Geniza Lab

Letters in Ladino and Spanish reused for an index to the Teshuvot of the Rosh. ASE. Letter in Ladino on III.D.31 (3) of scan is dated as Ḥeshvan 5404 or late 1643 CE. The Ladino letter on folio (2) of scan may be from a different hand and is signed Yiṣḥaq b. Asgar[?]. MCD.

44 pages, some of which are instructions for kabbalistic kavanot, some of which are a Sabbatean tract (see especially pp.15–16, 19–22, and 25–27 = 8r–8v, 10r–11v, and 13r–14r), with an exegesis of the vision of a certain R. Avraham who lived in the days of Yehuda ha-Hasid. The vision starts with Samael, the dragon of the Nile (p.21). The vision continues with a "prediction" of the birth of Shabbetay Zevi, the true Messiah (p.19). The name Natan ha-Navi appears at the top of p.15 (presumably Nathan of Gaza—is this an atribution of the tract to him?). There are also numerous pages filled with permutations of the word Bereshit.

Two different fragments. First fragment: An abridgement of some of the dietary and lifestyle advice from Chapter 4 of the Hebrew plague treatise "Moshiaʿ Ḥosim" (Venice, 1587) by Avraham Yagel (a.k.a. Gallico). This page dates from after 1623, since זלהה is written after Galiko's name. The advice includes: boiling all water before drinking it or mixing it with wine; cooking all produce to "remove the disease from it"; or to pick wild herbs growing in desolate locations; to dwell in spacious, airy, and beautifully decorated houses; and not to eat too much, not to sleep too much, not to eat excessively warming foods, not to wear excessively warming clothes. On Yagel/Gallico, see Ruderman, Kabbalah, Magic and Science The Cultural Universe of a Sixteenth-Century Jewish Physician, HUP 1988. Second fragment: This is labeled as "Image 2" and contains one line of Arabic script. However, the shape of the paper and the location of holes do not correspond to Image 1, suggesting that we are missing two images (verso of both Image 1 and Image 2).

Letter in Hebrew from Azarya Zeevi, Jerusalem, to Yiṣḥaq Castro, Cairo/Fusṭāṭ. Dating: mid-seventeenth century. Should be read together with T-S 20.67—same writer and addressee. The first page is very effaced and difficult to read. ʿAzarya opens with praise for the addressee (r1–4), reports that he received two of his letters (r5–6) and mentioned earlier letters (r9). He mentions the loss of certain "items" (r11). He mentions הר״י אפמדו י״א (r17), who is also mentioned in a negative light in the preceding letter. He discusses the trade in precious stones (r12) and jewelry (r15, 18, 25), apparently with traders from קושנדי, i.e., Istanbul (r19). He then expands on his request for donations for the community of Hevron by way of R. Zerahya [Gota] (v2). Information entirely from Avraham David's edition on FGP.

Interesting legal document probably from 1682 CE (at least after Adar 5442) involving a businesswoman apparently named Mazal Tov and at least two famous rabbis, including Yom Tov Sahalon (an opponent of the Sabbatean movement in Egypt) and Moshe Vital (plausibly the grandson of Hayyim Vital by the same name, whose father Shemuel lived in Egypt in the 1660s); see Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 641f. In this document, Mazal Tov, the wife of Hiyya Pinto, certifies that she has received payment in full for the profit from her investments, namely her investments with Yom Tov Sahalon from 5430–41 (1670–81) and with Moshe Vital from 5441–42 (1681–82). She also received 1500 medins from Natan b. Efrayim from the capital that she had invested with Yom Tov Sahalon, and now the remainder of her capital is with Moshe Vital. She now grants Vital full agency over her remaining capital with him. There is some writing artfully woven amongst the signatures; all are difficult to read. ASE.

Letter in Ladino in which most of the heading has been damaged but could indicate the year [5]419CE or given that the latter two digits are clear and the ligature of "4" is present (l. 1r). A possible reading of the date is thus 1659CE. Most of the signature is also lost along the bottom tear of the fragment but the remnant of one flourish is present indicating where the author signed. The folding of this fragment also suggests that it was likely sent, and did not remain in the possession of the author as a draft. In the text itself the author mentions their brother "a mi ermano sr. Yeḥezqel / יחזקאל" (l. 13r). The name of the letter carrier is also mentioned "יאודה אטיזו" or "Yauda Atizo/Atezo" (l. 5r). The author also mentions his brother-in-law (l. 11r) and his sister (l. 15r). MCD.

Long legal document in clear Hebrew with four signatures, dated 1695 CE. One of the signatures is that of Gavriel Conforte.

Legal document from Rashid dated 1693 CE (1 Kislev 5454). Needs examination.

Page 2 is a calligraphic letter in Hebrew to the elders of Alexandria, dated 1697/8 CE (5458), signed by three men, on behalf of a woman who, along with her infant son, had been abandoned by her husband Ya'aqov al-Luzio (? אללוזייו or possibly אללומיו) b. Avraham. Ya'aqov had moreover sent to tell her that if she attempted to follow him, he would steal away in the dead of night and she would be left to wander the land. The writers of this letter ask for the addressees' help to bring Ya'aqov before a court before he escapes from Egypt, and make him give her the get and pay her ketubbah in full (6000 mu'ayyadi) as well as the cost of food that he has been negligent in providing for his wife and his son all this time. Page 1 is a puzzling set of drafts of letters and perhaps legal documents in Hebrew, including one that opens in the same manner as the letter on Page 2, but others of which have nothing to do with it. Needs further examination. ASE

Torah with Targum, Rashi, and Or ha-Ḥayyim commentaries. Printed. In Italian. Dated: 1742 CE. The fragment here is the statement of inquisitorial permission from the Riformatori dello studio di Padova under the jurisdiction of the Inquisitor of Venice, P. Frà Paolo Tomaso Manuelli. This Italian fragment can be traced specifically as page vii in the Google Books scan: google.com/books/reader?id=deBoAAAAcAAJ&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP7. There are also biblical scraps and and at least two different handwritten fragments, and probably more hidden underneath various folds. ASE. MCD.

28 pages of communal and financial and legal records. Pages 1 and 14 are registers of deaths, one on page 14 dated 1662 CE (5422). Pages 2–9 contain alternating entries in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic about who received how much, from whom, for what. Pages 10–13 are accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Page 15 is a fragmentary account of Ottoman rulers active in Egypt from 1659–72 CE (1070–72 Hijri), naming Gazi Basha, Usman al-Wali, Ḥasan Bey Mustafa, and others. There is also a small piece of a printed text peeping through a tear in the paper. Page 16 returns to accounts. Pages 17-19 have to do with the rents of the houses of the qodesh, listing their locations and tenants. Page 20 then moves onto the houses of the qodesh of the Musta'ribim Synagogue. Pages 22–23 are registers of births ca.1680 CE (e.g. 5436 and 5442). Pages 24–28 are mostly in Arabic script. Some of the birth and death registers are in the first person and in different hands. ASE.

Recto: Letter in Arabic to Hayyim al-Ṣarrāf (moneychanger/banker) in the High Diwan. The writer's name is difficult to read, as is the date, which may be 28 Shawwal 1076 = May 1666 CE. This receives some corroboration from the fact that the seal on verso bears the date 1073.

Recto: Long, calligraphic legal document in Arabic, from Fustat (مصر المحروسة), dated October 1649 CE (7 Shawwal 1059). It bears seven signatures along the side, a seal at the top, and perhaps the scribe's name at top left (الامر كما ذكر فيه حرره الفقير اليه سبحانه احمد ال . . .). The seal may be that of the Ottoman governor in Fustat/Cairo (Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha?): (. . . بين يدي متوليها سيدنا ومولانا الحاكم الشرعي الذي سيقع خطه الكريم اعلاه). The main protagonists are (1) al-Amīr Yūsuf b. (the late) Muḥammad, the provincial governor/inspector of the vilayet of Gaza (the word for provincial governor is kāshif—see Michael Winter, "Re-emergence of the Mamluks," in "The Mamluks in Egyptian Politics and Society," p. 92); (2) a certain Abū Turābī; and (3) al-Muʿallim Muṣliḥ b. Binyamil (i.e. Binyamin) al-Yahūdī al-Rabbān al-Ṣarrāf [...] bi-l-Dīwān al-ʿĀlī. The document addressed numerous matters, chiefly financial; it requires deeper examination. Verso: There is a legend in Judaeo-Arabic on the outermost fold of the folded document (חוגת אלאמיר יוסף. . . ). There are also several Arabic supplements to the document on recto, at least the upper two referring to al-Muʿallim Muṣliḥ al-Yahūdī.

Late, formal, communal letter, likely from the community of Jerusalem, mentioning their shaliaḥ R. Ḥananya b. Barhūn (l.6), to a group of people including R. Moshe [the rest of his name is cut off]. The opening words of each line disappear into the crevice where this fragment is bound to the preceding one, so the original has to be examined. The writers strenuously contradict a claim of the recipients in a previous communication (l.7-8). The gist of the matter seems to be that the recipients used to send almonds and pomegranates to Jerusalem as charity for the sick and poor, in expectation of receiving certain blessings in return. Possibly they have ceased doing this, claiming that the blessings are not in order. The writers insist that they are not ungrateful, the blessings are in order, and they plead for the charity to resume. Signed by Yisrael Binyamin (perhaps Yisrael Binyamin Zeevi who died in 1688?) and three others whose signatures are stylized and somewhat difficult to read. Yiṣḥaq Ṣabāḥ adds a postscript reiterating the main points of the letter, also mentioning the merit of sending lulavim in this time. ASE.

Calligraphic get (bill of divorce) dated the 19th of Kislev 1661 CE (5422) from Damascus. Moshe b. Avraham known as Ibrahim repudiates Malkah known as Muluk bt. Eliyahu known as Khidr. Signed by Elazar b. Noah and Hayyim b. Eliyyahu.

Legal documents from 17th century Egypt, regarding a widow named ריקא (??), the daughter of Hanan She'eltiel. The document on verso is dated the 3rd of Kislev 1677 CE (5438). Needs further examination.

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat. Dated: Tuesday, 20 Tishrei 5440 AM, which is 1679 CE. Concerning Yaʿaqov Re'uven who had employed Yaʿaqov Maṣliaḥ b. Yiṣḥaq known as Canpanṭon in the collecting and changing of מאל אלכרובגֿייה (unclear what this is) for the last year (though it later turns out that the period of employment has been three years). Mentions a contract dated Friday 14 Tishrei from the previous year (5439 AM = 1678 CE) that was signed or drawn up (? the word looks like ומדיו) by Yaʿaqov Alpalas the scribe and Avraham b. Moshe ha-Kohen the scribe. The present document seems to be a release, stating that the two parties have fully fulfilled their responsibilities toward one another. Along the way it is mentioned that Yaʿaqov Re'uven has been involved in loaning money to al-Jināb al-ʿĀlī al-Amīr Ṣāliḥ Effendi (line 12). This is a long document; merits further examination.

BL OR 5561A.4 seems to preserve only the imprint of BL OR 5561A.4a; the relationship between these two fragments and how they were folded is not completely clear from the digital images. BL OR 5561A.4a is the one with legible text, and it is a large, well-preserved legal document regarding property arrangements, dated Nisan 1664 CE [5424]. Note that "Image 1" and "Image 2" on FGP are not recto and verso but rather the upper part and the lower part of recto.

Legal document dated Nisan 1651 CE (5411) involving Yiṣḥaq Castro and Ya'aqov al-Darqon. The scribe Shelomo b. Shemuel Somekh ha-Kohen has a remarkable signature. See Avraham David's edition on FGP for the content. ASE.

Court notebook. In Hebrew. Dated: 5443 AM, which is 1682/83 CE. Signatures written at the ends of the entries include Shelomo Somekh ha-Sofer, Avraham ha-Kohen ha-Sofer, and Nissim Kaʿk. There are 16 folios and many records. Needs examination