General

Title

Jerusalem (Israel), The National Library of Israel: Ms. Heb. 200.4=4

Manuscript name

Great Tree

Summary

This Great Tree serves as the closest extant parallel to the lost ilan of R. Kalonymus Kalman. It is distinguished by its striking anthropomorphic plasticity, particularly in the depiction of the head of Adam Kadmon. Unlike more schematic versions, this manuscript renders facial features with remarkable detail, including nose and ears that feature clearly delineated helices and lobes. These ears emerge from the circle of the head, intersecting with the eyes before curving upward— a visual arrangement that R. Aryeh Leib Lipkin used as a critical editorial model to verify the Lurianic canon for his 1893 Warsaw printed edition.

Support material

parchment

Hand description

Sephardic, Stam

Identifier

Ms. Heb. 200.4=4

NLI identifier

990034566570205171

Repository

The National Library of Israel

Country

Israel

Settlement

Jerusalem

Research literature

J. H. Chajes, The Kabbalistic Tree: Ha-Ilan ha-Kabalai (Pennsylvania: 2022), pages 329, 390, 402.

Creation time

Date

18th-19th century