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As we approach the Jewish New Year and prepare to complete the annual cycle of Torah reading, we are invited to revisit an ancient question with fresh eyes: What is the Torah, really? While traditionally understood as a sacred text combining narrative and law, the Kabbalistic tradition offers a radically different lens—seeing the Torah not just as words on parchment, but as a living, dynamic force, a divine emanation that reveals the mysteries of God and the boundless potential within each soul. In this two-part series, renowned Kabbalah scholar and translator Prof. Daniel Matt will guide us into this mystical understanding, illuminating key Kabbalistic texts that challenge us to rethink the nature of Torah itself. Drawing on decades of scholarship—including his monumental nine-volume translation and commentary of the Zohar, as well as accessible works like The Essential Kabbalah and God and the Big Bang—Prof. Matt will open new spiritual pathways for encountering Torah at this season of renewal and reflection.
Prof. Daniel Matt is a scholar and teacher of Kabbalah. Some years ago, he completed an 18-year project of translating the Zohar, the masterpiece of Kabbalah. His nine-volume annotated work -- The Zohar: Pritzker Edition (published by Stanford University Press) -- has been hailed as “a monumental contribution to the history of Jewish thought.” His other books include: God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony between Science and Spirituality (2nd edition, 2016) The Essential Kabbalah (translated into eight languages) Zohar: Annotated and Explained (a short paperback) Recently his biography of Elijah -- Becoming Elijah: Prophet of Transformation -- was published by Yale University Press in their series Jewish Lives. Daniel received his Ph.D. from Brandeis University and for twenty years served as professor at the Center for Jewish Studies, within the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He has also taught at Stanford and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.