JOSEPH GIKATILLA (1274)

Major Spanish Kabbalist whos writings influenced those of Moses de León, presumed author of the Zohar (The Book of Splendour), an important work of Jewish mysticism.

Gikatilla´s early studies of philosophy and the Talmud (the rabbinical compendium of law, lore and commentary) continued to influence him after he turned to mysticism, as indicated by his attempts to reconcile philosophy with the Kabbala, the compilation of Jewish mystical writings.

While still a young man Gikatilla became a pupil of Abraham Abulafia, a profound student of the Kabbala. Under his influence, the 26-year-old Gikatilla wrote his seminal Ginnat`egoz (Nut Orchard) taking his title from the Song of Solomon 6:11. In Gikatilla´s lexicon, nut is an emblem of mysticism itself, while Ginnat employs the initial letters of three different names for methods of esoteric exegesis. Gikatilla´s book greatly influenced his contemporary and probable friend, Moses de León; the Nut Orchard provides some of the key terminology of the Zohar such as that used to drescribe the mystic primordial point, the initial seminal manifestation of God´s wisdom.

Gikatilla was, in turn, influenced by the Zohar, as evidenced by his next major work Sha´are ora (Gates of Light) a felicitous account of Kabbalist symbolism.