The source of G uillaume P ostel's 1553 Z ohar L atin translation

In 1547, while in V enice, G uillaume P ostel purchased a Z ohar manuscript from D aniel B omberg. That Z ohar copy was the one he studied together with M other J ohanna and the one he used as the source for his L atin translation of this treatise. That Z ohar copy has most probably not survived, and as a result, hitherto no information regarding its unique structure, contents or wording has been available. Fortunately enough we were able to use both the strategy of the ‘ Z ohar H aRaki'a’ project conducted by R onit M eroz as well as the data accumulated in it; thus we could locate an almost identical cognate of that lost manuscript in MS P arma P alatina 2718. It is impossible to determine with certainty whether P ostel's original was copied directly or indirectly from MS P arma, or from a different source belonging to this family. In any event, as P ostel's Z ohar manuscript itself is not accessible, it is henceforth possible to make use of MS P arma to offer us a Z oharic text which is almost identical, in both structure and wording, to P ostel's original.