Iosef Gikatilla

Iosef Gikatilla

Joseph Gikatilla (Medinaceli, 1248 – Peñafiel, 1325) was a Kabbalist and exegete. He was a disciple of Abraham Abulafia, and was greatly influenced by his prophetic tendencies. Gikatilla was a prolific writer; he wrote his first work at the age of twenty-six, the Ginnat ‘egoz. A Kabbalistic treatise structured in three parts. As a Kabbalist, he dealt with mystical combinations and transpositions of letters and numbers. His work Sa’re ‘orah (Gates of Light), propagated certain ideas from the Zohar; even the initial title, Sefer ha-ora (Book of Light), sounds like a paraphrase of Sefer haZohar (Book of Splendor). He was heavily criticized by Samuel of Acre in his Me’irat ‘Enayyim, for the abuse of the Holy name.