Heinrich Graetz,
History of the Jews, Vol. 4 (of 6…
“ And thus there came into the world a book, the book Zohar (brilliancy) , which for many centuries was held by Jews as a heavenly revelation, and was and partly is even now regarded by Christians as an old tradition. But seldom has so notorious a forgery so thoroughly succeeded. Moses de Leon well knew how to produce the proper effect on credulous readers. He made Simon bar Yochaï appear in splendor, surrounded by a halo, in the book Zohar, and impart his revelation to a circle of select pupils (sometimes twelve, sometimes six) , "scholars who shine with heaven's light." ”
