Zohar abstract concepts that are never completely expressed. The earlier part of the Zohar, also known as "Zohar 'Al haTorah" (Zohar on the Torah, זוהר על התורה) or "Midrash Rashbi", contains several smaller "books", as described below. This book was published in three volumes: Volume 1 on "Bereishit" (Genesis), Volume 2 on "Shemot" (Exodus) and Volume 3 on "Vayikra, Bamidbar and Devarim" (Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). At the start of the first volume is printed a "Preface to the Book of the Zohar" (pages 1a to 14b). After this introduction is the Zohar's commentary on most of the parashahs of the
Book of Leviticus traditionally the first book taught to children in the Rabbinic system of education. There are two main Midrashim on Leviticus—the halakhic one (Sifra) and a more aggadic one (Vayikra Rabbah). The New Testament, particularly the Epistle to the Hebrews, uses ideas and images from Leviticus to describe Christ as the high priest who offers his own blood as a sin offering. Therefore, Christians do not make animal offerings either, as Gordon Wenham summarized: "With the death of Christ the only sufficient "burnt offering" was offered once and for all, and therefore the animal sacrifices which foreshadowed Christ's sacrifice were made