Geniza Lab

Epistle from Shemuel b. Ḥofni, in Sura, to Yosef ha-Ḥaver b. Berakhya in Fustat. In Hebrew. Dating: Probably copied in the 11th century. It discusses a conflict, it seems now resolved, over monetary donations between the yeshiva of Sura (under Shemuel) and the yeshiva of Pumbedita (under Sherira). Still, some donations are appropriated entirely by one person, and others, if they do not have a specific address or are addressed to the Sages of the Yeshiva in general, are divided 50/50 "between us and our Ḥatan." It goes on on this vein and mentions a specific donation of 150 dirhams sent by a now deceased rabbi. Shemuel urges more donations (addressed correctly this time) and tells the recipient to write to someone named Yosef b. Yaʿaqov. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) ASE

Legal document. Dating: probably ca.1185. This is the only known document that refers to the majlis of Maimonides. It is a draft of a statement (tiqrār) to be signed by Maimonides, the Judges and the Elders, to the effect that Avraham b. Yaḥyā ha-Levi, called al-Najīb, should get the payment of his capitation tax (jizya) to the amount of 1 2/3 dinars out of the revenue from the rents of a "block" (rabʿ) which was a pious foundation earmarked for poor people. Thus Avraham's capitation tax will be paid from the revenue of the qodesh, not as charity, but as compensation for fees which he once renounced for supervising repairs in the funduq. The text stresses the great benefit which would accrue from his continued presence at such repairs. This payment was to be in the place of a daily salary of 1/2 dirham to which al-Najīb was entitled for his supervision of the building of the Funduq ('hotel' or caravenserai), erected by Abū ʿImran Beḥir ha-Kohanim, certainly also a public building. The remuneration of 1/2 dirham normally was paid out of a daily emolument of 2 dirhams which the Wakīl or administrator of the building received. The statement is not signed, perhaps because Maimonides objected to such a vague agreement made in respect of the spending of money destined for the poor. (Information from Goitein's notes and from Gil, Documents, pp. 323 #77.) On verso there are 6 lines of verses in Arabic script.

Letter from Abū l-Ḥayy b. Ḥakīm, in Sicily, to Ḥananya ha-Kohen Av Bet Din. Dating: ca. 1025 (unclear on what basis; Gil says ca. 1020, and Simonsohn says before 1020). Written on parchment. The sender reports that the letter of the Rosh Yeshiva Yoshiyyahu arrived, and it was read aloud in the synagogue. Apparently Yoshiyyahu was soliciting funds for the Jerusalem Yeshiva, and this letter is excusing the congregation for failing to donate anything. The reason is that the capitation tax has been increased to 4 1/3 טריים per head. There may be reference to a specific family (his own?) that owes the tax for four people. He claims that many of the Jews of Sicily have fled "due to fear from the rulers of the land." The community does not like to send a letter to the Rosh Yeshiva without a little money enclosed. The letter was written in Elul, and the sender says he will try to raise some funds in Tishrei. This document was edited by Gil and earlier by Mann (see discussion in Mann, Jews in Egypt and Palestine, I, 73–74).

Letter from ʿEli ha-Kohen b. Yeḥezqel, Jerusalem, to ʿEli ha-Kohen b. Ḥayyim, Fustat. Dating: ca. 1060. The address says the letter should be delivered to a man called Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlūn in Fusṭāt. The addressee is known elsewhere by his Hebrew name, ʿEli ha-Kohen ben Hayyim. The names of the three mail agents are also written. The same agents are also found on a different letter from ʿEli to ʿAlūn, T-S 12.54 (Gil, Palestine, doc. 444). The writer praises Abu Zikri as a great benefactor to foreigners coming to Egypt from Iraq, the Sham, the Maghrib and Byzantium, particularly Shelomo ha-kohen the grandson of Shelomo b. Yehuda. Abu Zikri is most likely Yehuda ben Sighmar, who emigrated to Fustat around 1050, or possibly Yehuda ben Se'adya, who served as head of the Jews ca. 1064-1075. The yeshiva of Jerusalem will reward him by praying on his behalf at the gates of the Temple Mount and on the Mount of Olives. In the postscript on the verso, ʿEli sends regards to Abu Nasr of Siracusa (Sicily).

Letter copy from Sherira Gaon to the Maghrib, ca. 970. The writer describes the importance of the Yeshiva (Pumbedita) and asks to renew the communities’ support for the Yeshiva. The letter was written soon after Sherira became the Gaon. (Gil, Kingdom, vol. 2, Doc. #23) VMR

Letter from Efrayim b. Ya'aqov. A man named Ibn al-Qābisī, who was banned from the Jewish community in four different cities in Iberia, arrived in Alexandria, and his relatives in the city demand that the local judge also apply the ban against him; the judge hesitates to do so, since he was informed that the man had threatened to embrace Islam if he was excommunicated again. The judge turned to Masliaḥ, the Head of the Yeshiva (probably Masliah ha-Kohen Gaon b. Shelomo, head of the Jews 1127–1139), in Fustat and asked him to place the ban on al-Qābisī. The writers of the letter ask other relatives to hurry and collect incriminating evidence again the newcomer so that the ban can be declared. (Information from Frenkel).

Letter from Sadoq Ha-Levi b. Levi, Head of the Court of the Yeshiva of the Land of Israel, in Ramla to Efrayim b. Shemarya, probably 1029.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda, probably to Efrayim b. Shemarya, praising the addressee and complaining about a Fusṭaṭ man, probably Sahlan b. Abraham, particularly concerning the latter’s preference for the title bestowed by the Babylonian yeshiva to that of the Jerusalem yeshiva. (Information from CUDL)

Letter. Request to Avraham Maimonides to write a recommendation to the head of a yeshiva in Damascus for Barakat b. Isma'il the clothier, from Alexandria, who is a relative of the writer. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter fragment from the Yeshiva directed to 'all the communities of Israel in Palestine and in its fortresses, its town and villages...which have remained in Palestine and to those in the land of Egypt calling themselves Palestinians', i.e. to the Jewish communities of Palestine and Egypt, dating from the end of the 10th or the beginning of the 11th century.

Draft of a letter of recommendation by Eliyyahu Ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon, on behalf of the scribe of the Yeshiva, Shemuel b. Semah the cantor (left side). (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Eliyyahu ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon to the trustee of a Yeshiva in an unidentified place, approximately 1055.

Letter from the sons of Berekhya concerning the matters of the yeshivot of Baghdad when Dosa b. Saadya Gaon was the head of the yeshiva of Sura, and concerning the strengthening of the status of Avraham b. Natan ('Ata), the amir's doctor in Adis, August 1015.

Letter from the Jerusalem community in Fustat, in the hand of ha-Hazan Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya in Tamuz (July) 1028. R. Shlomo b. Yehuda was appointed to be the new head of the Yeshiva in Jerusalem and the Jerusalem community in Fustat are writing to get his re-approval for their leader and judge - Efrayim b. Shemarya. (Information from Goitein, Palestinian Jewry, pp. 83-86). VMR

Letter from Yehuda ha-Kohen b. Yosef to the fifth in the Yeshiva, probably 1064. The writer strongly advises against travel to a distant land (possibly Germany) that would take 3 years to reach, and warns that the Jewish scholars in that place were no better than local scholars. Moreover, they speak a barbaric language and have rude manners. The local Jewish community also limited traveling businessmen to a stay of no more than one month (ḥerem ha-yishuv). (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Letter by Sherira Gaon to a correspondent in Fustat, complaining about Egypt and the West's neglect of the Yeshiva. Beginning and end are missing, but the letter should be dated to 962 CE, written while Sherira was still Av Bet Din in Pumbeditha. Verso: Under the title תרגום אפאטיר, there is a list of parashot and their corresponding haftarot, including for special sabbaths and festivals, with Judaeo-Arabic instructions. Written in a slightly clumsy hand with many deletions. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from the Babylonian community in Fustat to Hayya Gaon, acknowledging a letter he had previously sent to Avraham (Avraham b. Sahlan). The community refer to their synagogue in Fustat as ‘one that bears the name of your Yeshiva’. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Ṭoviyya b. Daniel (as far as the first few words of line 31) and the Gaʾon Shelomo b. Yehuda (from the remainder of line 31, as well as line 30, inserted between lines 29 and 31 in minute script), on behalf of the academy, in Ramla, regarding the imprisonment and subsequent release of "our ḥaver who had been ordained in our academy’, (probably Efrayim b. Shemarya). Dating: ca. 1030. The ḥaver and some colleagues had been falsely charged, apparently by rivals within the Shāmī Rabbanite congregation in Fusṭāṭ, but the intervention of the Sahl, Saʿadya, and Yosef b. Yisraʾel al-Tustarī and Abū Naṣr David ha-Levi b. Isḥāq caused the governor to investigate and dismiss the charges. The faʾon led prayers of thanksgiving in Ramla, mentioning both the caliph and his governor, and has arranged for the same to be done in Jerusalem. He urges the leaders of the Rabbanite community in Fusṭāṭ to strive for peace. (Information from CUDL) Letter in Arabic script on verso (as catalogued); see separate entry.

Statute (‘taqqana’) about the conduct of two slaughter houses, one at the Great Bazaar and one at the Bath of the Mice, issued by a committee of seven individuals elected by the community. The document records the decision to appoint Yefet b. David to be cantor and the supervisor of the slaughter instead of his father, who had passed away. Yefet will be responsible for these two markets in Fustat where ritually pure meat was available, and must send one-half of the weekly income to Yoshiyahu, the Gaon and head of the Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Goitein dates the document to after 1024. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2, 583-585, #319; Goitein, “The Social Services of the Jewish Community as Reflected in the Cairo Geniza Records” Jewish Social Studies (1964), 10; and Goitein’s index cards) VMR and EMS

Letter from the people of the Palestine Yeshiva to the community (qahal) of Fustat, probably approximately 1080.