Geniza Lab

Letter and responsum from Shelomo b. Yehuda to an unidentified person in Fustat (perhaps Avraham ha-Kohen b. Yiṣḥaq). Dated: 19 December 1029 CE. (Information from Goitein’s index card) The date is actually for the previous document (the responsum), and the year is not given, but rather surmised by Gil.

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

Responsum. In Hebrew: Dating: ca. 16th century. Concerning two partners who sue a third ex-partner. Currency: Mentions 1700 grossos (silver coins).

Four responsa of Gershom b. Judah (the Ragma), on the subject of borrowing money from gentiles, selling property, interest on a loan, and business deals with non-Jews made on the Sabbath. This is the oldest known Ashkenazi manuscript to be discovered in the Genizah. (Information from CUDL)

Responsa on the writing of legal documents and forbidden wine (יין נסך). (Information from CUDL)

A responsum dealing with partnerships. (Information from CUDL)

Responsum written in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya. (Information from CUDL)

Responsum dealing with the collection of debts, the marriage contract and dowry. (Information from CUDL)

Responsum of Maimonides addressed to his brother-in-law al-Shaykh al-Thiqa. Answers a legal query about how to deal with the ketubba of a divorcee who had converted to Islam. (Information from Goitein's index cards.) Translated by Moshe Yagur as follows (with transliterations slightly modified for PGP): "Shall his honor, my father and patron, al-Shaykh al-Thiqa al-Amīn, send for al-Shaykh al-Ḥaver, [may his] r[ock] p[reserve him], and inform him that he is not permitted, under any circumstances, to testify at the [court of] the Muslim qāḍī regarding the dowry (ketubba) of that apostate woman (poshaʿat). Instead, he should claim that this is a bill of dower (ṣadāq), and we do not know the witnesses. I do not allow, under any circumstances, deviation from this. Also, the witnesses are not allowed to testify regarding this bill. May your peace increase." (Information from Moshe Yagur, "Several Documents from the Cairo Geniza Concerning Conversion to Islam," (2020).)

Responsum by Moshe Maimonides. A copy. The responsum corresponds to #355 in Blau's edition ("I am very troubled by various matters, and my body is week, and I have no ability to even read the letters, let alone respond to them..."). Another copy of the same responsum may be found in ENA 2743.3. (Information from Amir Ashur via FGP)

Legal query addressed to Avraham Maimonides, with the latter's autograph responsum. NB: There is an extensive bibliography on this fragment, but it is often erroneously called MS 8254, fol. 16. See FGP under MS 8254, fol. 16.

Recto: Two legal queries addressed to a certain Efrayim. In the first, Reuven claims that Shimon owes him money but that he has lost the contract. Does Shimon have to swear on pain of the ban that there was no debt and no contract? In the second, Reuven gave Shimon a house but claims that the scribe forgot to include an important condition about Reuven's continued access to the house ("all the days of my l[ife]"?). Does Shimon have to swear that there was never such a condition? Verso: The responsa. The first one is quite effaced but may just say that Shimon has to swear. The second one says to summon the witnesses and ask if they remember that the parties agreed to Reuven's condition. If they don't remember, Shimon must swear that he never agreed to such a condition. ASE.

Petition from Hibatallāh b. Bū l-Faḍl Ibn al-Shofeṭ to Moshe Maimonides. Dating: ca. 1180 CE. The sender complains concerning a part of the revenue of the house of Ibn Pinḥas in Fustat, which had been allocated to him some time before. The petition is written in a very flowery and flattering style, in which besides biblical phrases there are also some more original figures of speech. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 325 #79)

Secondary use: Fragment of three responsa written by Ibn Avraham Ibn Yiju, most probably in Yemen. Dating: ca. 1151 CE. Written on a reused letter (see PGPID 4719). (Information from India Book III; IB III, 34 = T-S 10J9.24v IB III, 35 = T-S 10J32.6.)

Responsum of Avraham b. Maimonides.

Halakhic discussion about the responsibility for fire damage, probably from a geonic responsum. The leaf is blank on verso, and, given the layout of the page, this is probably the original responsum rather than a later copy. (Information from CUDL)

Avraham Maimonides (in office as head of the Jews 1205-1237) is asked about the procedure in which a party appears in court together with an attorney, and answers that the defendant is obliged to respond to claims and arguments made by the attorney, but questions addressed by the defendant to the claimant have to be answered by the latter in person. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 335, 600)

Letter from Shemuel Sidi, in Damietta, to his brother-in-law and business partner Gabriel (likely Gabriel Conforte, son of the famous David Conforte). In Ladino. See T-S 12.381 for another letter from the same Shemuel Sidi, also with a responsum on the other side. Written on Friday, the 13th of Tammuz. It is not clear where the various people are based. Shemuel's father is also in Damietta, but Shemuel's wife is in Gabriel's location. Shemuel writes: "Always write to me via Rashid to Izmir," and, "God willing, on Sukkot, you will tell me what happened the garments that I will send to Salonica, and God willing, tell me about in Izmir." Perhaps Gabriel and Shemuel's wife live in Cairo/Fustat, and Shemuel has embarked on a trip to Izmir. Shemuel reports that he is sending some clothing back to (presumably) Cairo/Fustat for his wife (? "by my sins, I left her practically naked / muy desnuda"). He mentions that he is sending a silk skirt (futa de seda) with R. Ya'aqov Sobrado (?). "Our brother" R. Shelomo al-Hanati (אלחאנאטי) and R. David Kivas (דוד כיואס) are also mentioned. Shemuel sends regards to his father-in-law, Tia Havah (or Hannah), Tio Moshe, and Menahem, and to his own "brother" יאודה מראלי. This fragment also contains a responsum regarding a Jew who had a Gentile process the parchment for Torah scrolls and tefillin but failed to mark the parchment so that he would know if the Gentile swapped it out. The responsum has been edited by Shmuel Glick of the FGP Seride Teshuvot Team. ASE.

Responsum regarding the scoring of parchment (שירטוט) for Torah scrolls and mezuzot.

Legal query with the autograph responsum of Yehuda ha-Kohen Rosh ha-Seder b. Yosef (aka "the Rav"). Yehuda b. Yosef was a student of Rabbenu Nissim b. Yaʿaqov of Qayrawān. He appears in the letters of the Maghribī merchants of the second half of the 11th century simply with the name "the Rav." This query concerns an orphan girl whose mother married her off while she was still a minor. Some time after the wedding, she stated that she had committed adultery. The man initially denied this claim but confessed upon examination by the court. The querier wishes to know if the wife is permitted to her husband. The responsum begins: "There are two sides to this ruling." The Rav ultimately rules that she is permitted to her husband. On verso, in Arabic script, "hādhihi ʿindī bi-khaṭṭihi raḥimahu Allāh" ("I have this in his handwriting, may God have mercy on him"). Information from Amir Ashur via FGP and from Friedman, "A Responsum by 'The Rav.'"