J. H. (Yossi) Chajes, Sir Isaac Wolfson Professor of Jewish Thought in the Department of Jewish History at the University of Haifa, spoke to a large crowd in the HST building last week. On display were over a dozen ancient manuscripts showcasing the iconic "Tree of Life" and other kabbalistic symbols. Chajes explained how such complex graphical scrolls have been a genre of kabbalistic literature in their own right since the Renaissance, and that from the late seventeenth century such scrolls became an indispensable tool to Lurianic kabbalists.

