My question concerns the Mishna which begins this perek. It has the prohibitions concerning Maasah Bereishis and Maaseh Merkavah. These are similar to those of learning the Zohar. My deficiency in Jewish history fails me and I'm trying to reconcile these two. Do these things lead to apikors? Are these things taught one on one? Does the controversy of kaballa stem from this section of Chagiga?
It is clear from the Gemara that one who studies Ma'aseh Bereishis or Ma'aseh Merkavah and is not fit for it, runs the risk of coming to heresy as a result of his studies.
The Zohar, as it is printed today, is not actually Ma'aseh Bereishis nor Ma'aseh Merkavah, and thus there are some who study Zohar in groups. Some also claim that it is a important to read the Zohar even if one does not understand it. However, the consensus of the overwhelming majority of authorities, and the practice of the majority of the Jewish people today, is that the study of such topics ought to be done in private, and only one who is fit should involve himself in it. Such a person is one "who has filled himself up with the bread and wine of Torah," as the Rambam rules in Yesodei ha'Torah 4:20. The common practice in Ashkenazic communities is to refrain from studying the Zohar until at least the age of forty.
Mordecai