contributed to its popularity.
The Kabbalah , which originated in the early Middle Ages, developed certain ideas of Philo along with those of ancient nonJewish philosophers. It found its major expression in the Zohar(Book of Splendor), in which sex plays a major role. Written in Aramaic , perhaps to enhance its esoteric character, it was mainly the work of the thirteenth century scholar,Moses de Leon , although he claimed that it was the work of Simeon ben Yohai and his circle of disciples who lived in the second century B.C.E."* Although the authorship of this pseudepigraphic book was even clear to a contemporary, Isaac of Akko, kabbalists believe in the authorship of Simeon bar Yohai whose hagiography included many miracles. Simeon bar Yohai was sufficiently sure of himself to state,“I could redeem the entire world from judgement.._; if only two men could ascend heaven, it would be I and my son.”(Suk. 45b)— a statements which may have led to the ascription of the Zohar .
The popularity of the Zohar also rests on the fact that when initially printed it was edited in the form of a commentary on the weekly Torah readings and the Song of Songs . The Song of Songs , of course, already provided an interpretation of the divine love for Israel . Although restricted to small learned circles for a long time, the number of kabbalists grew after the expulsion of Jews from Spain and with the rise of the false Messiah Sabbatai Zevi in the seventeenth century. It continued as an influence on Hassidism in the eighteenth century while waning among western Jews .
SEXUAL ELEMENTS IN KABBALISTIC THEORY
The sexual elements of the Kabbalah consisted in the introduction of female components into the concept of God along with the description of a kind of divine sex life. It also introduced a devilish anti-God realm, ruled by sexual figures like the male demon Samael and his female counterparts, chiefly the she-devil Lillith. The