Our Gemara on Amud Aleph tells us that sometimes even the language of the Mishna can be an exaggeration to emphasize a point. In our Gemara one Tanna, to emphasize the permissibility of an egg, declared that even the shells are permitted to eat! The Gemara (Tamid 29a) actually catalogues instances where the Torah, the prophets and the Mishna chose to use exaggerated expressions.
Today, we are going to look at one exaggeration from the Zohar, that according to Rav Yaakov Emden, has been the cause a terrible damage and despair. But first, a historical note. Rav Emden wrote a Sefer called “Mitpachas Hasefarim”, a critical analysis of the language, content and authorship of the Zohar. The Zohar has been traditionally viewed as authored by the mystical Tanna, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and thought to have been passed down perhaps at first orally, and then in written form, similar to the Mishna. Modern historians and scholars believe it was likely to have been largely authored by the 13th Century mystic, Moses de Leon. Factually speaking, there are linguistic features and words that appear in the Zohar that did not exist in the time of the Mishna. For example, Rav Emden (Ibid, chapter 3) notes that Zohar Ra’aya Mehemna (Ki Tetze 281a) uses a word for a Shul that appears to be of Spanish origin found nowhere in Shas, Yerushalmi, or Midrashim. Ultimately, Rav Emden suggests that the Zohar has a mixture of authentic traditions that stem from antiquity, but also includes many, many additions from different authors throughout the generations. Rav Emden says though there is a core authentic Zohar, no one is under any theological requirement to believe in its absolute validity and authenticity (Mitpachas II:9:106). While the Zohar certainly has become functionally and socially part of the Jewish canon of sacred writings, according to Rav Emden it does not enjoy the status of being regarded as unquestionably sacred and an inviolable literal exact tradition, such as that of Mishna and Talmud.
With that introduction let us look at what the Zohar has to say about the sin of male masturbation and wasting seed. This is clearly regarded in rabbinic literature as a grave offense (See Gemara Niddah 13a), yet Zohar has more to say than just that. Zohar (I:219b) states:
Rabbi Yehuda said, Wasting seed is such a terrible sin, there is no sin for which repentance doesn’t work except for this. There is no sin in which a person is banished from the Shekhina except for this.
Rav Yaakov Emden reacts strongly to this. He states (Mitpachas ch. 4:39):
This Zohar rules that there is no Teshuva for this sin, and yet this sin is not even explicit in the Torah, nor is liable for lashes.. In fact, at times it is permitted for medico-halakhic purposes (see for example sugya in Yevamos 76a.) Rav Emden wonders, how the three cardinal sins of Idolatry, sexual Immorality and murder can somehow be less severe in repercussions than masturbation. Can it truly be that those sins are forgivable and still qualify to be accepted in front of the Shekhina, but not someone who masturbates? Rav Emden goes as far as to declare, “Even if God himself stated what is in this Zoharitic dictum, you do not have to accept this exaggeration.”
Rav Emden’s point was not in any way to suggest masturbation wasn’t sinful. However, he considered it damaging and inaccurate to assign such grave consequences to this sin, when clearly one can repent from far greater sins. The Zohar’s extreme condemnation of masturbation and it’s magnifying of the grave consequences led to a degree of unhealthy reactivity and guilt throughout the ages. Let us keep in mind, like l’shon hora, sexual desires and occasional infractions in these areas are endemic to the human condition. The Gemara knows this well and (Bava Basra 165a) states:
The majority of people succumb to sin with regard to theft, and a minority of people succumb to sin with regard to sexual matters, and everyone succumbs to sin with regard to avak l’shon hora (hints of malicious speech in regular discussion).
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation 
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