Geniza Lab

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Avraham b. Sahlan, Fustat, ca 1030. Address on verso in Arabic and Hebrew. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Hayye Gaon, in Baghdad, to Sahlan b. Avraham in Fustat. Dated Kislev 1349 Sel. (Dec 1037–Jan 1038). Regarding the disagreement among Iraqi community members in Fustat. A group of people is opposed to Sahlan and spreads written materials against him. Hayye Gaon promises Sahlan that he will support him and advises him to act with restraint. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #41)

Letter from Yisrael ha-Kohen Gaon b. Shemuel b. Ḥofni to one of Shelomo ha-Kohen b. Se’adya’s sons in Fustat. January 1021, in the handwriting of Israel ha-Kohen Gaon b. Shemuel. The writer asks for a donation to the Yeshiva, that Sahlan b. Avraham, the head of the Babylonian community in Fustat, will transfer. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #63) VMR

Fragment of a letter in the hand of Natan ha-Kohen b. Mevorakh concerning the disagreement about the Jewish community's leadership in Ashkelon. Describes how a group of community members appointed a new cantor (hazzan) without the approval of David b. Daniel, the Jews' leader. Avraham b. Ḥalfon b. Nahum, the official hazzan, tried to get to a compromise between both sides but failed. The writer describes that Avraham b. Ḥalfon (Ibrāhīm b. Khalaf) is not accepted by the community, nor even by the leadership in Fustat. The hazzan is not from Ashkelon, but Gaza, and they ask the head of the Jews in Egypt to appoint a new hazzan and leader in Ashkelon. (Information from M. Cohen, Shalem, 3, pp.103-105) VMR

Letter of ʿEli ha-Mumḥe (‘the Adept’) b. Abraham in Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya in Fusṭāṭ (c. 1045 CE), with the continuation and, inverted, the address on verso. Also on verso, Arabic jottings, part of which are written transversely across the page. (Information from CUDL)

The middle part of a letter written by Shelomo b. Yehuda, around 1025. Announces the passing of the Gaon, his predecessor. From the letter it is clear that two Gaons died at the year, probably Yehoshiyahu and Shelomo ha-Kohen. (Gil, Palestine, vol. 2, 97, Doc. #56) VMR

Letter fragment (the end only) from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya. Refers to a debt.

Fragment of a responsum in the hand of Shelomo b. Yehuda, regarding bread baked by Gentiles (pat shel goyim). Information from Gil and CUDL.

The beginning of what is probably a petition, written by a boy who was abandoned by his father before he was born. (CUDL description: Letter complaining about a husband leaving his wife and daughter, mentioning precious items, gold and silver.)

Letter in Hebrew written on an irregular piece of vellum from prison. David appeals to Avraham ha-Sar to try to bring about his release from prison. David admits that he is not treated harshly by the jailers ("ha-goyim") but complains that his freedom of movement is restricted and that his diet is meager. The language is in an elevated register and full of learned references. Information from Mann, who suggests that the letter is no later than the 13th century and more likely the 12th.

Letter (beginning only) from Muṣā b. Yosef to Yoshiyyahu Gaon. Dating: ca. 1020. Conveys extensive greetings. Information from CUDL.

Letter from Yosef ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon to Ephrayim b. Shemarya, ca. 1035.

Recto: Fragment of a letter from Shemuel Gaon b. Hofni to one of the main members of the community in Fustat. Dated: Av 1319 Seleucid, which is July 1008 CE. In the handwriting of Yisraʾel ha-Kohen b. Shemuel b. Ḥofni (according to Gil). The sender asks the addressee to keep sending him letters. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #55.) VMR

Petition of a widow to a communal leader. She asks him to help her with her late husband's orphans, as he helped her husband in the past.

Petition, probably to Avraham Maimonides, of a widow who lives in a small upper apartment of a ruin belonging to the pious foundation. Recently the rent was increased from two dirhams a month to three and a half. She asks not be moved from this apartment because she enjoys the sounds of prayers that can be heard from the nearby synagogue. See further information in S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 4:66, 366, 374; and Mordechai Akiva Friedman, 'Protesting the Cancellation of Saying Piyyutim' Peamim 78 (1999), 139 n. 47.

Letter from Yeḥiel b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Ṣarfati, in Jerusalem, to a certain Menaḥem (probably the judge Menaḥem b. Yiṣḥaq b. Sasson), probably in Cairo. Dating: Early 13th century, likely 1219–29 CE (Shweka's assessment). See also T-S 8J33.4, a previous letter on the same matter. "At the beginning of the 13th century there were two communities in Jerusalem which were established after the city was conquered by Salah al-Din in 1191: the Ashkelonite community and the Maghrebi community. Beginning in 1210, a wave of pilgrims – known as the Emigration of the Rabbis – arrived from France and England. Relations between the various communities were very tense, as testified by Yehuda Alharizi, who visited Jerusalem in 1214. From letters of R. Yehiel the Frenchman to Fustat, we learn about a heated debate that took place in Jerusalem at the time. Because the Jews were not allowed to immerse themselves in the Shiloah spring, a campaign was held in Egypt to build a new mikveh, and a large sum was collected and sent to the community in Jerusalem for this purpose. But R. Yehiel, the leader of the community, objected to the construction of a new mikveh, preferring that the women of the community immerse in a private mikveh in his home – according to him, this would enable his wife to supervise the women’s immersion. R. Yehiel appealed to the local judge in Fustat, asking permission to change the the donation’s destination. However, members of the local community were not satisfied with this arrangement, and tried to build a new mikveh. The ensuing dispute split the community, until R. Yehiel and his group were forced to leave the synagogue. The two groups did not hesitate to involve the Muslim ruler in the conflict, which led to the arrest of some members of the community. The controversy spilled over into an interethnic struggle, with tensions caused by changes based on the French halachic tradition instituted by R. Yehiel. Until now, we knew of this story from two pages published almost a century ago. With the discovery of five additional pages, we now have a full description of this episode from the history of Jerusalem in the early 13th century." (Information from Roni Shweka.) Previous description: Four-page letter in Hebrew perhaps from Alexandria, concerning a dispute between prominent members of the Jewish community and the consequent expulsion of one of them from the synagogue. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, 384, and Goitein's index cards.)

Letter from the wife of Khalaf b. Harūn to Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon, seeking help against her cruel husband, written in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. (Information from CUDL). Avraham the cantor and the wife of Abu 'l-Ma'ali Khalaf b. Harun, describing her husband's mistreatment of her and petitioning the Gaon to look into her plight.

Fragment of a letter from Efrayim b. Shemarya, around 1030. Writes about the events in Mount of olives, and some words about the ban on the Karaites and the authorities' response, that is known from Shelomo b. Yehuda's letters. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 pp. 598-599, #327). VMR There is Efrayim b. Shemarya's Arabic hand in the margin and dispersed throughout the letter.

Letter of recommendation for charity. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer asks the addressee to arrange a collection (jibāya) to raise funds for the letter-bearer, the cantor Elʿazar b. Yoshiyya. The congregation should also solicit from people who are absent from the synagogue. Ends with the motto "Yeshuʿa."

A circular of Maimonides on the ransoming of captives. Dated: Summer (Tammuz) 1169 CE. With Maimonides' signature.