With Chaplain Marita Anderson
This class will be an introduction to The Book of Enlightenment, or the Zohar (from Hebrew root meaning "brilliance").  Written in northern Spain around 1280, this book is a collection of midrashim on the Torah and reflects the wondrous, sacred imagination of Jewish interpretive traditions. The Zohar offers an invitation to peel away layers of meaning in familiar texts, often sharpening the reader's awareness of the sacred in the mundane. Traditionally, the Zohar was an esoteric text studied by the Kabbalists.  However, in contemporary times, more complete translations from Aramaic and new commentary, as well as academic interest in the Zohar has made it available to a wider audience of learners.