Geniza Lab

Legal document for authorization for butchering fowl. Dated 1259 CE (1570 Seleucid).

Announcement from a kosher butcher under the management of Alshomir Rafle Dāūd advertising the sale of kosher meats in bulk – undated – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 119) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 48). MCD.

Report from the Grand Rabbinate of Cairo naming the butchers intended for the slaughter of poultry in the 5714AM, and an announcement of the schedule for the slaughter of poultry for the new year and the name of the kosher wine (religiously fit) – September 9 1953CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 124) – in Arabic.

Announcement from the store of Maʿtuq Ḥayyim about kosher cheese for Passover under religious supervision, urging Jews to make their orders before the rush – undated – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 151) – in Arabic and Hebrew. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 47). MCD.

Plenary meeting of the Jewish community in the Ismaʿilī Synagogue in Cairo on the opportunity for founding a company and kosher restaurant – April 25 1947CE – Hebrew- and French-language – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 17). (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 36). MCD.

Invitation from the union of Jewish religious institutions to the general public for the foundation of a cooperative enterprise for kosher meats – 25 April 1947CE – (number 17) – in Arabic and French translation. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 44). MCD.

Letter from the Grand Rabbinate of Cairo to Kẖawaja Nesīr Bēsaḥ president of the Heliopolis synagogue (Maṣr al-Jadīda) regarding the person known as Levi ʿArūsa, who dares to slaughter poultry despite that he does not have the requisite method for slaughter – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 209) – in Arabic and Hebrew. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 38). This may be a reference to the Vitali Madjar Synagogue in Heliopolis whose construction was completed in 1924. MCD.

Announcement from the Cairo Jewish community and by the rabbinate that all the wine sold by the company "Curiel Oriental" is not kosher, and an announcement on the slaughter of poultry on the eve of the holiday – May 10 1953CE – Bassatine Cemetery – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 219) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 40). MCD.

List issued by the Grand Rabbinate of Cairo naming the butchers who are permitted to slaughter chickens on the eve of Yom Kippur Tishrei 1920-1922 – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 41) – in Judeo-Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 38). A scan of this document is available in Al-Janiza wa-l-maʿābid al-Yahūdiyya fī Miṣr, where Ḥasan and Sarrāj also offer a transliteration of its contents to Arabic script. This is a fascinating list because it lists the approved kosher butchers by twelve specific locations in Cairo: Hārat al-Yahūd, Ismaʿilīya, Tawfīqīya, al-Ẓāhir wa al-ʿAbassīya, Darb al-Barābarā[?], Heliopolis, al-Mansi wa al-Khalīj, Suq Khuḍar Bāb al-Lūq, Sharʿa Ġamara, Meydān Fakhrī Qabīsī, Fustat [Miṣrayīm al-ʿAtiqa], and Ḥelwan. The names of each butcher are handwritten below each of these typewritten locations and they are all in the same hand. This document is also crucial for establishing that when nineteenth- and twentieth-century documents refer to the Ḥakhamhāne Miṣr/Rabanūt ha-Rashīt bi-Miṣrayīm, the implication is that Miṣr/Miṣrayīm is refers to Cairo, specifically, rather than Egypt as a broader territory (this is confirmed by the tri-lingual letterhead which includes the French "Grand Rabbinat du Caire" parallel to the other two titles). MCD.

Complaint of the Cairo Jewish community to the "Jabila" council regarding the given neglect for slaughter and a lack of commitment to the Jewish legal precepts – March 23 1942CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 8). (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 36). MCD.