THE SOLUTION TO THE DARKNESS I know that the true cause [of the drought and darkness of the generation] is the decline of faith in general, and faith in the holy sages in particular. Kabbalistic books, including the Zohar, are filled with parables of material things. Therefore, people were so afraid of doing more damage than good, since it might lead to sin by believing that there is some corporeality in God [that they stopped teaching the secrets of Torah].