Geniza Lab

Prayerbook in Hebrew and Italian. Opens with a prayer for good children, for women to recite before immersion in the miqva. Later: "Because prayers have greater effect in Lashon ha-Qodesh, we have translated the above tefila [into Hebrew]..." Next is a prayer for infertile women to recite over the Shabbat candles.

Betrothal document and dowry list: "The clothes and the nedunya and the contante [Italian for cash] of the widow Ms. Dona (name or honorific?) bt. Moshe P[.]so"). The document is in Hebrew but several of the items on the dowry list seem to be in Judaeo-Arabic. She is going to marry Shelomo Maymūn b. Yaʿaqov Maymūn. Dated 1 July 1794 (3 Tamuz 5554).

Two letters of recommendation in Italian for a certain rabbi Barukh Löb Heilpern, apparently the former head of the old Universita Israelitica in Livorno, the first signed and dated in Livorno, 28 October 1852 (15 Heshvan 5613), the second signed and dated in Torino, 17 December 1852. There is also the remnant of a binding and a fragment of a facing page, with more Italian writing.

Letter in Italian addressed to Seid Barda et Abram Amram, Cairo, 1719 CE. Livorno is mentioned in the first lines. There are also sums and a single line in Hebrew: "Today is the 18th of Tammuz .. 94."

The first page is a letter in Italian from Venice, dated 4 May 1755 CE, mentioning Cairo and several names. The subsequent 8 pages are printed forms from the Alexandria firm of Levi, Molco, e Comp., which have been filled out with details of shipping contracts from the year 1755, also giving the name of the ships and their captains. 17 August (Livorno), 27 August (Livorno), 10 September (Venice), 25 September (Venice), 29 September (Venice), 17 June (Venice), 17 August (Livorno), 27 August (Livorno). Merits further examination

Document in Yiddish. Dated: 5637 AM, which is 1876/77 CE. Recto: This fragment is a page of the accounts book of the Bikur Holim [Visiting the Sick] Society of Cairo for the year 1876–77. The Yiddish text lists the expenses of the Society for the year, but the fragment does not include the actual amount for each item. These expenses include those for staffing (for the Jewess of the hospital, the sexton, Doctor Hess), for laundry and cleaning, for repairs and upkeep, for ink and paper, and for postal fees. It lists costs for sending patients to the hospital as well as expenses incurred for handling the deceased, including costs for candles placed beside the corpse, cost of guarding the corpse and of cleaning the hospital after a death. A few specific family names are listed, including Shpiglman, Herman, Hess and Perets. Place names listed include Warsaw and Keshenof [probably Kishinev] The ledger page is signed by Yosef Berkovitsh who held the accounts of the Society. The page is stamped with the official stamp of the Ashkenazi Bikur Holim Society, which reads (in Italian): Società Soc{c}orsale de{gl}i Am{m}alati {della Communità} Israelitica Tedesca in Cairo 1867. Verso: This Yiddish fragment is a list of accounts receivable from people who have paid or are owing payment. Amounts are listed in 4 columns but the column headings are missing so it is unclear what each figure represents. Only a few family names are listed, including Stoler, Eynbinder, Zoger, Kats, Shmikler, Avtsi. Most entries are only by personal name. The amounts listed seem to refer to dues [uncertain - using the abbreviation Kh”d], pledges, circumcisions, guarding [the infant prior to circumcision], weddings and being called to the Torah on Passover. Information kindly provided by Agnes Romer Segal, January 2021.

Letter. In Hebrew. Eliyya b. Elyaqim, in Crete, writes to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. Dating: 1484 CE (written in the document in the Italian portion on verso). Subject: Commissions of a manuscript and shipments of wine and cheese. Regarding the manuscript, Eliyya has been tasked with acquiring a copy of Nachmanides's commentary on the Torah. He first approached the notable Vittore Royge (? השר ויטור רויגע) who knew nothing about how to obtain it. He asked further and found one copy on new paper in an excellent hand for 8 ducats. He has also heard rumors of another one on parchment for 15 ducats. Eliyya asks for instructions on how to proceed. Eliyya sends regards to Ṣedaqa (Nes or Nīs) and Avraham Talmid and Yosef Castro Sefaradi. Verso contains three lines of writing in Italian and the mirror-image imprint of some biblical verses.

Ledger with many distinct entries in Italian, perhaps copies of letters. Needs examination.

Address of the letter found in ENA 2050.1, to Abram Segre. The letter is in Hebrew, and the address in Italian in Latin script (with a נר״ו written underneath the addressee's name).

Blessings for Emperor Francis II of Austria in Italian and Hebrew. The Italian portion reads in part: "Dia Sempre Gloria e Vittoria al Nostro Sovrano Imperator Francesco Secondo D'Astria Con Tutta la sua Real Famiglia astriacha(?)." Dating: 1792–1835 CE. Evidently to be included in the prayer service as a 'misheberach,' because the text indicates that the misheberach for the congregation should follow.

Birth records. In Italian and Hebrew. Location: Venice. First document: Dated: Sunday, 1 Sivan, 5536 AM, which is to 19 May 1776 CE. "There was born to my daughter Sara/Sareta a daughter, and she was given the name Stella." There is a crossed-out line beginning "esborsato à. . ." on verso. Second document: Dated: Friday night, 20 Elul 5538 AM, which is 12 September 1778 CE. There was born to YIsra'el/Israel [...] a daughter, and she was given the name Rachel. The Italian portion gives the year 1779 CE, but this seems to be erroneous, as this would not match the Hebrew date or the day of the week. The second document was reused two weeks later for a lotto ticket on verso. "1778. In Venezia 26 Settembre. Pagherò coll'augumento Ducati come sotto per ogni Terno estratti di seguenti. Terno: Duecento. 520 Cattarina Scatola. 579 Maria Belotto. 588 Laura Meneguzzi." There is then a stamp of a lion roaring out a word starting with "OS. . ."

One line in Hebrew, one line in Italian. Significance unclear.

Birth records. In Italian. Dated: 1721 CE through 1743 CE.

Birth records. In Italian. Dated: 1711 CE through 1721 CE.

Birth records. In Italian and Hebrew. Dated: 1747 CE through 1756 CE. For the boys, the names of the sandak and mohel are given.

Italian* (FGP). Appears to be the inscription of an owner's name in a book ('if the book gets lost, and you don't know who owns it, return it to me'). "... magio ... se .... libro se perdese e it nome .... padron non se sapese Salamo Balo..... dioguardi ..."

34 pages of an exegetical work or sermon in Italian and Hebrew. The writer refers at one point to his teacher Menaḥem b. Yiṣḥaq (image 17 in the FGP app interface). Dated: 5519 AM, which is 1759 CE (image 2).

Writing exercises. Mainly in Hebrew, but with at least two lines in Italian, mentioning a sig[nore] Manor(?).

Letter draft in Italian on a bifolium which may have constituted a broader notebook. A date may appear on the right page of the recto but is too faded to be legible. The fragment is business-related given the weadspread discussion of quantities and the author's mention of "facendo informa di pagamento / giving notice of payment" (l. 7r). On the verso there is an intricate table and numerical calculations that involve a variety of ratios. MCD.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from a certain Reuven [Najjar y Feliz?] to Moshe Najjar y Feliz, probably his brother, dated 4 Settembre '56. It deals primarily with the trade in textiles and clothing. In addition to the recipient, two other business partners are awaiting news and a shipment from the writer: Se. Simḥa (אלס׳ סמחה) and Se. Iro (? אלס׳ אירו). The writer has sent a shipment bearing the the name "Fratelli Najjar" in Italian ("fī-l-talyāno") and bearing the initials FN (which he writes out in Latin script). Another interesting linguistic feature: the recipient seems to be addressed in the second line as "O Mosas" (יא מוזאז). In the second line of the margin, the writer alludes to information that R. Moshe Castro had conveyed to the recipient, suggesting a date of mid-16th-century—so perhaps 4 September, 1556 CE. ASE.