Geniza Lab

A letter begging for help from a distinguished addressee, in elegant and vocalized script. The writer intends to travel but lacks a covering. On verso there is a quatrain about how he kissed the letter when he put it in the hand of the messenger

Fragment of a begging letter addressed to Avraham Maimonides in the name of a poor, sick man.

Letter of appeal from a blind (maḍrūr) man Moshe who is unable to work and distressed on account of the capitation tax. Rather than asking for charity, he asks the addressee if he can think of any employment in his shop for the writer ("do you plan to open? . . . I heard from Ibrāhīm that you mentioned to him that you plan to open this Friday.") If there is no work directly in the shop, he writes that he would even work for a Gentile. He then asks for a loan of two dinars for the jāliya and promises to repay it as soon as possible. He perishes from sitting at home all day on account of the capitation tax owed. ASE.

Letter of appeal in Hebrew, probably 14th century or later, including lengthy praises for the addressee and then a request to help with the [poll?] tax, as the writer and his family are unable to leave the house.

Fragment from a letter of appeal in which the writer alludes to news 'that made my chest constrict and the world collapse on me.' He intends to travel in the Rīf in search of a living, but he does not even have the money to rent a pack animal. He asks the addressee for a loan of three dirhams to rent an animal, and perhaps a little more for provisions.

Verso: Letter of appeal from a poor man [...] ha-Levi addressed to the Nagid David I Maimonides (r. 1237–1300) or David II Maimonides (r. 1355–1410). In Judaeo-Arabic. Opens with standard praises as well as a prayer for David's speedy recovery from his illness. There follows a detailed story about money that may be owed to the writer.

Letter of appeal probably from Berakhot b. Shemuel, addressed to Abu l-Ḥasan the father of Abu l-Mufaddal. He says he has been a stranger in this city for the last year and a half, making a small living by copying - some days half a dirham, some days three-quarters - but he has lost this job and is now hungry and cold. Similar to T-S 13J21.35, which is signed Abu l-Barakat and addressed to Abu Nasr. ASE.

Letter or letter draft from Muʿammar ha-Kohen ("the teacher of Qalyūb") to ʿAmram ha-Kohen, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Recto consists entirely of pleasantries and flattery and mentions that the when the addressee had departed from the writer's location, he had invited the writer to stay with him in Fustat, however the writer had no way of coming to Fustat and furthermore did not wish to burden the addressee. On verso there purpose of the letter emerges: the writer is destitute and needs help with the capitation tax and is staying in the synagogue (in Fustat?). He previously stayed for two months in Qalyūb and received only the mūna/mu'na (living stipend?) and 10 fulūs. Regards to Abū ʿAlī.

Complete calligraphic letter of appeal to Yefet ha-Sar, a Levi, begging for money to help pay the capitation tax for the writer and his two sons. The letter contains several interesting features. The writer says that every year Yefet ha-Sar is accustomed to persuading al-Shaykh al-Nafīs to pay the writer's capitation tax. The writer is in debt to the tune of 300 dirhams plus interest, at least partly due to the expense of marrying his son. Everyone is dying of hunger because "I only buy the bread of the market." He then cites the maxim that the poor of your household precede the poor of your city who precede the poor of another city, "So consider me as the poor of your household." He does not want his brother-in-law to hear about this (perhaps he is related to Yefet ha-Sar through his brother-in-law?). ASE.

Most of an eloquent letter of appeal in rhymed Hebrew addressed to Abu l-Faraj Amram b. Levi. The body of the letter begins about 2/3 of the way down, after a poem and some flattery. No actual specifics are given, just that the writer is poor and wretched and is a stranger in this land, separated from his family, dwelling in a desolate place. ASE.

Letter in Hebrew from Yusuf, a scholar with minimal assets and now in a perilous situation because of debts, dependents, and sureties on his behalf. He requests a donation and prays for his would-be benefactor with the expression, “May you never be ashamed in your life.” (Mark Cohen, Voices of the Poor, 74) EMS

Petition from Yefet ha-Melammed the schoolmaster to Avraham Maimonides; the latter's answer is on verso, lines 18–26. Yefet writes that he is ill and losing his vision, and consequently has been unable to pay his rent (?) which has accumulated in arrears of six dirhams. Avraham grants him the money. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 37, 529, and Goitein's index cards.) Many of the specifics of the writer's financial situation are lost. There is an ambiguity as to whether "ujra" here means rent or wage/tuition. In "Side Lights on Jewish Education" (p. 96), Goitein prefers the latter: "The community paid for [the tuition of] the sons of those who were impeded by any reason to go after their usual professions (munqaṭiʿ)," referring to recto, lines 9–11. In this reading, the word munqaṭīʿ refers not to the writer of the letter but to the parents of his pupils who have been unable to pay him. "[This] teacher receives 1 dirham per pupil and week, probably for special reasons," referring to recto, lines 13–14 and 17–19. Yefet has evidently continued to work despite his condition, but has not received the wages officially due to him from the community. He thus writes with a description of his current plight (shidda) to expedite the payments. ASE

Petition of a pregnant woman describing herself as a 'lonely foreigner' (gharība qatīʿa). Ibrāhīm, the scribe, emphasizes the great reward and place in heaven the recipient will obtain if he helps the woman. He also adds various business matters of his own, including, apparently, something to do with the 'milking' of musk. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards.)

Reuse: Letter sent to Shelomo ha-Nasi. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender asks him for help on account of his illness, poverty, and "hot bedbugs. May God never afflict our master with distress, and may he afflict my state on all those who hate you." On verso there is a postscript mentioning Alexandria and family members being left in prison. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter requesting aid for the poor of Palestine, 11th century. Recto: Fully vocalised poetry in a very crude (almost unreadable) hand. (Information from CUDL)

Letter of appeal for charity from a Byzantine man named Mosqos (=Μόσχος). Dating: ca. 1090 CE. The scribe, also a Byzantine, has been identified by Ben Outhwaite. This scribe wrote T-S 12.237, T-S NS 325.184, T-S 13J13.16, and T-S 8J16.29.

Letter fragment asking for a favor and stating that the writer relies on God and on the recipient for the solution of the matter. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment addressed to Ḥusayn al-Ṣabbagh al-Ḍāmin in formal style and in curious script of large characters, asking the recipient to pay 1/6 dinars for the hire of a boat, for which the writer had pawned his clothing with the captain al-Rayyis al-Ḥayfī. The writer is hungry and thirsty. It seems he ate something that gave him a bad case of gas ("wa-alqaʾat al-riyāh fī jawfī"), and he has not eaten anything since. Mentions Amīr al-Juyūsh and Saniyy al-Dawla. Information in part from Goitein's index card. Handwriting is the same as ENA 3360.7 (another letter) and may be the same as DK 344 (literary). ASE.

Letter from a Maghribi silversmith named Efrayim b. Ishaq of Ceuta, Morocco, who had fled Almohad persecution in his native country about 35 years earlier. He describes himself as a 'foreigner' in spite of having lived in Egypt for about 15 years. When he lost half his sight from ophthalmia (ramad), he was unable to work as a silversmith and had to resort to teaching. He asks the addressee, also of Maghribi origins, for charity. Ca. 1181. The letter is preceded by a poem (lines 3-8). English translation in Med Soc V, 77. T-S 8J20.24 is a sequel to this letter. On verso: an eulogy in Hebrew.

Letter from the wife of Shemuel, a poor woman from al-Maḥalla, addressed to the Gaon Maṣliaḥ. She asks for assistance for herself and for her blind son, particularly for paying the capitation tax. She had already been in Fustat one month without relying on anyone for charity. (Information from Goitein's index cards.)