ABSTRACT
We have seen that the Zohar succeeded in influencing Jewish life to such an extent that it became the third source of inspiration—inspiriting to life, literature and religion: a source of delight on occasions of joy; a refuge in time of trouble; a beacon of hope in the days of despair; a measure of consolation for the days of mourning. In general its influence on the life of the people was most nearly like that of the Bible. Even as different interpretations put upon Bible teaching had given rise to differing sects within Jewry—as the Samaritans and the Karaites—so the Zohar, too, gave rise to different sects: the sect of the Ma’aminim, Jewish converts to Islam who yet retained the Zohar, and the sect of the Frankists, converts to Christianity, who also kept the Zohar. In some cases the Zohar seems even to have superseded the other two great Books in the popular imagination. It filled Jewish life so completely that the Zoharistic tradition was carried on unbroken, in spite of the vicissitudes which drove the people hither and yon. The Zohar teachings gave rise to great Sepharadi centres of mysticism, while the large Chassidic groups amongst the Ashkenazim showed how effectively these teachings had penetrated to every part of the Diaspora.
