General

Title

Jerusalem (Israel), The National Library of Israel: Ms. Heb. 9804=4

Manuscript name

Great Tree

Summary

This enigmatic ilan is distinguished principally for having preserved the work-in-progress of its copyist. It is not merely unfinished, though; it seems that the scribe had not entirely worked out his plan at the outset. The rotulus opens with Z, framed by text borrowed from Joseph Solomon Delmedigo's Kiẓur 'olam ha-tikkun (Abridged World of Rectification; see Chajes, The Kabbalistic Tree, pp. 204–206). This presentation of Z may also be found in the Cambridge Trinity Scroll (Cambridge, Trinity College, Scroll F.11.18). Another parchment sheet was sewn to the bottom of the first in order to complete the parẓufim of Jacob and Rachel. When that was done, the scribe drew two horizontal lines, perhaps to guide a cut. Rather than cut, however, he kept writing, beginning with the head of Adam Kadmon (P). He likely planned to create an ilan akin to the Cambridge Trinity Scroll, type PaZP7, but after beginning P7, abandoned the project.

Support material

parchment

Main language

Rabbinic Hebrew

Hand description

Ashkenazic

Identifier

Ms. Heb. 9804=4

NLI identifier

990039011880205171

Repository

The National Library of Israel

Country

Israel

Settlement

Jerusalem

Research literature

J. H. Chajes, The Kabbalistic Tree (University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2022), 352, 390, 400.

Creation time

Date

19th century