Geniza Lab

Fragment from a late legal deed, only partially preserved.

Fragment from a book of legal formulas

Letter in Hebrew. Small fragment. Late. Currency mentioned: medin (מאידיש). Mentions receipt of a sum of money.

Fragment from a late legal deed dealing with support for orphans. It was agreed that the shop belong to the deceased will be mortgaged for 4 years and this money will be used to support the orphans.

Late responsa regarding inheritance of the first-born. Data from FGP by Glick.

Very dark, faded and damaged letter in Hebrew. Regarding monetary issues, but very hard to read due to its state of preservation.

Fragment of a late legal deed regarding debt by Ya'aqov Kastro to be paid to Avraham in instalments. Signed by Ya'aqov Neriya

Fragment from the middle part of a late legal deed regarding partnership

Damaged fragment from a late legal deed, probably bill of appointment, not much is preserved.

4 late responsa about excommunication enforced on a banker who took a loan and refused to pay it back (data from FGP by Glick) .

A letter, almost complete, from Shelomo b. Shem Tov, who served as a proxy of the Jerusalemite community in Egypt. The writer admonish the addressee for his lack of support for him. Closer to the end of the letter the writer explain his mission, to encourage Jews to arrive and live in Jerusalem. Probably 2nd half of the 15th century (data from FGP by Avraham David)

Legal declaration, probably the concluding page of a deposition, signed by Shem Ṭov al-Ḥāmī. In Hebrew and Ladino. Dating: Late. Shem Ṭov declares that he vowed to undertake the nezirut of Samson (i.e., abstain from wine and let his hair go wild) when his son had an eye disease. He wanted his mother-in-law to come visit her daughter and sick grandson, so Shem Ṭov told her that he had beaten her daughter. This had the desired effect, but led to a great quarrel, in which both Shem Ṭov and his wife denied any beating, and the mother-in-law asks, "Why are you denying the truth?" At this point they wanted the mother-in-law to leave them alone, but she refused to leave without her daughter. Shem Ṭov made a fist and threatened her in order to end the argument. The husband concludes by reporting the words of his vow to refrain from wine and, it seems, not to leave his wife alone on Sabbath (meaning that he would fulfill his conjugal obligations), "Yo recibo nezirut Shimshon bar Manoaḥ baʿal Delilah con todos sus tena'im de non dexarla עלא דומתי (?) on the Sabbath." He signs Shem Tov ("Good Name") al-Ḥāmī, watchman of a quarter. "The purpose of the declaration was, of course, that the impulsive watchman thirsted for wine and wished to be absolved from his overhasty vow." Information from Weiss and Goitein (Med. Soc, II, 608 n. 41 and Med Soc V, 110 and 536–37). ASE.

Copies of various letter by Ishaq Laniado. Late.

Legal document. Location: ציק?. Dated: Iyyar 5465 AM, which is 1705 CE. Involves Mordekhai ha-Kohen and a sum of 133 reales de פיזו טרהקאנטיש(??) that had been sent by David de Rios from Livorno. Needs examination.

Copies of late letters in poetic Hebrew

Draft of instructions to write signature on legal document. Late

List of names. In Hebrew. Dating: Late, probably 17th–19th century. Entries include Mosseri, Ben Zakito, Elimelekh b. Eliyyahu, and about two dozen more. The text is arranged in columns with an additional pair of names written in a different hand in the empty space on the left. Lines and margins are ruled with a pencil.

Letter fragment. Late. In Hebrew. "In this city, nothing is cheap except for bread. . . . 3 ounces of "Ẓefat" are here worth two silver coins. It is not possible to sell wine in this city. I thought, after I leave this place, what will I do in the villages? I do not want to go to the villages, for as you have seen, I returned sick several times because I am not accustomed to walking outside. I said to myself that I will remain here for some time until I raise some [money] (?). . . ."

Several legal attestations in Hebrew, perhaps from a court ledger, in multiple handwritints, regarding the dispute between Yosef Kalido (?) and David Leon, who were in the securities ("polisas") business. David Leon transfered to Yosef Kalido a debt owed by Yosef Shunina (the Talmudic term "apoteiki" is used here, but seems to refer to Kalido himself rather than to assets designated as repayment). There was also a dispute between Yosef Shunina and Makhlūf Mayo (?), likewise regarding polisas. The plot thickens here, and more characters are introduced, including Eliezer Benveniste and Yosef de Leon. The settlements reached appear on verso in statements introduced by "I the undersigned, by the power vested in me. . . ." which sounds like a European documentary formula. The date Friday, 17 Elul appears, but the year (if given) is difficult to parse—may be gematriya. ASE

Fragment of a late legal document in Hebrew detailing financial transactions. Mentions 181 peraḥim that were detained with the consul; a certain Hayyim; a total sum of 971 peraḥim; and Sunday, the 29th of Kislev of the previous year.