Sha’arei Orah [an exposition of Kabbalistic symbolism and the designations of the Sephiroth]

GIKATILLA, JOSEPH

(Jacob Marcaria the Physician)

Riva di Trento

1561

FIRST EDITION. Initial letters of title within decorative vignettes, initial word of text within historiated woodcut frame

Vinograd, Riva 34; Mehlman 1057; Adams G-609

The early Spanish kabbalist Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla (Chiquatilla) (1248-c.1325) was a disciple of the founder of the school of “Prophetic Kabbalah,” Abraham Abulafia. Later, he entered into scholarly relationship with Moses de Leon of Guadalajara which resulted in a sort of intellectual cross-pollination. Throughout the centuries, Sha’arei Orah, has been a first-rate guide to the systematic presentation of the “Sephiroth” (Divine emanations) and their code names. Because of its extreme importance as an introduction to the arcane wisdom of Kabbalah, Sha’arei Orah has been translated into European languages. In Augsburg in 1516, the Jewish apostate Paulus Ricius issued a Latin translation under the title Porta Lucis