Tikunei Zohar Mantua

Must Know

Tikunei HaZohar is a collection of Kabbalist commentaries on the first word of the Bible, Bereshit. This book is part of the Zoharic literary corpus and is one of the elementary compositions of Jewish mysticism. Traditionally the commentaries were associated with Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his followers, active in the 2nd century, yet it is now known that they were written in 14th century Spain.
Tikunei HaZohar as it appears in this first edition attests to the huge influence of hebrew print in its early years. Until the book was printed the commentaries it contains were dispersed in various manuscripts, which included different collections of commentaries. The printers edited the commentaries from the manuscripts in their possession into one compilation. In fact, Tikunei HaZohar as we know it today was created at a printing house in Mantua from where it circulated throughout the Jewish world for many generations and continues to this day.
This edition was used by the Safed kabbalists, including Rabbi Isaac Luria (Ha’Ari, 1534-1572), who used it as the basis for his kabbalist commentaries.