Geniza Lab

Lower, small fragment: Letter from Natan b. Mevorakh ha-Kohen (aka Wahb b. Barakāt). Small fragment (upper right corner of recto). Concerning the leadership of the community in Ashkelon in the time of David b. Daniel, the head of the Jews in Egypt. Describes an attempt to close the synagogue, probably with the help of the Muslim leadership, in order to prevent the Ashkelonian group, with their leader Avraham ha-Hazan, from praying there. Following the closer of the synagogue, the Ashkelonian group asked David b. Daniel to help them and send them a new leader. (Information from M. Cohen, Shalem, 3, pp.105–07.) VMR