Geniza Lab

Letter from Nissim Masos (? משוש) to Karo y Frances & Company. Dating: Late 18th or early 19th century. In Judaeo-Arabic. Needs examination for content.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 18th or 19th century. May even belong with the neighboring shelfmarks. Many names are mentioned, including Pinto.

Letter (ending only) addressed to David b. Naʿim and Moshe b. Naʿim. Written in Judaeo-Arabic (body) and Ladino (address). Dating: Late 18th or early 19th century. Needs examination for content. May belong with one or more of the nearby shelfmarks.

Letter addressed to Abu Ali and Abu Mansur from Abu Majd and Abu al-Faraj. The writers instruct the recipients to provide the needs of Abu al-Fadl. What looks like a poem on the back.

Letter from Yosef b. Avraham b. Bundar to Sulayman b. Abu Zikri Kohen denying misappropriation of a deposit. Aden, 1152.

Letter from Daniel b. Azarya. The letter was later covered in large writing excercises in Arabic script.

Letter in the hand of Daniel b. Azarya (Gil) to ʿEli b. ʿAmram. Daniel b. Azarya refers to notebooks of responsa (including some by Samuel b. Ḥofnī) that he would like copied by an expert scribe on good quality paper - not Egyptian paper, he says, but rather Andalusī (Spain) or Iṭrābulusī (Tripoli) paper. (Information from Gil, Palestine) On the back is a literary text.

Letter from David b. Daniel asking to arrange a short meeting. (See Gil, Palestine, volume 1, sec. 905.)

Petition in Judaeo-Arabic to the Nagid. Mentioning real estate and rent. The handwriting is likely that of the clerk of Yehoshua Maimonides.

ENA 4050: Fragments of a letter from Shemuel Gaon b. Hofni to one of the community leaders in Qayrawan. Around 1008. Maybe was addressed to the Nagid, Avraham b. Ata. Describes the agreement between the writer and Sharira Gaon and the warning from transferring money to the other Yeshiva, Pumbedita, meaning the Yeshiva of the writer’s son in-law, Hayya Gaon. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #52) VMR

Blank

Letter to David ha-Nasi the Exilarch. He is also addressed as al-Rayyis. Written in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The writer reports that he arrived safely in Alexandria on Friday after 10 very difficult days of travel over sea and over land from Rashīd to Alexandria. On Shabbat, the travelers gathered in the great synagogue of Alexandria and recited blessings over their good fortune. It seems that ʿUlla Rosh ha-Qahal then invited the writer to his house. The writer expresses his gratitude for other distinguished Alexandrians who treated him well. The letter becomes damaged and difficult to read around here. On verso there are pen trials including of the name Yeshuʿa b. Avraham.

Letter addressed to ʿAbd al-Karīm. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late, probably 14th century at the earliest. The writer and addressee are Qaraites. Very long. Conveys information about conflicts and disputes and the lashing of women by a court. Altogether a detailed report of communal affairs. Recto. The writer reports on the charge against a certain woman that she went to see an astrologer (munajjim), and that the addressee's mother went as well and protected the other woman. The ḥakīm himself gave the woman 20 strokes with a cane. The writer is very agitated about this and urges secrecy ("these are matters that should only be spoken in the grave"). The next couple dozen lines are damaged and difficult to read. Some time later, Naṣrallāh b. ʿAbd al-Raḥīm b. the addressee's paternal uncle אבן אלנשו was going up the stairs when Ṣadaqa b. Ibrāhīm al-Ṣaghīr accosted him. It seems that Ṣadaqa upset Naṣrallāh, who went crying to his mother, who spoke angrily without realizing that the guards (shomrim) were listening, and word of what she said reached Ṣadaqa, who confronted the mother of Naṣrallāh and called her a fājirat kalb (!) who goes around seducing (tatabahraju) other men's husbands. The next couple lines are difficult to read; they mention "al-khāziniyyīn" and the addressee's parents. Subsequently, all the protagonists gathered in Dār Ben Sameaḥ (=Dār Simḥa, the main Karaite synagogue in Cairo from roughly the 14th century onward—see tag) on Saturday night for the reading of the Torah (al-talāwa). Ṣadaqa got up to read the Torah. The addressee's cousin ʿAbd al-Raḥīm (the father of Naṣrallāh and the husband of the woman whom Ṣadaqa had insulted) got up together with ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Shurayṭī, and they vehemently objected that a person who curses elders could ever read the Torah in the synagogue. Ṣadaqa then verbally abused them ("half of your prayers are heresy, you ass. . . .") and did the same to the others who confronted him (al-Melammed, al-Ḥakīm, his father and maternal uncle). The brawl continued until "the cameldriver was in the riverbed" (al-ḥādī fī l-wādī) and the community missed the chance to read the Torah. Eventually Ṣadaqa and Naṣrallāh's mother were summoned to continue their argument in the house of al-Muʿallim Sharaf al-Dīn, where Ṣadaqa was convicted of making oaths in vain and cursing elders/ancestors, and he therefore lost his right to pray before the congregation or read the Torah (yaṭlub sefer). The marginal note belongs here ("Why did you curse the khāziniyyīn?" "I only cursed them because of ʿAbd al-Raḥīm. . . "). It seems that a group (Ṣadaqa's gang?) was then overheard threatening to beat the muʿallim. The story winds down around here; the writer repeats that these matters are only to be discussed in the grave. Verso. The writer asks the addressee not to show this letter to Ibn al-Melammed, and also to take it with him to Cairo. The writer excuses the addressee for his failure to write, but, "When you went up to Jerusalem, you had no excuse left" or, "When you go up to Jerusalem, you will have no excuse left." He then gives detailed reports on the sightings of the new moons of Elul and Av. He mentions in passing "Yūsuf b. ʿAlam [who] was traveling through the lands collecting the jāmikiyya." Unpublished, uncited in the literature, and requiring much more work. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Last leaf only. The writer is begging for an urgent loan or gift of 5 dinars, on Sunday. A sum of 20 dinars is also named; possibly the addressee had previously given him 15 dinars, and the 5 dinars will round out the total to 20 dinars. "If I had anything I could sell, I wouldn't be burdening you. . . . I only wrote this letter due to my great distress, too great to be described, and because of my knowledge that your honor—may God establish your glory—will help execute the needs of your slave. . . . I do not believe that this is a loan, but rather, it is a second bestowing of favor (iṣṭināʿ)." If the addressee does not comply, the writer will "perish." Despite the writer's protestations, this may in fact be a loan.

Letter of appeal for charity addressed to Abū ʿImrān al-Kohen. Written in Hebrew (the opening poem and formulae) and Judaeo-Arabic (the body). The writer cites the illnesses in his household and the price of medicine among his other expenses.

Letter to Berakhot Abū Ṭāhir. In Hebrew (first ~20 lines) and Judaeo-Arabic (last ~5 lines). Consists almost entirely of blessings. Join: Oded Zinger.

Letter from Yehuda ha-Kohen b. Ṭoviya to Moshe ha-Kohen Ne'eman ha-Soḥerim. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer was the muqaddam of Bilbays 1180s–1220. Damaged; little of the content remains.

Letter to Abū ʿAlī al-[..]n b. Sahl. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment. Dealing with business matters, probably. Mentions the Fayyūm (line 1 of verso).

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Not complete. Dated: 8 Tammuz יֿהֿ אֿבֿ כֿֿשֿ, which may be 5338 AM, which is 1578 CE. The writer is surely a Qaraite, since he refers to 'the damned bastards' of the בני משנה, that is, the Rabbanites. The letter contains a detailed description of a legal case. "They took the four fatwās/responsa and me to the Shāfiʿī (Muslim) judge. . . he is very important, and they showed him the fatwā of the Shafiʿī (jurisconsult?) and said, 'Judge this Jew. . .'" It seems that the writer had a Rabbanite enemy seeking his downfall, but the enemy failed and the writer triumphed. There are several lines praising God for His goodness and calling down curses on enemies and schemers and anyone who has pity on a Rabbanite—"may he taste his medicine." The letter concludes with various greetings. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Long. Dating: Probably 13th century or later, based on the script, but this is a guess. Mentioning some problems in the family. The writer is a stoic: "maḍā alladhī maḍā. . . fāt alladhī fāt."