Geniza Lab

Letter probably from Abū Sahl Levi (d. 1211), in Fustat, to his son Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (d. 1212), in Qalyūb. In Judaeo-Arabic. (Identification based on handwriting and typical content.) Levi has sent Moshe the materia medica which he had ordered. "If you like them, keep them, and if you don't, send them back." They include sumac, spikenard (sunbul), maḥlab, tutty, and clove. There follows some accounting. Levi reports that 'the girl' (=Moshe's wife) is currently ritually impure and will immerse herself on Sunday, so he should endeavor to come visit on Sunday—and to make sure to come to Fustat directly instead of stopping in Cairo—while she is ritually pure. The language is quite ambiguous here, but the best reading may be that she will intentionally not purify herself if she knows that her husband is coming. There is a mystifying instruction (or just innuendo?) to ride the donkey into town if it is more than 6 handbreadths (6 ashbār = ~1.4 meters), and not to bother if it is less than 6 handbreadths. Levi reports that 'your brother' (=Abū l-Ḥasan Yedutun) bought the requested qatāmīr (pl. of qiṭmīr, apparently a date membrane or an eggplant calyx?) as soon as he returned to Fustat, and Ṣāfī took them to Qalyūb the next day and deposited them with Avraham b. Sulaymān for Moshe to collect at his convenience. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Maimonides' decree on menstrual purity. Dated 1487 Seleucid, which is 1176 CE. See Eve Krakowski, "Maimonides' Menstrual Reform in Egypt," JQR (2020), 245–89.

Letter from Yeḥiel b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Ṣarfati, in Jerusalem, to an unnamed addressee (probably the judge Menaḥem b. Yiṣḥaq b. Sasson), probably in Cairo. In Hebrew. Dating: Early 13th century. He is inquiring what should be done with the money of the heqdesh that the addressee had endowed for the building of a ritual bath (miqve). There is no need for a miqve, as Yeḥiel has already made one in his own house. The rains have already ended, and the Gentiles do not permit bathing in the Shiloaḥ spring, so there is nowhere else to build one. Yeḥiel argues that it is good for the women to immerse themselves in his house, so that his wife can instruct them on proper practice (including ḥafifa and immersing in the evening rather than the morning). He wants to know if his previous letter arrived with a Gentile named ʿAskar(?). See Roni Shweka's article on this letter and Yeḥiel's subsequent letter, Moss. IV,9 + T-S NS 312.98 + T-S 8J31.4 + T-S 6J9.12 (PGPID 3783).