Includes bibliographical references and index.

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Preface ; Table of Contents ; Chapter One: The Zohar as Midrash ; Why midrash? ; The Zohar's homiletic methodology ; Chapter 2: The Zoharic Homilies: General Outlines ; Chapter 3: From the Rabbinic to Zoharic Aggada: Preservation, Reworking, and Alteration.

Chapter 4: "The Light Hidden for the Righteous": For Whom is it Reserved? "The light reserved for the righteous": The early traditions ; The "hidden light" and the "light of thought" ; The "world to come" and the "future" ; The "hidden light" in the Zohar.

The "hidden-present": In the wake of the Zohar Conclusion ; Chapter 5: Adam's Sin: Its Meaning and Essence ; The meaning of Adam's sin: Polemical residues in nascent kabbalistic thought ; "He entered in tranquility and departed in terror": Original sin in the writings of R. Moses de Léon.

"Many accounts": Original sin in the Zohar Exegetical tendencies and the exegete ; Conclusion ; Chapter 6: Enoch and Elijah: From Angel to Man, Man to Angel ; The ancient traditions about Enoch and Elijah ; Enoch and Elijah's ascents in medieval philosophy.

Elijah's ascent: Nahmanides' view Enoch's and Elijah's ascents in the zoharic circle and later works ; Conclusion ; Chapter 7: "He failed": The Story of Abraham's Origins ; The zoharic homily: The exegetical context ; The story of Abraham's origins in medieval Jewish literature.

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