Geniza Lab

A magnificent illuminated certificate/amulet for a circumcision. Assuming we're meant to add up all the red numbers at the bottom to find the year, it is from 1847/8 CE ([5]608, but could also be 5 years earlier if one of the red "ה"s signifies 5000 rather than the black one). ASE.

Collection made at a circumcision feast. The ba'al ha-mila, or father of the boy, gave 1 (presumably: dirham), a few others did the same, most of the rest contented themselves with 1/2 or even 1/4. Only the lower part of the list, with about thirty-four contributors, is preserved. Some names are overlined (having paid their pledges?) Early twelfth century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 498, App. C 80)

Two poems, celebrating a circumcision.

Letter sent by the cantor Sheerith to Maimonides, in which the writer excuses himself for being unable to do a certain service for the recipient, since he had to officiate at a circumcision ceremony for a poor man. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 89, 541)

A cantor orders a religious poem in which each stanza concludes with a biblical quotation which has as its last word "God," such as Numbers 23:27 or Exodus 1:17. He asks to get it well in time, as he was not any more as good in memorizing as he had been previously. At the head, the first two words of a poem by Judah ha-Levi. Possibly he needed the poem for a circumcision, given the biblical verse specifically alluding to midwives. Information from Goitein's note card. NB: The shelfmark has since changed, and it will take some investigation to find the current shelfmark. Goitein's transcription linked below is actually of DK 238.5 (Alt: XVI) = PGPID 9285.

Lefthand fragment: Blessing for the circumcision of a boy. In Hebrew. Gives several names. But it is quite faded.

Letter of request for money addressed to the Qaraite community on occasion of a circumcision. (Information from Goitein's index cards). Goitein may have identified it as Qaraite becuase of the blessings to the Nesi'im

Letter in which the judge Avraham b. Natan Av apologizes for being unable to attend a circumcision ceremony in Fustat because he had been scheduled for another one in Cairo before. The writer asks that his letter of apology be read out during the celebrations. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 475, 476)

Commentary in Ladino on the section of the Guide for the Perplexed dealing with the reasons for circumcision makes up the main text. The remaining space on both recto and verso is filled with other jottings, sums, accounts, etc. (Information from FGP)

Letter from a man in Egypt to his brother or brother-in-law, an India trader in Aden. In Judaeo-Arabic. Frenkel identifies the writer's location as Alexandria, the addressee as Ismāʿīl al-Fāṣid, and the date as 1176 CE, but does not seem to explain her reasoning. The letter recounts an interesting family saga. The addressee's maternal uncle passed away while traveling with the addressee to India. The addressee took care of him before his death. The family has taken great pains to conceal the news of the uncle's death until they receive a detailed account of his will. This long letter repeatedly describes everyone's anxiety waiting for news of the addressee's health and the will. His mother, when she heard of the death of her brother and the news of the addressee's difficulties at sea, fell sick and fasted until news came of the addressee's health. His father stays up all night praying for him. "If you knew how much reward (in Heaven) you receive from every letter you write us, you would do nothing but write us letters." The family congratulates the addressee on his purchase of a male slave (ghulām). Finally, the reason for the anxiety about the will comes to light at the end. The uncle knew or thought that his wife was pregnant when he departed, however, they counted 9 months, and there was no baby. They counted another 9 months, and she had a baby boy. The family evidently wishes to ensure that none of the uncle's inheritance ends up with his wife or son. Even the Muslims say, "We have never heard anything like what this Jewish woman has done. She deserves nothing but hellfire." The widow was able to round up some allies from among the Byzantine Jews, and they managed to gather 10 Jews for the circumcision, but with no cantor or judge present. In the midst of sending everyone's regards in the margin of verso, the writer reports sarcastically that the newborn infant also sends his. Information in part from Frenkel and from Goitein's attached notes. ASE.

Recto: Upper part of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic written in a scribal hand to ha-Nasi ha-Gadol, reporting on the writer's troubles while traveling with Rabbi Avraham. "I hadn't known that his only care is making money. He cares nothing for peace in the community. He has killed me with his [cowardly deeds?]. When I was the muqaddam of al-Maḥalla and slaughtered and circumcised, whenever. . ." Verso: The address of the letter on recto, to Sayyidnā al-Nasi ha-Gadol Yarum Hodo. And, in a different ink and different hand, a formulary of a Hebrew letter of appeal ("I am so-and-so the lowly and despised."). The same person wrote on recto "crown of peace and truth" several times. ASE.

Note from the cantor Yedutun ha-Levi, Fustat, to his brother Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, Qalyub. Yedutun requests an update on the circumcised boy and the little one. Yedutun writes cryptically "Abu Zikri never said anything." (Referring to the Gaon Abū Zikrī Sar Shalom ha-Levi?) There is conflict between their paternal uncle ‘Imrān and his wife, somehow because of Moshe. Their mother is going to pay a visit to Sitt 'Abid, Sitt Aqran, while their father is going to pay a visit to Abu ‘Ali and al-As‘ad (family members of ‘Imrān’s wife?), and they will hopefully reach a settlement. T-S 8J24.1 is a note from Abu Sahl Levi (their father) to Moshe and may be a sequel to these events, referring to a settlement: “I met with you-know-who and we have reached a settlement thank God.” Yedutun (in Moss. IV,27.2) and Abu Sahl (in T-S 8J24.1) both send regards to al-Shaykh al-Yesod in Qalyub. ASE.

Letter from the office of the Gaʾon Sar Shalom b. Moshe ha-Levi (in office ca. 1176–95) to a certain community. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan, with the signature of the Gaʾon at the bottom. Dated: Iyyar 1497 Seleucid, which is 1186 CE. Concerning two teachers, saying that both of them would continue to receive "ṣibbur" (pledges for public charity), but that one of them was permitted to act as a teacher and as a slaughterer, while the other was only entitled to receive fees for writing marriage and divorce contracts and other legal documents, and for performing circumcisions. Lines 1–6 can be found on T-S 10J 29.4, lines 7–16 on T-S 10J 24.7. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 122, and from Goitein's index cards.)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Hananyah ha-Kohen from "his son" Abu l-Ḥasan. After a flattering introduction, the body of the letter begins about halfway down the page. He reports that were it not for the Shaykh Abū l-Faḍl al-Dāʿī, he would have been in trouble (?) (קטע אמרנה = אמרנא) over 2.5 dinars . He was imprisoned for one day until Abu Saʿīd al-Tinnīsī bailed him out on Friday night. Abu l-Ḥasan begs Hananyah to send him his circumcision knife without delay. He sends regards to his father Abū Naṣr, to Abū l-Ḥasan and Abū l-Khayr and Abū Saʿīd and his cousin. Abu Manṣūr and his son send their regards. ASE.

Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, in Qalyub, to Gaon Sar Shalom ha-Levi, in Fustat. In Hebrew. After a poem in praise in the Gaon and lengthy salutations, Moshe tells the story of a certain Yefet b. Shelomo the physician, known as Ibn al-Ṭaffāl (“son of the fuller”), who arrived in Qalyub bearing a letter from Sar Shalom supposedly appointing him as the exclusive mohel for “all the villages.” Moshe could not find Sar Shalom’s distinctive mark in the letter, so he announced that the letter was counterfeit. The poor man Ma‘ani’s son was circumcised by Yefet ha-Qatzar instead, pro bono. Moshe now gets to the point of the letter: he has heard that Ibn al-Ṭaffāl slandered him to Sar Shalom, claiming that he said things against the Gaon that he never said. Moshe concludes by begging for mercy: he insists that has not done anything wrong, Sar Shalom must not believe anything without witnesses and proofs, and, finally, who is he that Sar Shalom should be angry at him? “After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea” (1 Samuel 24:14). On verso, he apologizes for the poor quality of the paper, stating that it was the best he could find, and for the poor quality of his writing. He would have presented himself in person, but it was all he could do to even write a letter. He wrote it lying down, prostrated by illness of his intestines and eyes. See S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:232, 573; 3:503; 4:407. EMS. ASE.

Note to Abū Saʿd b. Moshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Draft. Beginning only. Epressing the writer’s desire to see him. Followed by one line in Arabic script and by a short text (a midrash?) concerning circumcision. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's note card.

The cantor Abu al-Majd (Meir b. Yakhin) asks a father when he wants to celebrate his son's circumcision. Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 475. On verso are three lines from a torn Arabic chancery document.

Letter from Natan b. Shelomo the hazzan b. Ya'ir to the Nagid. Fragment mentions conflict over prerogative to circumcise.

Note from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi probably to his brother Yedutun, in which he repeats five times that the recipient is urgently invited to a circumcision ceremony to be held on Friday, tomorrow, and promises to escort him back to the capital on Sunday. (S. D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 5:14, 506.) EMS, ASE.

Letter from a merchant from Sunbat demonstrating his dedication to the community by relating how he had once traveled at a time of cold and rain to take care of a long overdue circumcision. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 101-102)