Geniza Lab

Late Hebrew letter from Jerusalem, from a pious man who recently settled there and does not like what he sees. He opens with describing how much he was upset by not having the recipient with him—possibly on the journey, possibly when he gave a sermon and the people didn't like it. He heard that the recipient was in trouble with a debtor who falsified the sum that was owed, but thankfully the king came to the aid of the recipient. He then describes how joyful it was to finally arrive in the Holy Land. Except that due to our sins, there are a lot of evils to report. There is no justice and the laws of Israel are scorned. Furthermore, people have wicked tongues, "they bend their tongue, their bow of falsehood" (Jeremiah 9:2). Furthermore, Jews charge each other interest, which will be the reason for the destruction of the wealth of all of Israel. Furthermore, in line 19, he may refer to the people's use of impious amulets and healing charms. ASE.

Letter from Eli Ha-Kohen B. Ezekiel, Jerusalem, to two persons in Ramla.

This is the famous epistle/sermon generally attributed to Daniel al-Qūmisī, in Jerusalem, to his "brethren" the Qaraites, urging them to come to Jerusalem (along with a great many other matters). One passage: "Since the beginning of the exile, the Rabbanites were princes [sarim] and judges, in the days of the kingdom of Greece, the kingdom of the Romans and the Persian Magians, and those who sought the Torah could not open their mouths with the commandments of the Lord out of fear of the rabbis . . . until the arrival of the kingdom of Ishmael, since they always help the Qaraites to observe the Torah of Moses, and we must bless them [for it]. Now you are amidst the kingdom of Ishmael, and they favor those who observe the month according to the new moon. Why, then, do you fear the rabbis? . . . For by means of the kingdom of Ishmael God broke the rod of the rabbis from upon you." (Translation from Rustow, Heresy, p. 117.) This text was originally edited by Jacob Mann, and later edited and translated by Leon Nemoy in "The Pseudo-Qūmisīan Sermon to the Karaites," Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research Vol. 43 (1976), pp. 49-105.

Karaite ketubba (marriage contract) from Jerusalem, January 1028.

Letter from Ṭoviya b. Moshe, in Jerusalem, to his daughter, in Fustat, April 1040 or 1041. "The following description of the writer's well-being is altogether exceptional: 'I am completely comfortable in my body and all my affairs. My clothes do not hold me for all my happiness and success.' The story was indeed complicated. A Byzantine Jew had married a Muslim woman, certainly a captive whom he had ransomed. When the couple moved to Palestine they separated, and the wife took residence in Egypt with her daughter, who had meanwhile grown up. The mother fell on bad times, and in this letter the father tries to persuade the girl to return to him and the Jewish fold, pointing out that he (in contrast to her mother) was in excellent health and enjoyed material prosperity and thus was able to provide for her" (Goitein, Med Soc V, 47-48).

Court deposition. The widow Salāma bt. Furayj b. Abī l-Gharīb appoints the Baghdādī Ḥasan/Yefet b. Ṭoviyya/Ṭayyib as her attorney to claim anything due to her late husband Natan/Hiba b. Ḥakam b. Yosef b. Shumaym ha-Levi, and authorizes the expenditure of money, up to 17 dinars, for the transport of her husband's body to Jerusalem. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Fragment of an opening to a letter to Yusuf b. Ya’aqub b. Awkal. The letter was written in Jerusalem. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #197) VMR

Deed of restitution written in Jerusalem regarding alimony, in the hand of Eliyyahu Ha-Kohen Gaon, May or June 1071.

Testimony (shahada) written in Jerusalem during the gaonate of Daniel b. Azarya (1051–62), October 1057. Draft.

Deed, drawn up in a Jerusalem court in the hand of Shelomo b. Yehuda, October 1036.

Letter from Shemuel b. Sahl al-Hawwārī, in Aleppo, to [...], in Fustat. (The names are written in Arabic, so the writer's is tentative and the addressee's may yet be legible.) Written in calligraphic Judaeo-Arabic. Shemuel calls the addressee 'my father'; he seems to be the father-in-law of Shemuel's brother Abū l-Faḍl rather than Shemuel's actual father. Shemuel has received a letter informing him that his brother Abū l-Faḍl died in one of the villages of the Egyptian Rīf. Shemuel has no further information—which village, how he died, whether naturally or killed by Bedouins ('bādiya'), where he is buried, and in whose possession are the goods/money (apparently substantial) that Abū l-Faḍl had with him at the time of his death. Shemuel is sending his other brother, Abū ʿAlī, to travel to Egypt and investigate the matter. He asks the addressee to assist Abū ʿAlī when he arrives, so that the family can be 'consoled a little, though consolation is distant from us.' There are surprisingly few words of consolation at the beginning of the letter, but around here Shemuel writes that he and his brother and his mother have all 'melted' from grief, and commiserates with the addressee and 'our sister.' The addressee should send his response to Shemuel's mother in Jerusalem, to the alley of Yosef al-Sofer. There is the customary urging of a rapid response so that an old woman can be consoled before she dies of grief. ASE

Letter from a certain Peraḥya to the Nasi Shelomo. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Reporting that he had intended to pay him a visit on the occasion of his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, however the Nasi Yoshiyyahu came to visit the community for Sabbath, thus he had no time for the visit. He sends greetings in the name of his two sons, Moshe and Shemuel. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Appeal concerning a warning to youth about the thoughts of some outsiders in the teachings of religious law and the appeal is from the Aḥbāb al-Hayā society of Jerusalem – undated Museum of Islamic Art (number 24) – in Hebrew. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 35). MCD.

Personal letter from Jerusalem – undated – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 269) – in Hebrew. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 56). MCD.

The first page from a letter in three languages requesting aid and assistance coming from the compensation of "Raḥov ha-Nahār" in Jerusalem – the second page is an assessment of the rabbis' compensated traveled, and the changes that occurred with it regarding the collectors and the lighting – undated – (number 295) – in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English.

Certificate of assessment by the rabbinate in Jerusalem for religious instructors – undated – (number 96) – in Hebrew and in English. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa. ed. Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 30). MCD.

Either a poetic introduction to a letter from the Yeshiva of Jerusalem to the community of Aleppo, or a letter that is in its entirety a poem. Recto contains the poem, in which not only is there an acrostic (אנשי צב. . . probably "the people of Aleppo"), but also each verse is composed entirely of words starting with the same letter. Verso contains the address

Letter from Yisrael b. Natan from Jerusalem to Ismail b. Yitzhak al-Andalusi from Fustat. Yisrael b. Natan expresses his worries because of the absence in letters from Ismail. Cc. 1065. VMR

Letter from Yisrael B. Natan, Jerusalem, to Nahray B. Nissim, Fustat. Includes details about the agreement between Daniel B. Azarya and the brothers Yosef and Eliya the Cohanim, sons of Shelomo Gaon. December 20, 1051. VMR

Letter from Yisrael B. Natan, Jerusalem, to Nahray B. Nissim, Fustat. Israel suggests Nahariya to get out of a deal he made and asks for money to buy clothes. The letter includes the news that the "Rosh" - Daniel B. Azarya is coming to Jerusalem, via Nablus, and about his meeting with Eliya HaCohen, son of Shelomo Gaon. August 24, 1052. VMR