The National Library of Israel has acquired a rare collection of Kabbalistic trees. With the acquisition of the collection, the National Library will have the largest, most comprehensive and important collection of Kabbalistic trees in the world. The Kabbalistic trees are scrolls, some more than 11 meters long, showing tree-shaped diagrams that helped illustrate the ideas of the Jewish secret doctrine.
In preparation for moving to its new location, the National Library acquired a rare and important collection of Kabbalistic manuscripts and illustrations (Kabbalistic trees), which join the existing Kabbalah collection at the National Library, in the Gershom Scholem Collection, which is the largest Kabbalah collection in the world and includes 25 items.
The 'Ilanot' collection includes 36 parchment and paper scrolls - some of which are considered the longest in the world of their kind, up to 11 meters long, presenting Kabbalistic symbols in an unusual and unique way through complex tree-like diagrams that include various figures and illustrations.
Join a family of 25 scrolls,
Following receipt of the new collection, the National Library will now curate the world's largest collection of Kabbalistic trees, with over sixty scrolls dating from 1660 to 1920, created throughout the Diaspora and Jewish communities around the world: from Western and Eastern Europe, from Yemen, Kurdistan, Morocco and Iraq.
For Kabbalists, the Kabbalistic trees served as a map describing the various types of divine world. The "trees" were essential for studying the structure of Kabbalistic divinity, for understanding the mysteries of the world, and for carrying out the unique practice of "uniqueness" for Kabbalistic prayer and worship. Tree paintings are a well-known Kabbalistic tradition dating back to the early days of the Kabbalistic flourishing.
According to Dr. Haim Neria, curator of the Chaim and Hannah Solomon Jewish Collection at the National Library, the Gross Collection is unique in that it represents all the different genres of Kabbalistic trees:
"The collection is considered a diverse, unique collection with historical, research and aesthetic value of original Hebrew work. It contains beautiful and rare diagrams in the form of scrolls, some of which are colorful, of varying lengths, from different sources, creating in the eye of the beholder both a spiritual and an aesthetic experience. Our mission as the National Library of the Jewish People includes collecting such unique works and we are confident that the acquisition will add light to the Library's status as the spiritual center of the Jewish people," explains Dr. Haim Neria.
"An inseparable part of the national memory", photo: The National Library of Israel
According to Dr. Rachel Ukelis, Head of the Collections Division at the National Library, the National Library is already a mecca for Kabbalah scholars and researchers. The National Library of Israel curates rare Kabbalistic manuscripts and prints, and the Gershom Scholem Collection is the largest and most comprehensive collection of Kabbalistic literature and research. "We at the National Library are pleased that these rare items will be an inseparable part of the national memory, preserved on the one hand but also accessible on the other, and will receive the status they deserve as part of the rare and unique works of the Jewish people and the library's rare treasures," says Dr. Rachel Ukeles.
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