26) Yes, my reading friend, you already know the statement of our sages in Tractate Shabbat and Chagigah, Chapter 1, and in the tractate Eyn Dorshin. Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, "Remember that man for good, Chananiah ben Chizkiyah, for had he not hidden the book of Ezekiel, which contained statements contradicting the words of the Torah, what did he do? They would have suppressed it. But what did he do?
He brought up 300 jugs of oil and sat on top of them and expounded [the problematic verses]." And Rashi explained that it contradicted the words of the Torah regarding the prohibition for priests to eat carrion and torn animals, asking, "Should priests not eat it? But what about Israelites?" And similarly, "And you shall do the same for seven days."
Where is this sacrifice hinted at in the Torah? And he expounded as we expound in the tractate Menachot, because since the rite of bird-offering was permitted for priests, it was necessary to caution them about the striking of non-sacrificial fowl, which is carrion, and so on. We examine it from various angles, and what about the book of Ezekiel, which was already established as a true prophet, and he revived the dead in the valley of Dura, and his book is included among the holy books, and it is saved from being burned on Shabbat.
And despite all this, the sages sought to hide it because it appeared to contradict the words of the Torah in a negative prohibition. How much more so in the case of the Book of Zohar, where a contradiction to the written and oral Torah is apparent and evident, regarding the prohibition of idolatry, which carries the punishment of stoning and excision. It is tantamount to rejecting the entire Torah.
Not only that, but it also belittles the Mishnah and the Talmud, labeling them as "klippah" and "other rock," and so on, as will be explained in Section 67 and 68. It is absolutely forbidden to read it at all. Once his forgery became clear and was exposed to the wise and intelligent scholars, and it was evident that his statements regarding divinity contradicted the words of the Torah and the words of the Sages that were transmitted to us from our ancient scholars, the transmitters of tradition, and the geonim and the poskim who received from them.
Furthermore, we also find in Tractate Shabbat (fol. 30b) that Rav Yehudah, son of Rav Yehudah bar Shilat, said in the name of Rav: The sages sought to hide the Book of Ecclesiastes because its words contradict one another, and so on. In the beginning, in the Ethics of Rabbi Nathan, they would only read the Book of Proverbs. The Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes were hidden until the Men of the Great Assembly came and elucidated them and included them among the Writings.
Therefore, from this, we can deduce a fortiori reasoning. If regarding King Solomon, peace be upon him, it is stated: "And he was wiser than all men, and he built the Temple, and the Divine Presence dwelled in it, and the Lord appeared to him, as explained in the Scriptures," then we also say in Eruvin (fol. 21b) that when he established the laws of eruv and handwashing, a heavenly voice came forth and said, "My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will rejoice."
And the sage says, "My son, be wise and gladden my heart, and I will be able to answer my detractors." And we also say there (Eruvin fol. 21b) that they instituted the use of parables, ear, and investigation. Rabbi Eliezer said, "Initially, the Torah was like a tightly rolled scroll without ears, until Solomon came and gave it ears!" Despite all this praise, the sages did not show him favor, and they sought to hide his books because certain things seemed contradictory until the Men of the Great Assembly elucidated them.
These are books whose words appear contradictory to one another, and they even contradict the words of the Torah and undermine its foundations. Additionally, it is not clear who authored them, nor is it known where those statements originated from. It was only later that foreign elements emerged among us, and they mistakenly attributed those words to Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, the Tanna. There are reliable sources that prove that they falsely attributed them to Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, to whom it is absolutely prohibited to attribute those words.