Geniza Lab

Letter(s) of appeal for charity. In Judaeo-Arabic. There are specific stories conveyed here, but the text is written in codex format—so maybe this is a book of copies or formularies.

Letter of appeal for charity. From Abū l-Majd to al-Shaykh al-Rashīd. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Perhaps 13th or 14th century. The sender is in difficult straits on account of the capitation tax. He cannot hide in his house any longer, because he needs to earn a living. On verso there are pen trials or writing exercises.

Letter addressed to a certain Abū l-Barakāt. In Arabic script. The writer complains about poverty and unemployment and kashf ḥāl ('uncovering').

Letter of appeal for charity. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Makārim b. Abū [...] and a ḥaver.

Fragment of a letter of appeal for charity. In Hebrew, in a calligraphic, square book hand. The petitioner is unable to pay his (or her) debts.

Letter/petition from Moshe [...] to the "Nagid" [Shelo]mo. Begins in Hebrew, and transitions to Judaeo-Arabic. Probably this is a letter of appeal for charity or help. The bottom part of the letter is lost. Unclear who this Shelomo is.

Recto: Letter of appeal for charity from a Torah scholar. In Hebrew.

Letter of appeal for charity, probably. In Hebrew. Mentions the names Moshe b. Yiṣḥaq and Abū [...]. There are also a couple of words in Arabic script on verso.

Letter of petition from a man to a potential benefactor: 'I hereby inform you that I have been in good health, "concealed" among the people (mastūr bayn al-nās). Then when my hand became paralyzed (infalajat), I was left without a means of making a livin[g].' When capitation tax payment came he had to go into hiding in his house, and so he asks for assistance." Cohen, Poverty and Charity, 42-43. See also Goitein's note card. The writer has been hiding in the house for 55 days. Only Abu l-Fakhr the son of the judge and Ibn [...] al-Amshati have come to his aid, each one giving him 5 dirhems. He bribed the capitation tax collectors with 5 dirhems and already spent the other 5. He needs food. ASE.

Letter of appeal for charity. In Judaeo-Arabic. The topoi include weakness of vision and hearing and "all day long I sit in the corner of the house waiting for someone to open the door."

Letter in the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan addressed to a dignitary named ʿAzaryahu. (For the addressee, cf. T-S 8J19.8 + CUL Add.3342.) Recto consists entirely of praises in eloquent Hebrew. Verso contains the body of the letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Much of it is missing, but it mentions a court case; an issue with the government; Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur; someone "who does not go out or come into the house," i.e., is on the run and hiding in the house; and Manṣūr sending someone after him. The sender asks for a little food. Regards to Barakāt; Sitt Wudūd (or Nudūd?). Joins: Oded Zinger and Alan Elbaum.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (bottom half only). The sender is planning to travel to al-Shām the next day and he asks for money to cover the expenses of travel. It pains him to have to ask, because he has expended 200 dinars since coming to Egypt, and he has never asked for money from the addressee before this.

Letter from Natan b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Sefaradi who lives in Jerusalem to a patron, describing the hardships of the year and presumably asking for money

Letter of appeal for charity addressed to the Nagid Abū l-Faḍl. In Hebrew (for the introduction) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). The writer has been sick for 4 months, unable to do work. The times are difficult for everyone, even for aṣḥāb al-rasāmīl wa-l-dawālīb. This is a relatively long letter; merits further examination. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) ASE

Letter of appeal for charity for assistance in moving to the land of Israel.

Letter in which a man who calls himself the father of the cantor who is "sick, poor, and naked" asks a prominent physician to arrange for him a collection, pesiqat sedaqa, in his private synagogue—and first to give himself. See further details on Goitein's note card and Med Soc II, Appendix C, #90 (p. 500).

Letter from an old cantor to the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. He is complaining that his post was taken by someone other than his son. He lived in the synagogue compound and whenever he heard the voice of the other cantor, his illness grew worse. "It is in fitting with our sense of justice that any one should retain his position. If my son is treated like this during my lifetime, what will happen to him after my demise?" He mentions that he has "cast himself down" (fa-qad ramā nafsahu) and that his severe illness costs him at least 5 dirhams every day. (Information in part from Goitein, Med Soc II, pp. 89–90).

Public appeal of a blind woman to the congregation of Fustat to pay the fee of 4 dinars charged by a Muslim physician for the treatment of either herself or her sick daughter, who suffered from dropsy (istisqā'). Her other children (or child) had been given as security for this sum. Probably written by Hillel b. Eli (dated documents 1066–1107). Information from Goitein's note card. See also Med Soc, II, Appendix C, #96 (p. 501), and Med Soc I, p. 259 on children as collateral. ASE.

Letter of appeal for charity for assistance in paying the capitation tax. In Hebrew (for the introduction) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). At the upper left: "...al-ḥaḍra al-shaykhiyya al-ḥazzāniyya(?) Thābit Ibn al-M[...]." This would normally be the position for the sender's name, but the terms of respect suggest it is the addressee's name. But the body of the letter then clarifies that the cantor Thābit al-Kohen known as Ibn al-[...] is the one in need of help. The addressee may be a government official (he is called al-ḥaḍra al-dīwāniyya).

Formulary for a letter of appeal for charity. In Hebrew. It is a formulary because about 11 lines from the bottom, it asks the addressees to help "so-and-so from the city of such-and-such." (The description on Ktiv differs: "Letter to Ramle; Abraham ben Isaac, Ibn Al-baḳrah, active 11th century.")