Geniza Lab

Query and response in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya, who was the leader of the Jerusalem congregation in Fustat between 1007 and 1050. Bareket notes that there are fragments of his legal writings in the Geniza and suggests that these were collections of responsa (Bareket, Jewish Leadership, 120). The many amendments in the manuscript suggests that this is an answer he has composed himself, thus providing further confirmation to Bareket's suggestion that he used to compose responsa literature. It is hard to understand the nature of the responsum at hand due to its state, but it seems like it deals with a woman who appointed her sister's husband as a representative for the marriage. It appears that she sought to re-marry her previous husband while her brother-in-law agreed to a marriage with another man. The woman claimed that she did not intend to appoint him as her representative and that there were no witnesses to such an appointment. The Rabbi decided that the marriage to the other man were invalid and the woman may marry her previous husband. If the marriage to the other man had been conducted she would have been forbidden by Jewish Law to her previous husband This manuscript should be added to the corpus of manuscripts of Efrayim b. Shemarya published by Bareket, Jews of Egypt 1007-1055.