–a.k.a, Moshe ben Shem Tov, born in León, Spain
Rav Moshe De León penned – or redacted – the extant version of the legendary Zohar, the preeminent iconic work of Kabbalah. De León ascribes the themes of his 1700 page opus to traditions from the spiritual giant Rav Shimon bar Yochai of the second century (thereby anchoring the work in highly formidable spiritual legitimacy).
Scholem, the twentieth century kabbalistic historian, believes the work is more de León, and less bar Yochai, meaning, less grounded in quintessential historical legitimacy. Like many kabbalistic works, the reality may very well lie somewhere in–the–middle: part original,
part lore.
Note that kabbalistic writings, like much of Jewish philosophy, are more often than not a creative continuum of thought/spirituality and creative hypothesis. Drawing from the past and from the going–wisdom to–date, but with the contemporary author’s neo–kabbalistic signature on it. Any philosophical or kabbalistic work not tethered to the past, simply does not fly in Jewish tradition. The issue is balance; walking a fine line. Too much anchoring and the new work lacks dynamism; too little tethering, and the work is not taken seriously. De León might have wished to emphasize the tethering if he were afraid of attack from the “right wing” of Judaism.
By contemporary times, however, de León himself, in–any–event, has achieved quite formidable parallel iconic standing.
Note that while the Zohar is penned in Aramaic, de León’s other known work, Sefer ha–Rimon (The Book of the Lemon) is penned in Hebrew. Meaning, if the Zohar is much more de León than bar Yochai, he (de León) certainly went to very formidable lengths to conceal the fact. Meaning, by writing it in his second or third or fourth language, not in his primary milieu, Hebrew, to incorporate Rav Shimon bar Yaochai, De León who was an author in his own right, is investing quite heavily to anchor his works.
In his lifetime De León lived in the Spanish cities of Guadalajara, Valladolid, Avila and Arevalo, among others.