T-S 16.135
Beginning of the taqqanah (ordinance) of al-Mahalla, continued in T-S 16.135. This is an enactment passed by the Jewish community of al-Maḥalla, in which they pledge their loyalty to their judge Peraḥya [b. Yosef], to retain his position as long as he remains in the country and does not want to emigrate to the Land of Israel. Peraḥya was Avraham b. Peraḥya Ibn Yijū’s nephew (his brother’s son), and was married to his daughter Sitt al-Dar. He served as the muqaddam of al-Maḥalla. The enactment is authorised by Yehoshua b. Iyov, Moshe ha-Kohen b. Berakhot ha-Kohen, Shemuʾel b. Yefet, Natan ha-Kohen b. Mevorakh, ʿUlla b. Natan, and Berakhot b. Efrayim. The community passed this enactment in response to a power struggle that was taking place between Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā (later known as Mar Zūṭa), the head of the Jews, and local communities. Zūṭa had attempted to force the local judge Peraḥya to collect a tax from anyone approaching him for halakhic rulings - a fee that was to be passed on to Zūṭa. To prevent Zūṭa from appointing a different judge who would be loyal to him, the community of al-Maḥalla pledged their loyalty to Peraḥya in this enactment. (Information from CUDL) Ed. Blau, Teshuvot ha-Rambam, vol. 2, 516-518.
Editor: Ed. S. D. Goitein, "A New Autograph by Maimonides and a Letter to him from his Sister Miriam" (in Hebrew), Tarbiz / תרביץ 32, no. 2 (1963).
