Moses ben Shem Tov de León

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Moses ben Shem Tov de León (c.1240–1305). Jewish kabbalist. Moses Ben Shem Tov taught his version of the kabbalah in his Midrash ha-Neʿelam (Mystical Midrash) which became the foundation of the Zohar. Following his death, a controversy broke out about the role of Moses de León in the composition of the Zohar. Since the Zohar was ascribed to R. Simeon b. Yoḥai of the 2nd cent. CE, the issue initially was whether Moses de León had been copying from the original manuscript which was now lost, or whether, as his widow maintained, he had composed the work. Modern scholars (e.g. G. Scholem) tend to the view that he composed the work making use of earlier material.

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