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Sha'arei Orah, R. Gikatilla's most influential kabbalistic work, written before 1293, is a detailed explanation of kabbalistic symbolism and the designations of the ten Sefirot. He adopted a system intermediate between that of the Geronese school of kabbalists and the Zohar. This is one of the first writings to disclose knowledge of portions of the Zohar, although it departs from its approach in several fundamental respects.
R. Joseph b. Abraham Gikatilla (Chiquatilla, 1248–c. 1325), Spanish kabbalist whose works exerted a profound and permanent influence on kabbalism. Gikatilla, who was born in Medinaceli, Castile, lived for many years in Segovia. Between 1272 and 1274 he studied under Abraham Abulafia, who praises him as his most successful pupil. Gikatilla, who was at first greatly influenced by Abulafia's ecstatic, prophetic system of kabbalism, soon showed a greater affinity for philosophy.
R. Gikatilla made an original attempt to provide a detailed yet lucid and systematic exposition of kabbalism. He was also the originator of the doctrine equating the infinite, Ein Sof, with the first of the ten Sefirot. The conception was rejected by the majority of kabbalists from the 16th century onward, but his works continued to be highly esteemed and were published in many editions. |
