Along This Channel Jacob Ascends to the Neck: On Movement and Change in the Kabbalistic Tree

Abstract

The kabbalistic Ilan (diagram of the ten sefirot) appears in many forms and configurations in manuscripts throughout history. The different forms differ both visually and textually: visually in the ways in which the ilan is designed and the sefirot are organized on the page; textually in the selection of texts that the creators of the ilanot deliberately chose to implement in them. This phenomenon of combining text with a visual element, known as ‘icono-text,’ raises several questions: How should this object be ‘read’? Is there a certain order for reading it, and was it even meant to be read? This article offers initial directions for dealing with these questions by focusing on the ilanot related to מבטים 3 / יולי 2024 303 R. Joseph Gikatilla, a Castilian Kabbalist active at the turn of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. These ilanot are divided into three families. At the center of each family, we can identify a certain biblical character, which creates an internal narrative within the ilan itself. The first family includes ilanot that present King David at the center and describe his war against the demonic forces who seek to break into the holy realm. The second family includes ilanot where we find the figure of Jacob at the center, which display his confrontation with Laban and Esau. In the third family, we have ilanot in which Moses is placed at the center, which deal with questions such as learning the Torah and observing the commandments. The examination of the texts implemented in these ilanot allows us to establish a complete and coherent narrative in each of the groups and provides interesting directions concerning the role and purpose of the ilanot and their meaning in the eyes of their creators.