Geniza Lab

Four responsa of Gershom b. Judah (the Ragma), on the subject of borrowing money from gentiles, selling property, interest on a loan, and business deals with non-Jews made on the Sabbath. This is the oldest known Ashkenazi manuscript to be discovered in the Genizah. (Information from CUDL)

no image available. According to Mosseri Catalogue this MS contains 25 pages, in a late hand. Including formulas of legal deed according to the custom of Istanbul. AA

Ketubba fragment, with a lovely decoration in the header. The groom's father is named Shelomo. On verso there are magical remedies/incantations, including one against polyuria.

Bill of divorce. Probably a draft: although it is signed, there are interlinear corrections for the date and for the husband's name, and there is no statement attesting that it was delivered. The description here is for the original text prior to the corrections. Location: Damascus. Dated: Wednesday, 7 Tammuz 5409 AM, which is 1649 CE. Husband: Shelomo aka Sulaymān b. Yaʿaqov Ḥabīb. Wife: Raḥel bt. Avraham/Ibrāhīm. Witnesses: Moshe b. Yosef(?); Ḥayyim b. Eliyya.

Legal fragment. In Hebrew. The substance is obscure. Mentions Ḥalfon and the son of the sister of Yefet.

Two legal records in a court register. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: Thursday, 14 Kislev 143[9] Seleucid, which is 1127/28 CE, under the reshut of [Maṣliaḥ] ha-Kohen Rosh Yeshivat [Gaon Yaʿaqov]. Both records are each signed by Avraham b. Shemaʿya and Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo; one of them is also signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. One record contains an interesting testimony from Nissim b. Shemuel (ZL) who went out to the countryside as part of a group in order to supervise the production of water buffalo cheese. He gives a fairly detailed description of the cheese-making process (rennets and all). A Copt apprehended them and confiscated the shipment in the name of the state until the 'Rayyis' pulled some strings (faḍḍala ʿalaynā) and sent Abū l-Majd the brother of Abū Yūsuf(?) to liberate it. The purpose of the testimony may be to account for the number of moulds of cheese (650) and their whereabouts; it seems that 1 is in Bīr [...] and 8 are in Minya. Every mould has a seal on it. The second legal record does not appear to be related, but it still needs examination. The man giving the testimony about the cheese, Nissim b. Shemuel, also signed T-S 12.561 (dated 143[.] Seleucid) together with Ḥalfon b. Menashshe; at that time, his father was still alive. ASE

Recto: Claim on money (one dinar), though other property is also mentioned, and an acknowledgement of debt. The document has witness signatures in a different hand. Verso: Wedding piyyut ארוממ בתהלה ללו הממשלה. (Information from CUDL.) Join (indirect): Oded Zinger.

Legal document concerning a marriage contract, bridal gifts and rights to a property, mentioning the name Abū Saʿd. (Information from CUDL.) A general prenuptial agreement. The hand recalls the hand of Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo, but it is probably written by a different scribe. The document appears to be a draft, or a template for a prenuptial agreement, since it is missing important details, like the name of the bride. Similarly, the ending 'and peace' was common in letters and not in legal documents, and may suggest that the template was sent to one of the sides after they requested to preview it. It is also possible that a Rabbi or the conductor of the marriage sent it to a higher legal authority to obtain his approval.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Minute fragment. Refers to the sale of property, "the other half" of the property, and something deposited with someone's parent.

Recto: a chancery decree in Arabic script, two lines only. Written around the text on recto and also on verso is the liturgy for Rosh ha-Shana, including the ʿamida for the additional service and a reshut, אחג כפתי ובער. (Information from CUDL)

Damaged and torn. On recto draft of a court record written by Shmuel b. Saadya Halevi (1165-1203). The date given in Mosseri Catalogue (1039) is wrong, and is based on Gil's publication of a document with the same shelf mark (Palestine, II, no. 189) which is another document. Mosseri catalogue is referring to this document and mentioned Shmuel b. Saadya Halevi. Names on recto: Abu al-Faraj b. Abu Nasr, Abu al-Hasan al-Zajaj known as Ben al-Matar. On verso the bottom part of a legal deed signed by Mevorakh b. Natan. Based on this data we can date this document to 1165-1181. AA

Two parts: Fragment of a copy of a court record from Hayya Gaon’s court, and a fragment of a letter from Hayya Gaon to Elhanan b. Shemarya. Around 1025. The content of the court record in unknown. The letter deals with a person who was converted to Judaism, probably from Christianity, and asks not to obey the Jewish law in a personal matter, might be related to inheritance. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #61) VMR

Order of payment in dirhams. Verso contains Arabic jottings. (Information from CUDL)

Part of a legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe al-Qaṭāʾif. (Information from CUDL)

Order of payment signed by Abū Zikrī Kohen. (Information from CUDL)

Order of payment signed by Abū Zikrī Kohen. (Information from CUDL)

Document concerning the manumission of slaves. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (lower left corner). Mentions Armenian bole, Abū ʿImrān, Marāzībī tutty, and greetings to various people. Verso: Legal jottings in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. One is for a document involving Sitt al-Ahl bt. Avraham ha-Levi and her husband Manṣūr b. ʿEli. (Information in part from CUDL)

no image available. According to Mosseri CatalogueL A receipt of rent payment. On verso: Arabic script.

no image available. According to Mosseri Catalogue a fragment of a court record. AA