![Lengthy parchment manuscript – Ilan Sefirot. [North Africa, 18th/19th century].
Ink on parchment. Lengthy parchment, com](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale105/2_1.jpg "Ilan Sefirot (Amulet) on Parchment – North Africa, 18th/19th Century")
![Lengthy parchment manuscript – Ilan Sefirot. [North Africa, 18th/19th century].
Ink on parchment. Lengthy parchment, com](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale105/2_2.jpg "Ilan Sefirot (Amulet) on Parchment – North Africa, 18th/19th Century")
![Lengthy parchment manuscript – Ilan Sefirot. [North Africa, 18th/19th century].
Ink on parchment. Lengthy parchment, com](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale105/2_4.jpg "Ilan Sefirot (Amulet) on Parchment – North Africa, 18th/19th Century")
![Lengthy parchment manuscript – Ilan Sefirot. [North Africa, 18th/19th century].
Ink on parchment. Lengthy parchment, com](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale105/2_5.jpg "Ilan Sefirot (Amulet) on Parchment – North Africa, 18th/19th Century")
![Lengthy parchment manuscript – Ilan Sefirot. [North Africa, 18th/19th century].
Ink on parchment. Lengthy parchment, com](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale105/2_6.jpg "Ilan Sefirot (Amulet) on Parchment – North Africa, 18th/19th Century")
Auction 105 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Esther Scrolls and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Ilan Sefirot (Amulet) on Parchment – North Africa, 18th/19th Century
Opening: $500
Sold for: $3,500
Including buyer's premium
Lengthy parchment manuscript – Ilan Sefirot. [North Africa, 18th/19th century].
Ink on parchment. Lengthy parchment, composed of four membranes sewn together, with detailed illustrations and diagrams of the Sefirot, Partzufim and Hishtalshelut HaOlamot according to the kabbalistic teachings of the Arizal, with some commentary. Western square script.
The present Ilan derives from the type edited by R. Yitzchak son of R. Michael Kopio (Rivmak, active first half of 18th century). For a biography of R. Yitzchak Kopio, see: R. Moshe Hillel, Over LaSofer, R. Yitzchak b.R. Michael Kopio, Kehillot Yisrael, Jerusalem 2016; on his Ilanot Sefirot, see there, pp. 39 ff.
Rivmak's Ilanot are designed with a two-part division, with charts and illustrations to the left and explanatory paragraphs and selections to the right, many signed with R. Yitzchak's initials.
For another Ilan of this type, see Kedem catalog 104 Part 1, lot 2, and a corresponding copying, apparently produced by the same scribe, NLI Ms. 9790=4, formerly Gross Collection – Tel Aviv, no. 028.012.002. See description in Hillel, ibid., p. 40; and Prof. J.H. Chajes (referenced below), pp. 261-264, 296.
The present Ilan is an abridged version, with the diagrams and illustrations but without most of the commentary. The present Ilan appears to have been produced by same scribe as the above Ilanot.
Another abridged Ilan, apparently also by the same scribe is NLI Ms. 9814=4, formerly Gross Collection – Tel Aviv, no. 028.012.008.
Prof Chajes (ibid., pp. 296-296) states that the abridged Ilanot served as amulets.
In several places, handwritten additions by another writer.
Parchment scroll (four membranes sewn together). Length of scroll: approx. 270 cm. Width of scroll: approx. 8 cm. Overall good condition. Stains and creases.
Ilan Sefirot
Visual diagrams of Hishtalshelut HaOlamot, known as the Ilan Sefirot, have been known since the early period of kabbalah. Many kabbalists composed and drew detailed Ilanot Sefirot for themselves. These were generally inscribed on long scrolls made of parchment or paper. As Lurianic kabbalah spread and gained popularity, these Ilanot came to reflect the complexity of this stream of kabbalistic thought, embodying ideas of the specific schools from which they originated.
Eminent Italian kabbalist R. Menachem Azariah (the Rama) of Fano describes the kabbalists who drew Ilanot on scrolls as follows: "A custom of the ancestors transmitted to their descendants is that they marked the names and bynames of the Sefirot on large scrolls which they called Ilanot" (Paamon VeRimon, Amsterdam 1608, p. 17a).
The Ilanot are highly complex graphic compositions, usually masterfully integrating text and illustrations. The Ilanot visually represent Hishtalshelut HaOlamot (Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, Asiyah), the structure of the Sefirot in each of the Olamot and the mutual influences between the Sefirot, the Partzufim of the Olam HaAtzilut, Sarim, Heichalot and more. These are all integrated with paragraphs of text. Thus, the Ilanot became standalone works, representing the great complexity of the process of emanation according to the various views.
The Ilanot Sefirot prepared by kabbalists were not made purely for rote study, but were also a ritual tool by which the kabbalists would mentally depict the structure of the Olamot during their prayer and spiritual service. Later on, Ilan scrolls served as amulets and as a Segulah for the owner's protection and success.
Over many years of research into Kabbalah, the Ilanot were almost entirely ignored, and they were hardly studied and documented at all. Only in the last decade did research develop, gaining momentum with the Ilanot Project under the leadership of Prof. J.H. Chajes, whose comprehensive book on the subject was recently published. See at length: J.H. Chajes, The Kabbalistic Tree, Pennsylvania University Press, 2022.
Kabbalistic Amulets and Ilanot Sefirot
Kabbalistic Amulets and Ilanot Sefirot