Judaica in Leiden

An exhibition in Leiden University Library at the occasion of the Congress of European Association of Jewish Studies, Amsterdam 21-25 juli 2002.

Inhoud

Introduction

VI. KABBALAH & MYSTICISM

Pirqei Merkavah ha-Niqra’im Heikhalot de Rabbi Ishmael
Manuscript on paper and parchment, 1468. Italian semi-cursive.
Or. 4730, f. 56r.
¶ Collection of no less than 13 mystical and Kabbalistic texts. The exhibited text, usually called Heikhalot Rabbati, is ascribed to rabbi Ishmael, a Sage from the Second Temple period. This work was to become a standard of Heikhalot literature. A lateraddition called Sar ha-Torah, is not found in this manuscript.
Included in this volume are:
(1)   Perush Daniel, by Abraham Ibn Ezra (11^th century).
(7)   Sodot bat Sheva, by Joseph Gikatilla (13^th century).
(10) Ma`aseh Bereshit (anonymous).
(11) Sefer Mar’eh ha-Ofannim, a Hebrew translation of Joannes de Sacrobosco’s De Sphaera by Salomon ibn Abraham Abigdor (14^th century).

Sha`arei Orah
Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla (1248- c. 1325). Manuscript on paper, 16<sup>th</sup> century, Ottoman Empire. Oriental semi-cursive script.
Or. 4793, f. 121a.
¶ Volume with Gikatilla’s Sha`arei Orah and an abbreviation of Moses ben Jacob Cordovero’s (1522-1570) Pardes Rimmonim. Gikatilla’s most influential work was this Gate of Light, in which he expounded the Kabbalistic symbolism and designations of the ten Sefirot. As Sha`arei Orah was written before 1293, it is one of the earliest works to disclose the teachings of the Kabbalah of the Zohar. The exhibit shows thesystem of Ten Sefirot in one of the better versions. Pardes Rimmonim is a later systematic treatment of Kabbalistic lore as it developed during the 15^th and 16^th centuries.