Geniza Lab

Letter from Yeshu'a ha-Kohen ha-Ḥaver, an official in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim. Yeshu'a writes to raise money to free three Jews held by Italian merchants. The merchants had acquired their human cargo from Rum (Byzantine) pirates. The pirates had beaten and almost killed their captives. Jewish communities in Egyptian port towns bore the brunt of these expenses. Charitable collections were often held throughout the Jewish communities of Egypt to help free co-religionists captured in wartime or in acts of piracy. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly sent from Alexandria to an unidentified dignitary in Fustat (though Goitein suggests that the sender is in Fustat and the addressee in Alexandria.) The sender asks the addressee to continue visiting him as his late father ('al-ḥaver') and paternal uncle used to do. He heard that the addressee wanted to be in Fustat for the 9th of Av. The messenger reported to the sender that 18.5 dinars have been raised for the redemption of captives (Goitein apparently understood it differently, that the sender gave 18.5 dinars to the messenger). The sender has sent another letter either on behalf of or intended for (bi-rasm) Sayyidnā; the addressee is asked to deliver it. The margins of recto and the entirety of verso are filled with a list of names and numbers in tiny Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals—needs examination. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Letter in which negotiations with pirates for the release of captives are described.

Letter from Alexandria relating to Jewish prisoners from Byzantium who were brought to Egyptian ports. Detailed summary in Mann, Jews, vol. 1, p. 91. Recto: part of a letter, c. 1030 CE, from Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen b. Yosef the judge, in Alexandria, to Efrayim he-Ḥaver in the Great Sanhedrin b. Shemarya, in Fusṭāṭ, seeking financial help for Shabbetay b. Netanʾel, a ransomed captive who wants to return to his native Byzantium via Jerusalem. Greetings are sent to Efrayim’s son-in-law, Yosef. Verso: address in Arabic script. Information from CUDL.

Letter from Shimʿon b. Shaʾul b. Yisraʾel ha-Ṭulayṭulī, in Jerusalem, to his sister Ballūṭa in Toledo. The writer (a Rabbanite) relays two years of news about Qaraites and fellow Andalusians in Jerusalem, as well as family news. He conveys the distress he felt upon hearing of the epidemic (wabā') and unrest (tashwīsh) in the environs of Toledo. One theme of the letter is their father's health. "Our father is in a state that one would wish only for one's enemies. He has become paralyzed (mabṭūl), blind (aʿmā), and feeble-minded (madkhūl al-dhihn), and suffers much (mumtaḥin). The bearers of this letter will tell you about him and about my care for him. He does not lack a thing, for he is well served (makhdūm) and cared for (maḥfūẓ). I do not rely on anyone else to concern themselves with him. My bed adjoins his; I get up several times every night to cover him and to turn him, since he is not able to do any of these things alone (idh lā yamlik min nafsihi shay'). May God, the exalted, reward him for his sufferings." Med Soc III, p. 241. Later in the letter, Shimʿon tells Ballūṭa that she need not concern herself with sending the turban that had been requested, "for, woe is me, he no longer has the wherewithal to leave the door of the house. He used to devote himself (wādhāb should be read as wāẓāb) to the Mount of Olives and to God's Temple for as long as he was able and [the strength] was in him, may God reward him." (Gil's translation diverges significantly from this.) A second theme of the letter is the story of a fellow Toledan, Ibrāhīm b. Fadānj, and his wife, who arrived two years earlier after having been taken captive in Byzantium and redeemed in Ramle. For a detailed analysis of their case—involving multiple changes of allegiance between the Qaraite and Rabbanite communities, and the writer's role in aiding them—see Rustow, "Karaites Real and Imagined" (2007), 43–47.

An epistle from the community of Alexandria to that of Mastuara (in Byzantium). The letter deals with the ransoming of Byzantine Jews taken captive, and was probably a letter of introduction to be carried by one of them, called Leo. Leo’s brother Eliyyahu is also mentioned.

Recto: Family letter in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, asking for news of female captives which had been expected to arrive with ships from Acre. Verso: Another letter in a different hand, from a husband to his wife. He encourages her to send their two sons to school in the morning and in the evening, and sends along with the letter payment for their teacher. He warns that the boys’ noble descent will not help them - only their studies. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Letter from the two congregations of Alexandria (No-Amon), led by the judge Yosef b. Shelomo ha-Kohen, to the Jerusalemite congregation in Fustāt, led by Efrayim b. Shemarya. Dating: ca. 1031 CE. Requesting urgent financial assistance for the ransoming of Byzantine Jews taken captive by pirates. The letter mentions the visit of the Gaʾon's son, Avraham b. Shelomo, and refers to Barqa (Cyrenaica, on the Libyan coast), the teacher Yehuda b. Yiṣḥaq, and Yehuda b. Ḥayyān. Verso contains the address, written in rhymed prose and closing with an 'alāma, ברית שלום. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter from Ṣadoq b. Yoshiyya, in a border town somewhere in the Levant, to the judge Yosef b. Avraham, in Fustat. Dating: probably the beginning of 1100 CE. In this document Ṣadoq, known from Megillat Evyatar and formerly the third of the yeshiva, describes his disgruntlement at having to be in this location, where he went to liberate captive children held by Crusaders in Antioch, including a little girl from his own family, who has now been released. He is still endeavoring to free his son-in-law (שרנו אדירנו חתננו שר בית ישראל), whom Goitein identifies with Abū Saʿd the son of the Tustarī woman (mentioned as a Crusader captive in T-S 10J5.6 + T-S 20.113). Ṣadoq has also sent a letter to the Nagid (Mevorakh b. Seʿadya) reporting on his efforts for the captives. Verso contains the address and, written inverted in relation to the text on recto, 8 lines of pen exercises in a different hand. (Information in part from CUDL)

Document (bifolium) giving details of a collection (pesiqa) for the ransom of prisoners, conducted by Abū l-Surūr b. Ṭarīf and Abū l-Maʿālī in the provincial towns (al-Rīf) by order of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya (1142–59).

Letter from Yehuda ha-Levi to Ḥalfon b. Netanel concerning the ransom of a captive woman in Toledo, Spain. The amount of money that is needed is 32 2/3 dinars, after Yehuda ha-Levi gave 2/3 dinars (and the total amount that was common for captives is 33 1/3). Yehuda ha-Levi asks Ḥalfon to welcome the woman's father, that came to Lucena, in order to collect the money with Ḥalfon. The writer mentions an evil woman that refuses to send the woman free. The woman is probably the queen Dunya Urraca, queen of Toledo between 1109-1126. (Information from Goitein, "Autographs of Yehuda ha-Levi," Tarbiz 25 (1956), pp. 393-412). VMR

Letter formularies or copies in Hebrew. Written on a bifolium. One of them mentions Palermo, Constantinople, Barqa, and apparently Qayrawān as well; also "so-and-so the captive."

Letter draft from the Rabbanite leaders of Fustat/Cairo to the Rabbanite leaders of Ashqelon. Dating: Summer 1099 CE. The letter recounts how the Nagid Mevorakh exhorted the Jews of the community to donate money for the redemption of captives and Torah scrolls, and how in response the Jews of Fustat have donated 123 dinars. The first transcription here is for DK 242, and the second is for T-S AS 146.3. For a detailed discussion, see Goldman, "Arabic-Speaking Jews in Crusader Syria" (diss.), 42–48.

Formal letter in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, addressed to an unidentified community. Written on behalf of a captive who has been granted a short period of time to travel (accompanied by a Christian) and raise money for his own ransom. The congregation of Fustat has already raised most of the funds, and now the new congregation is asked to make up the remainder. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter describing the wanton destruction of a community and the ransoming of captives. It talks of Palestine (אר‫ץ הצבי‬) and Byzantium (אדום). (Information from CUDL)

Letter of recommendation written by Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq, 'av bet dinsellekol yisra'el', for Yehoshuaʿ b. Eli and David b. Shemuel.

Letter from Tripoli or possibly Tyre to the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saʿadya. Dating: 1094–1111, based on Mevorakh's titles. The handwriting resembles that of ʿAmram b. Aharon ha-Kohen. Gil claims that the sender's son is in Crusader captivity but does not explain why he thinks so (the phrase "the little boy who remains" in l. 10 is clearly insufficient). The sender complains of his poverty and dependents and asks for help settling in Fustat. (Information in part from Gil.)

Document that tells the story of Aharon ha-Levi and Ḥalfon, who collected money on behalf of the Rambam (Maimonides) for ransom of captives. They sent the Rambam a list of names and amounts of money which people agreed to pay, from the Jewish community in al-Mahalla. One of the community members sold his female slave and gave nine dinars of the payment to the Rambam's messenger. On the other side Moses Maimonides declares that he received the money. Av-Elul 1170. (Goitein, Palestinian Jewry, 316-318) VMR

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The hand may be identifiable. Dating: Probably 12th or 13th century. This fragment (lower half of recto, upper half of verso) begins in medias res: the sender is writing about his time with some community, probably near Minyat Zifta; he describes a circumcision that was done on Shabbat; the sender organized a drive (pesiqa) for "the female captives"; and he found the congregation impoverished (fa-wajadtu l-[qaw]m fī ḥāl ṣaʿb... baqā al-jamāʿa ʿaniyyim marudim) on account of the ḍamān incumbent on them (a guarantee they had undertaken? or payments owed to a tax farmer?). He specifically mentions a loss of 100 dinars. It was resolved to inform Rabbenu about all this, and the Parnas went to do that. The sender awaits (the Parnas's? Rabbenu's?) arrival, and he plans to go to Minyat Zifta. He asks Abū l-Makārim "to obtain a rescript (tawqīʿ) regarding [...]."

Letter from Ashkelon to Bilbays about the ransom of a captive.