Moses also initiated the Seventy Elders into these
secrets, and they in turn transmitted them from hand to hand. Of all who
formed the unbroken line of tradition, David and Solomon were the most
deeply learned in the Kabbalah. No one, however, dared to write it down
till Schimeon ben Jochai, who lived in the time of the destruction of
Jerusalem; and after his death the Rabbi Eleazar, his son, and the Rabbi
Abba, his secretary, collected his manuscripts and from them composed the
celebrated treatise called _Zohar_.'
'And how much do you believe of this marvellous story?' asked Arthur
Burdon.
'Not a word,' answered Dr Porhoet, with a smile. 'Criticism has shown
that _Zohar_ is of modern origin. With singular effrontery, it cites an
author who is known to have lived during the eleventh century, mentions
the Crusades, and records events which occurred in the year of Our Lord
1264. It was some time before 1291 that copies of _Zohar_ began to be
circulated by a Spanish Jew named Moses de Leon, who claimed to possess
an autograph manuscript by the reputed author Schimeon ben Jochai.
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