The Museum of History of the Jews incorporates a kabbalistic parchment in its permanent collection

In order to expand the permanent collection and provide new elements for the understanding and dissemination of Jewish culture, which is part of our history, the Patronat del Call de Girona has acquired a parchment with Hebrew and kabbalistic inscriptions and drawings, which form a protective amulet against evil eye.

It is an interesting and unusual subject, still center from Europe and dated to the late eighteenth century, has a close relationship with Girona, has the hassidism, Kabbalistic current flourished in central and eastern Europe from the seventeenth century, has its origins in the cabal who excelled in the city in the twelfth and thirteenth.

The kabbalistic parchment

The parchment is a amulet which makes use of the powers attributed to combinations of letters according to their numerical value, a very typical of the cabal. In the center, in three concentric circles, one sees a six-pointed star, one of the main symbols Kabbalistic flanked on both sides by two stars, two hands and four squares, all filled with letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which, properly combined, make up names of guardian angels, like Raphael. In one of the squares are written the four consonants that make up the inpronunciable divine name, the Tetragrammaton. At the bottom is repeated three times the phrase "Ha-Eix xaca ha-Eix" (the fire is sinking into the fire). The amulet was used to ward off evil spirits and invoking good luck at times difficult or dangerous, such as childbirth. Had to be very similar amulets used by the Jews of medieval Girona.

The so-called Kabbalah amulets and practice using the power of divine and angels names to get protection, and argued that each letter of the alphabet, was a tool to transform reality. Profiat Duran, one of the great Catalan Jews thinkers of the fifteenth century said of the Kabbalists: "Those with power in the science or wisdom know how to change the nature of existing things and perform miracles and signs with the names of the Creator and the holy angels".

The information and translations of the symbols and texts of the amulet has been led by Joan Ferrer.

(Text provided by The Museum of History of the Jews )

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