Geniza Lab

Letter of complaint to Maimonides regarding funds for the Qodesh. Written in the hand of Meʾir b. Hillel b. Ṣadoq Av. The plaintiff asks why arrangements made for him by the mutawallī Isaiah ha-Levi b. Mišaʾel have become void; and if they are void for him, why should not the other leases and deeds of rent of ruined lots be discontinued as well. The complaint was probably submitted in 1171 or somewhat later and it emerges that the agreement made with Isaiah stipulated that the plaintiff was to rebuild a ruin of the qodesh and live in it until his investment in repairs was balanced out by a hypothetical rent, in the meantime paying only the ground rent (ḥikr) to the government. Maimonides was apparently opposed to this agreement, possibly because of legal principles regarding permission to make deals with properties of the qodesh. In the second part of the letter, the writer requests Maimonides to answer various questions on the study of the Law which he had previously asked him, and to which he now adds a question on the attitude to astronomy. He also asks him for some of his books, to be copied for him, the cost to be paid from the money due to him, if the debt is recognized. Below on verso are rhymed Hebrew wedding verses in a crude hand. (Information from CUDL and Gil, Documents, pp. 363 #94)