, mystical emanations and the efficacy of magical incantations.

[Piranha]

Plurality of the Godhead? Please explain.

[Tzfat]

Traditional Kabalah, like the Madonna version, is built on a text called the Zohar - a text which is first attested in 1290. It teaches such doctrines as metempsychosis (transmigration of souls), plurality of the Godhead, mystical emanations and the efficacy of magical incantations.

Who are you quoting? It is clear you have never studied the Zohar. It is one text for Kabbalah, but not the primary. The Zohar is a commentary on the Torah and other Scripture. It is mystical, but so are portions of the New Testament. Also, the Zohar affirms the Oneness of G-d. Your assertion is an often quoted, never attributed statement. It is available in English for crying out loud.

[John Locke]

The majority opinion seems to be that the Zohar was written by Moses de Leon, and the attribution to Shimon bar Yochai was a ruse to increase the price he charged. The presence of Spanish loan words in the original text provides a certain support for this opinion, as does the eyewitness testimony of his widow.

The book fell into a certain disrepute - quite unjustly - when Sabbatai Zevi used some of its prophecies to support his claim to be the Messiah, and many modern Jews avoid it. Its rehabilitation, mostly by Hasidic scholars, began towards the end of the 9th century.

Gershom Scholem is in my opinion the best modern authority on the Kabbalah, and indeed on much Jewish mysticism. Alas, he died in 1982, but several of his books are still in print and can be found on Amazon.