Who Wrote The Zohar, & When?

According to all Kabbalists, and as the beginning of the book writes, The Zohar was written by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi), who lived in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. There are views in scholastic circles stating that The Zohar was written in the 11th century by Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe de Leon. This view was contradicted by Rabbi Moshe de Leon himself, who said that the book was written by Rashbi. In the Kabbalistic approach, the question of why The Zohar was written is far more important than the question of who actually wrote it. The purpose of The Zohar is to be a guide for people to attain the origin of their souls. This path to the origin of one’s soul consists of 125 stages. Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag writes that a Kabbalist who has passed these stages and shares the same perception as that of the book’s author, sees that its author could be none other than Rashbi.