Geniza Lab

Legal/communal declaration. Location: Minyat Zifta Jawād. Dated: Middle third of Shevaṭ 1554, which is 1243 CE. The people making the declaration (whose names, probably originally written at the bottom, have been torn away) support the judge al-Shaykh al-Makīn Yosef b. Moshe (b. Peraḥya Ibn Yiju?) the judge in assuming the position of his father as muqaddam of the community after the latter's death. "Whereas we have known [him]... and he grew up among us...." The community has already written to him "singly and collectively" asking him to return and take the leadership. Their testimony is meant to counter those opposing the appointment (though the opponents may simply be hypothetical). They "kiss the ground" before the addressee and ask him to send Yosef b. Moshe (imḍāʾ ḥālih wa-khurūjih ilaynā) to lead them and engage in "enjoining good and forbidding wrong as the Law dictates" (al-amr bi-l-maʿrūf wa-l-nahy ʿan al-munkar ʿalā mā tūjibu al-sharīʿā).

Legal query addressed to Yehosef Rosh ha-Seder. Concerning a muqaddam who demanded that his name be included in the kaddish as had been done for his predecessors (man taqaddamahu min al-muqaddamīn). "Some of the congregation opposed him, for their own reasons" (M. A. Friedman has suggested that these were also opponents of Avraham Maimonides, see "A Bitter Protest about Elimination of Piyyutim from the Service — A Request to Appeal to the Sultan [Hebrew]," Peʿamim 1999). One of the groups excommunicated the other group. The name Elʿazar ha-Kohen b. Aharon ha-Ḥaver appears at the upper left (and perhaps at the bottom of another document that was originally above this document). (Information in part from Goitein, Med Soc III, p. 480, n. 154). ASE

Letter from Ṣadoq (b. Shemuel or b. Yehuda) Ibn al-ʿAmmānī, in Alexandria, to Moshe b. Ḥalfon ha-Kohen Ibn Ghulayb ʿAyn ha-ʿEda Paqid ha-Soḥarim etc., in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 11 Sivan, 159 = 4800 + 159 = 4959 AM, which is 1199 CE. The first part of the letter conveys the information that the "rebels" (המורדין) in the congregation of Alexandria have drawn up and signed a decree (taqqana) stating that they will never accept a muqaddam who is not a native of Egypt. They plan to send the decree to Maimonides ("Rabbenu") and ask him to appoint either the judge Yiṣḥaq b. Sasson or the judge Shemuel ha-Levi b. Seʿadya. The congregation offers a hefty initial payment of 50 dinars. (This decree may well be the same one mentioned in T-S 18J3.15, a letter from Barakāt b. Abū l-Ḥasan to Eliyyahu the Judge ca. 1221 CE upon the death of R. Anatoli.) The second part of the letter conveys Ẓadoq's request for Moshe ha-Kohen to intercede with Maimonides so that the new muqaddam will not deprive Ẓadoq of his profession of wirāqa (i.e., his appointment as a warrāq, a copyist and notary of legal deeds). Ẓadoq wants the present arrangment to continue: half of the wirāqa jobs for Ẓadoq and half for the muqaddam. Ẓadoq complains about his difficult financial straits and that he has to sustain two "households," i.e., his two wives. If Ẓadoq loses his income from wirāqa, he will have no choice but to abandon his family and move to Byzantium. In the end, Maimonides did not heed the taqqana of the community, and instead he appointed. R. Anaṭoli b. Yosef of Marseilles as the muqaddam of Alexandria. Ẓadoq's request, however, was accepted. We hear again of the division of the wirāqa between Ẓadoq and Anaṭoli in the year 1216 CE in the document T-S 10J25.3. Information from M. A. Friedman's article on this and related documents.

One of three draft versions of a document concerning an official (muqaddam) in the community of al-Mahalla during the administration of Mevorakh b. Saadya (active 1079-1111). In the handwriting of Hillel b. Eli (active 1066-1108). The other two drafts are T-S 12.9 and T-S 20.125. Information from GRU catalog via FGP.

Fragment of a document in Judaeo-Arabic narrating the situation of communal leadership in Minyat Zifta and Minyat Ghamr. "R. Moshe. . . on marriage and divorce due to his learning and excellence, he is the original muqaddam and authority in Minyat Zifta and Minyat Ghamr. Avraham ha-Kohen is the one whom we have left in charge of the prayer and slaughter. . . . We have received many letters from the haver R. Moshe regarding the letter which we wrote. . . ruling that except for marriage. . ." Though it deals with current events, the fragment has the layout of a literary work. Perhaps it is a copy of a letter. ASE

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to someone addressed as Sayyidnā, reporting that on Friday, the 24th of Adar I, R. Shemarya al-Kohen went to the market and slaughtered, even after taking a vow that he would have nothing to do (?) with the 'matters of the Jews.' It seems he was encroaching on the rights of the legitimate muqaddam, who may have been ʿUbayd, 'who is recognized by the majority of the Gazans.' There is then an aside about how the Gazans are not very bright (?), and the Tiberians are also mentioned. Abū Kathīr Efrayim b. Meshullam suggested to the writer that he go to the Amir, who said, "you have infringed on the muqaddam who is in charge of you" (four lines from the bottom). The Kohen then defended himself, perhaps claiming that he did not violate his vow. Needs further examination. ASE.

Letter from a community written in calligraphy to a muqaddam who had been disobeyed and humiliated in his new post asking him to return to them. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Legal testimony. Location: Qalyūb. Dating: 1205–37 CE, as the document is intended to reach Avraham Maimonides. The community asks the Nagid to reappoint Tamīm b. Yosef as the muqaddam (cantor, slaughterer, and teacher) of Qalyūb. They will pay him 8 dirhams a week "due to our poverty." Information in part from Goitein's notes.

Legal document (actually two different documents concerning the same persons) concerning the poor treatment afforded to R. Moshe, a new hazzan, by R. Nissim, the muqaddam of al-Maḥalla, and centered on issues relating to a marriage ceremony and the public evaluation of a dowry. Thirteenth century. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:74, 538; Mordechai Friedman, Jewish Marriage in Palestine, 1:296; Eliyyahu Ashtor, “The Number of Jews in Medieval Egypt,” JJS (1967), 238) EMS.

Letter in Hebrew by the muqaddam (head) of the community of Minyat Zifta, announcing that he had excommunicated a debtor according to an instruction by the Nagid. The Nagid had previously arranged for the debtor to repay part of what was owed to his creditors, but he reneged on his agreement and an excommunication was about to be enacted against him as per the Nagid’s instructions. The muqaddam, however, asks for a respite of one or two months for the debtor. Ca. 14th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, 465 and CUDL)

Recto: Letter from an unknown busybody in Minyat Zifta to the Nagid Avraham (II?) in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The purpose of the letter is to relate various improprieties ("matters proceeding not as they should," r13–14) of a muqaddam (perhaps of Minyat Ghamr?), al-Shaykh al-Sadīd. The first episode (r17–32): The local schoolteacher had to go to Cairo to pay his capitation tax (jizya) because he was originally from the Levant. When the teacher was delayed in returning, the community began talking about hiring a new teacher. Al-Sadīd caught wind of this and vetoed the proposal, fearing that a new teacher would be a nuisance (tashwīsh) to him, and he insisted that he teach the children himself. They responded that he was far too busy with his medical practice and serving as muqaddam, not to mention his business dealings. He persisted, and they said, "But you don't even live here!" He said that he would come live there until the original teacher came back. The teacher came back, and al-Sadīd was so enthusiastic about the additional income that he refused to let the children return to the original teacher, and he had made their parents vow to that effect. The community felt pity on the original teacher because of his poverty. The second episode (r32–45): During the same period of al-Sadīd teaching the children, someone fell sick in Minyat Zifta. A group of people, including another physician named al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab, came to visit the patient and found al-Sadīd attending him. Al-Sadīd rudely ignored al-Muhadhdhab. After everyone had sat around the patient, al-Muhadhdhab said, "Are you angry at me? I have been courteous to you, just like the community. I don't know what you want from me. I left you the synagogue and didn't attend today." Al-Sadīd (saracastically): "Thank God you found people to support you (against me?)." The writer of the letter editorializes: There were many people present who also don't attend the synagogue, but not because they were supporting al-Muhadhdhab, rather because they heard about how al-Sadīd had disparaged them. Back to the story: Al-Sadīd sighed and said: "How I hold back from complaining about my travails!" The writer: He didn't hold back at all. The third episode (r45–end): A certain judge (qāḍī al-ḥukm) was seriously ill (marīḍ bi-maraḍ shadīd), and al-Muhadhdhab was attending him "[against] his will and not for his good." This is unclear: was al-Muhadhdhab treating the judge incompetently, or was al-Muhadhdhab the one somehow coerced into this job? Meanwhile, al-Sadīd had been angling to get a connection to this judge. The judge had a slave with jaundice (khadīm bihi yaraqān). This too is unclear: is the slave acutely ill, or is this simply a description of his chronic state? Al-Sadīd came and spoke to the slave, and then came back with something to give to the slave—and the story ends here, unless the join is found. This document is possibly related to Bodl. MS heb. a 3/15, a letter from Avraham (I) Maimonides ordering a territorial muqaddam in Minyat Zifta/Minyat Ghamr to share his duties with his cousin al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 189, 560.) Verso: Mysterious page of notes in Judaeo-Arabic in at least two different hands. The items on this page include two recipes for staining (or dying? or removing stains? the word is tulaṭṭakh/laṭkh); Judaeo-Arabic poetry; a riddle or two; and an extended grammatical discussion of case endings after 'kāna and her sisters' and related topics. ASE.

Letter from Avraham b. Saadya the Hebronite, (the muqaddam of?) Bilbays, to Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel the Sefaradi, Fustat, beginning of the twelfth century. Discusses in detail the communal problems that arose around the proposal of tearing down the synagogue and rebuilding it. The Muslm governor said that a synagogue may not be built under the reign of al-Mawla al-Afḍal. Verso has been reused for drafts of Arabic medical writings. CUDL description: Recto: letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic from Abraham b. Saʿadya he-Ḥebroni, on behalf of refugees from Hebron that are now in Bilbays. Abraham writes to Isaac b. Shemuʾel ha-Sefaradi (active ca. 1090-1130 CE) in Fusṭāṭ, concerning the building of a new synagogue in Bilbays, replacing an old synagogue that had been torn down. The entire community joined forces to dismantle the synagogue and rebuild the new building. The letter lists the donations given by members of the community, and describes in detail the surrounding properties and their owners. A muslim judge initially objected to the construction of the new synagogue, so the community tactically rebranded their construction as a ‘home’, to which the judge had no objection. Verso: jottings of an Arabic philosophical text. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Mevorakh b. Natan ha-Ḥaver (judge in Fustat, 1150–81) to Shabbetay b. Avraham (judge in Minyat Zifta, 1135–78). Concerning (1) a muqaddam who has been causing trouble and making light of notables; (2) a question submitted to the physicians in the capital by Shabbetay's son Abu Saʿd: all the physicians reply that they must see the patient, hear his words, and see his (urine) flask before prescribing an effectve remedy; (3) a recommendation for the bearer, a brother of the late Judge Menaḥem. Information from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Letter fragment (lower part) from a muqaddam named Moshe, probably addressed to the dayyanim of Fustat, complaining that after the death of the Nagid Avraham his unworthy opponent had been appointed. A sick, old man is mentioned in the margin, but the surrounding text is damaged, so it is unclear if this is an aspersion directed at the rival or a complaint about his own condition. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards.) ASE

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. From the circle of the 13th-century Mosul Nasis. Extremely faded. The beginning and ending are missing. All of recto and part of verso are narrated as secondhand reports ("he said... he said... he said..."). Recto is a horrifying account of the Mongol (Tatar/תתר) invasion (cf. Bodl. MS heb. a 3/24 and T-S 20.128, belonging to the same circle of Mosul Nasis and possibly from the same sender). The Mongols entered the narrator's city on Simḥat Torah and plundered it, taking captive al-Nasi al-Fakhr, his wife Sitt al-Ruʾasāʾ, his brothers, his sister, and his 2-year-old son. Thousands of men, women, and children fled. By the time they reached Wādī ʿUmayr, the women were exhausted from carrying their children. The Mongols tore the children away—including the son of al-Fakhr and Sitt al-Ruʾasāʾ—and threw them on the ground as they cried out for their parents. When the letter resumes on verso, the sender (or the narrator of recto?) is describing his difficult economic circumstances wherever he has ended up (Syria? Bilbays? Fustat?). Everything that al-Nasi al-Fakhr had, clothing or otherwise, has been lost. Previously they were supported by the community or private donors ("kāna yaṣilunā mezonot") but now the people cannot spare any attention for them, even though they profess to love them. He mentions someone named Barakāt with the title al-Tifʾeret; a distinguished physician; and other notables who say that either the sender or the addressee should obtain a decree/rescript (tawqīʿ) and become the leader (muqaddam, ḥākim) of the community. There are a couple more faded lines, and the continuation is missing. ASE

Letter from Araḥ b. Natan, also known as Musāfir b. Wahb, in Alexandria, to his brother, Avraham b. Natan the seventh, in Cairo. Dating: 1094–1111 CE. Avraham was an associate of the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya. In the letter, Araḥ reports of serious riots in Alexandria and a drunken brawl that ended only with the intervention of the chief of police (wālī), although he also accuses the other faction of having alerted the wālī, in addition to the drunken brawl having drawn his attention. The writer praises the local muqaddam who managed to free those involved with the brawl. He also complains of inappropriate fetishization of official decrees, and is so annoyed at the behavior of his fellow Jews that he reports it to the governor, Fakhr al-Mulk. For his brother’s benefit, he adds that the appropriate way to fetishize a decree is, as everyone knows, to kiss it and put it on your eyes, which is what the governor does. But “the Jews,” he complains, “take it around from place to place” and "wave it around like a banner." There is a passing reference to his illness ('I will tell you about it when my spirit recovers from this illness,' v1). It is likely that he is attributing his illness to the events described in the letter (wa-qad lazimanī minhu mulzim), though Frenkel understands this sentence to mean simply that there is some matter that is incumbent on him. (Information from Miriam Frenkel, Alan Elbaum and Marina Rustow)

Letter from Araḥ b. Natan, also known as Musāfir b. Wahb, in Alexandria, to his brother, Avraham b. Natan the seventh, in Cairo. Dating: 1094–1111 CE. Avraham was an associate of the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya. In the letter, Araḥ reports of serious riots in Alexandria and a drunken brawl that ended only with the intervention of the chief of police (wālī), although he also accuses the other faction of having alerted the wālī, in addition to the drunken brawl having drawn his attention. The writer praises the local muqaddam who managed to free those involved with the brawl. He also complains of inappropriate fetishization of official decrees, and is so annoyed at the behavior of his fellow Jews that he reports it to the governor, Fakhr al-Mulk. For his brother’s benefit, he adds that the appropriate way to fetishize a decree is, as everyone knows, to kiss it and put it on your eyes, which is what the governor does. But “the Jews,” he complains, “take it around from place to place” and "wave it around like a banner." There is a passing reference to his illness ('I will tell you about it when my spirit recovers from this illness,' v1). It is likely that he is attributing his illness to the events described in the letter (wa-qad lazimanī minhu mulzim), though Frenkel understands this sentence to mean simply that there is some matter that is incumbent on him. (Information from Miriam Frenkel, Alan Elbaum and Marina Rustow)