Geniza Lab

Letter of appeal to Avraham Maimonides, begging for financial assistance, mentioning an old man who is sick and the plight of at least two daughters. Avraham Maimonides then wrote four lines, now quite faded, underneath the letter. ASE.

Autograph letter by Avraham Maimonides to the muqaddam of Minyat Ghamr and Minyat Zifta. A cousin of the muqaddam, al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab, was per earlier agreement allowed to substitute the muqaddam in leading communal prayers and ritual slaughtering. However, the muqaddam was worried that this arrangement would weaken his own position and tried to prevent al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab from acting as his substitute. Avraham Maimonides admonished the muqaddam for his jealousy and urged him to keep the agreement. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below.) Possibly related to T-S 24.38, a letter from Minyat Zifta reporting on a squabble between al-Shaykh al-Sadīd and al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab over the duties of the muqaddam.

Autograph note from Avraham Maimonides to al-Shaykh al-Talmid al-Ajall al-Raṣuy(?). In Judaeo-Arabic. Seems to mention somebody in need (...wa-ḍururātuh...) and Rabbi Menaḥem. The third line on the other side appears to also be in Avraham's handwriting (at least the Hebrew script that refers to al-Tifʾeret, but perhaps also the preceding words in Arabic script). This note is written on a fragment that was cut from a letter sent to Avraham Maimonides. The original address of that letter (in both Arabic script and Hebrew script) is still preserved: "al-Ḥarīrī should deliver this to Sayyidnā al-Rayyis... Avraham ha-Nagid ha-Gadol...."

Letter from Avraham Maimonides to Ḥayyim b. Ḥananel. An autograph. A previous description called this "Three drafts of a letter sent by Shelomo to Hayyim." Published by P. B. Fenton, ‘A Judeo-Arabic Commentary on the Hafṭārōt by Ḥanan’ēl ben Šěmū’ēl (?), Abraham Maimonides’ Father-in-Law’, Maimonidean Studies, 1 (1990), pp. 27–56

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Handwriting of Avraham Maimonides. Addressed to al-Kohen al-Peqid(?). Giving instructions concerning a visit(?) of Eliyyahu the Judge. Needs further examination.

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. Handwriting of Avraham Maimonides. Addressed to al-Shaykh al-Melammed Tamīm(?). Telling him to ask (yataqaḍḍā ilā) Maḥāsin al-Ṭabīb to attend the court case (muḥākama) of Abū l-Majd al-Ḥazzan (probably Meir b. Yakhin). ASE.

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic addressed to al-Ḥedvat. Handwriting of Avraham Maimonides. Letter of recommendation for the poor man al-Shaykh al-Kohen al-Talmid Abū l-Riḍā.

Legal query with Avraham Maimonides' autograph responsum and signature. Description from Penn Catalog: "The recto contains three related inquiries, in three separate paragraphs. Each of the inquiries is signed with the common salutation ושכרו כפול מן השמים; In the remaining exterior edge of the lower two thirds, written lengthwise to fit the open space, is R. Abraham's six-lines of reply, probably in his own hand. The reply starts with the headline אלגואב and is signed אברהם ברבי משה זצ״ל; The inquiry deals with the debt of an unnamed widow. Published from this source in the edition edited by Goitein and Freimann: Teshuvot / Avraham ben ha-Rambam ; Abraham Freimann and S. D. Goitein [editors]. Jersualem : Meḳitse nirdamin, 1937, p 202-204, item no. 118; The folio has been folded lengthwise into two halves, after the primary inscriptions. The verso bears a secondary inscription that fits this fold. It contains two columns of Hebrew poetry; The right column is filled by a poem in honor of a prince named Joshua, that starts מה תצרי מה תרחבי. Published from this source by Israel Davidson: Ginze Shekhṭer. New York : Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1928-1929, v. 3, p. 307-308; The left column, ll. 1-5 is a short poem that starts צורי חסדיך, published, from a different source, by S. Wertheimer: Sefer Zikhron le-rishonim ṿele-aḥaronim / Solomon Aaron Werthaimer. Yerushalayim : Bi-defus ha-Aḥim Solomon, 1909, part 3, p. 6a; Followed by Judah ha-Levi's יפה נוף (in H. Brody's: Diṿan / Yehudah ha-Leṿi (Judah, ha-Levi) ; Heinrich Brody [ed.] Berlin : Ḥevrat Meḳits nirdamim, 1910-, v. 2, p. 167 and also in Harkavy's edition: Yehudah ha-Leṿi / Albert Harakvy [ed.]. Ṿarsha : Aḥiasaf, 1893-1895, v. 1, p. 7); Under the heading אחר מאברם בן אזרא ז"ל, Abraham ibn Ezra's לאלהים כלתה נפשי (in the Diwan of Abraham Ibn Ezra: Diṿan le-Rabi Avraham ben Ezra / Aḳiva ben Yosef Eger [ed.]. Berlin, 1886, p. 187)."

Responsum of Avraham Maimonides. Autograph. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentioned in India Book I, p. 276.

An autograph letter by Abraham b. Maimonides to the community of Bilbays. (Information from CUDL)

Letter of greetings written and signed by Abraham Maimonides, to Anatoli b. Joseph. (Information from CUDL)

Short note instructing the addressee to investigate the inheritance left by Abu Nasr b. Banin, who died in Minya. In the hand of Avraham Maimonides.

Recto: Document in Arabic script. Five lines, well preserved. The phrases seem more suited to a legal document than a letter, but needs examination. Verso: Note probably in the hand of Avraham Maimonides. Ends with the legal phrase והכל שריר ובריר וקיים. Maybe this is summarizing the document on recto? There is also a list in Arabic script, naming various items (building expenses? e.g. nails and wood) and numbers. ASE

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: Legal document. Dated: 4976 AM, which is 1215/16 CE. Under the reshut of Avraham Maimonides. Involving a certain Abū l-Rabīʿ Sulaymān and Shelomo ha-Levi (unless these are the same person?). Verso: Legal document, formulary/draft. Underneath, there is an extremly faded text block (a letter?) in the hand of Avraham Maimonides.

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

Legal query addressed to Avraham Maimonides, with his autograph responsum (signed). After a man had given an oath of bankruptcy in Jewish court, he was summoned to Muslim court. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Legal query addressed to Avraham Maimonides with his autograph responsum. Two Jews were travelling together, and one had confided to the other some goods (qumāsh) and money. The other left with Christian etc. Answer: The careless carrier is responsible if claim is properly established. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from Avraham Maimonides (autograph) addressed to three people, including al-Mevin and Yūsuf. In Judaeo-Arabic. Very faded. Dealing with hospitality (ḍiyāfa) for needy people. The addressees seem to have provided a monthly contribution. (Information from Goitein's note card)

Instructions in Avraham Maimonides' hand to R. Eliyyahu to give them bread for Sabbath. Also: List of contributors (in the judge's hand) and names of recipients of alms. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 466)