Geniza Lab

Letter from Netanel b. Ḥalfon to Moshe Maimonides. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 1 Nisan 1485 Seleucid, which is 1174 CE. Describing the plight of the bearer Yeshuʿa and requesting charity on his behalf. Praising Mamionides' munificence, prays that God will make him into a "malja' li-kull malhūf wa-satr li-kull makshūf (the one who 'covers' all the 'uncovered') wa-ahl li-kull maʿrūf." Ed. Israel Lévi, Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums 69 (1925), 375–77, cf. Med. Soc., 2: 498, App. C 82a (1174). Information in part from Cohen, Poverty and Charity, p. 43. The sender is likely identical with the sender of T-S NS J384 + T-S AS 151.33, an earlier letter.

Letter from Yehuda ha-Kohen b. Ṭuviyyahu, probably in Bilbays, to Avraham Maimonides, in Fustat. Recommending his nephew Avraham b. Moshe for charity. The writer was active 1170s–1220, was the muqqadam of Bilbays, and was a close companion of Moshe and Avraham Maimonides (information provided by Amir Ashur).

A 16-page Ottoman-era notebook with diverse contents. Pages 1–2: Judaeo-Arabic translation of Daniel 1:4–10. "Chief of the eunuchs" is translated as "Sārī l-Aghawāt." There follow writing exercises and the date, 23 Jumāda II. Pages 3–4: Writing exercises. Page 5: Draft or copy of a Judaeo-Arabic letter, mentioning a certain Khawāja Mesīḥa (?) Bāsh[a?], the secretary in Dīwān al-Isti'nāf. Page 6: Writing exercises. Page 7: Judaeo-Arabic formulary for a legal document dated Thursday 3 Rajab. Page 8: Writing exercises and the date 7 Rajab. Page 9: Draft or copy of a legal document involving the shaykh Mūlṭafa (=Muṣṭafa?) al-Damanhūrī, dated Tuesday 27 Muharram. Page 10: Writing exercises and the date 8 Rajab. Page 11: Writing exercises and the date 11 Rajab. Page 12: Biblical or apocryphal-sounding text in Judaeo-Arabic, but identification is elusive ("The eighth word. . . O Children of Israel, do not steal. . . Son of man. . . Your mother's womb. . ."). Page 13: Judaeo-Arabic translation of Isaiah 60:1–3. Page 14: Writing exercises dated "Raḥamim" (Av). Page 15: Writing exercises dated 12 Rajab. Page 16: Writing exercises (Hebrew alphabet).

Page 1: Hebrew work, perhaps kabbalistic. Page 2: Fragment of an Arabic family letter (ʿalā l-wālid afḍal al-salām....), reused for a Hebrew text between the lines. Needs further examination. Pages 3 and 4: Magical recipes in Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew.

Fragment of a letter in Arabic. Needs examination. Cut and reused for a Hebrew literary (liturgical?) text between the lines of verso (as catalogued) and on recto.

Informal note addressed to al-mawlā R. Moshe asking him to help procure half a wayba of wheat as charity, perhaps for the bearer.

Letter/petition from an official to the Nagid Mevorakh. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: No earlier than 1099 CE, per Cohen, and no later than 1111 CE, based on Mevorakh's dates. Same sender, same addressee, and same subject as T-S 18J4.12. It is about the "desolation" (kharāb) of the Babylonian/Iraqi synagogue. There are two chief complaints. (1) "Members of the (larger) Palestinian synagogue had enticed many of those belonging to the Iraqi one to join their house of worship They held out lures, such as a promise that children would be able to participate more often by being called up to the Torah, since the Scriptural readings in the Palestinian rite were short (and, hence, required less preparation)." (2) "The second reason for the desolate state of the synagogue was the despotic behavior of the beadle (khādim), named al-rayyis Abū l-Ḥasan b. Ghazāl. This Abū l-Ḥasan had been lording it over the congregation, acting more like a rayyis than a beadle, giving orders, taking charge of litigations, and even forcing Mevorakh's own muqaddam (he is called muqaddam in one letter and nāʾib in the other) to cower in his presence. When requested to discharge his synagogue duties, he would brazenly retort: "even if the rayyis (Mevorakh) so commanded me, I would respond, Ί neither listen nor obey'" (lā samʿ wa-lā ṭāʿa). Living with the beadle on the synagogue premises were about fifteen of his relatives, who regarded him as the local boss (shaykh al-mawḍiʿ wa-ṣāḥib amr wa-nahy)." In the AIU letter, the sender describes what may be a further deterioration: "Only a few people... remain in the Babylonian congregation, and they are mainly indigents," as this sender witnessed for himself when he attended services on the previous Shabbat together with Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (called here Abū Saʿīd b. Abū Sahl Ibn al-Qaṭāʾif). Several additional communal officials from this period are mentioned in the letter. (Information mainly from Cohen, Self-Government, pp.254–56, and in part from Goitein’s index card.) Ed. Β. Chapira, Mélanges Hartwig Derenbourg (Paris, 1909), pp.121–30. Transcription awaiting digitization on PGP. Written on a "long daftar"–style bifolio, which is unusual for a letter, but not for drafts.

Letter from a man entitled “segan ha-yeshiva” to Aharon the Cantor. Dating: Possibly ca. 1035 CE, based on Goitein identification of the addressee with Aharon b. Efrayim, who is the addressee of T-S 8J33.1, ca. 1035 CE. The writer has been confined to his house with the remnants (baqiyya) of a serious illness (maraḍ ṣaʿb, alam, ʿillal). He cannot stand, and he can hardly write. He asks Aharon to bring the Nasi and Abu ʿAlī to treat his illness, and to go with Abū l-Khayr Mevorakh to collect money from 'aṣḥābunā' for a man in need and naked (insān mastūr wa-ʿaryān), i.e., himself. They are also to get a half dinar for the writer from Abū l-Ḥasan. Information in part from Goitein's note card. The scribe has cut and reused a classical Arabic text in calligraphic script with full diacritics and vowels. ASE.

Fragment of a draft letter in the name of the community of Fustat regarding the imposition of an excommunication, ca. 1035.

Letter in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya addressed to the Gaʾon [Shelomo] b. Yehuda. In Hebrew. Mentions a woman named [...] bt. Maḥfūẓ. Needs further examination.

Letter from Meir b. Naʿim to the community of Cairo/Fustat. In Hebrew. Dating: Late 18th or early 19th century. Conveys a detailed story about Meir's toiling for the sake of acquiring etrogs for the community, perhaps in Jerusalem. There is some problem and he is requesting guidance or perhaps money. There is a dramatic story about wandering in the desert and being preyed on by robbers and drinking brackish water.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Very faded. The writer may mention being imprisoned (ḥabsī fī hādhihi l-muda), but this is uncertain without all the surrounding context.

Letter of appeal for charity, probably. In Hebrew. Dating: Late, possibly 18th or 19th century. Very long-winded, and full of kabbalistic drashes about Satan and related matters.

Clockwise from upper left: (a) Small fragment in Arabic script, with two words in Judaeo-Arabic at the bottom (stuck on from an unrelated document). Likely from a letter: ...infādh dhālika...

Clockwise from upper left: (e) Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to Yisraʾel b. Yosef. Has to do with a certain Zakkār.

Letter with the heading 'David son of the exilarch' was preserved in the Geniza collection in Paris (Consist. isr. VII A 39), but it has been lost (according to information from the Director of the Library of the Alliance israelite universelle in Paris, from 18 April, 1978) (information From Gil, Palestine, 756n178). AA

Letter fragment (bottom half) in Judaeo-Arabic, addressed to an important person (perhaps Avraham Maimonides). Dated: Middle third of Elul 1541 Seleucid, which is 1230 CE. Opens with a mention of the ḥushshār (capitation tax collectors) of Alexandria and somebody they wanted to imprison. Mentions the noble congregation of Bilbays. Seems to be a letter of recommendation for a man in need. Verso: List of names, including Ibn al-Labbān Abū Saʿd; al-Rayyis Abū l-Riḍā Ibn al-Shelishi and his son; al-Rayyis Abū Manṣūr and David and Netanel and Yaʿaqov. There are also various jottings in Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic, and Arabic script. Notably, the jottings include the five categories of sharīʿa rulings (aḥkām), but in Judaeo-Arabic: mafrūḍ (compulsory); manhiyy ʿanhu (forbidden); makrūh (discouraged); mustaḥabb (encouraged); mubāḥ (neutral).

Letter in Hebrew from Azarya Zeevi, Jerusalem, to Yiṣḥaq Castro, Cairo/Fusṭāṭ. Dating: mid-seventeenth century. Should be read together with T-S 20.67—same writer and addressee. The first page is very effaced and difficult to read. ʿAzarya opens with praise for the addressee (r1–4), reports that he received two of his letters (r5–6) and mentioned earlier letters (r9). He mentions the loss of certain "items" (r11). He mentions הר״י אפמדו י״א (r17), who is also mentioned in a negative light in the preceding letter. He discusses the trade in precious stones (r12) and jewelry (r15, 18, 25), apparently with traders from קושנדי, i.e., Istanbul (r19). He then expands on his request for donations for the community of Hevron by way of R. Zerahya [Gota] (v2). Information entirely from Avraham David's edition on FGP.

Letter in Hebrew and Ladino from Nehoray (?) b. Moshe Ṭoron[.]ah (?) to Shabbetay ʿAdda regarding a new business partnership between them. The date is given at top: 27 Shevat 5[.]57. The century digit appears to be a 5, giving a date of February 1797, but could conceivably be a 4 and therefore a century earlier. After an obsequious introduction in Hebrew, expressing gratitude to Shabbetay for bestowing the honor of this new partnership between them, the writer switches to Ladino (albeit with Hebrew mixed in throughout) and gets to the purpose of the letter. The writer has an existing business venture in mastic (אלמאסטיגה) that would violate the terms of the new partnership—namely that he and his agents are not to trade at all in מתא מצרים (= Fustat?) with the exception of business arising from his preexisting partnership with Ḥājjī Dāwud in Alexandria—and so he seeks dispensation to continue with the mastic venture, or perhaps he wants Shabbetay to buy him out of his share. One of the writer's partners in the mastic venture is Avraham Shimʿon and the other is [Yiẓ?]ḥaq Agi. These partners apparently have friends in high places (יען שהגבירים הנז״ל סון טוקאנטי למלכות). Other traders mentioned are Binyamin de Curiel and Moshe Pallache. A writ of power of attorney (sheṭar harsha'ah) is mentioned several times. Needs further examination

Letter from the head of the court of Palermo (perhaps Maṣliaḥ b. Eliyya) to his counterpart in Qayrawan, ca. 1050 CE. The letter details a legal suit between Shemu'el/Ismaʿīl, who is overseas, and his brother Abū Zikrī, who has been in Palermo and managing Ismaʿīl's store, and it seems that Abu Zikri or his mother sold Ismaʿīl's courtyard. Ismaʿīl appointed Shemuel b. Ḥayyim to represent him (?) in the case against Abū Zikrī. Part of the issue was whether Abū Zikrī had been conducted business as a partnership with his brother or with his own money. One witness, Ṣāliḥ b. Yūsuf al-Ṣabbāgh, witnessed and took an oath that it was a partnership. Abū Zikrī's brother-in-law is attempting to mediate a settlement involving a transfer of 20 gold coins and 800 qelafim (sheets of parchment?), which have already been sent with Nissim b. Menaḥem. Ismaʿīl is now to draw up a document in Arabic ("let it be witnessed by Gentile witnesses in Mahdiyyah and Qayrawan") and in Hebrew ("in the beit midrash of rabbenu," i.e., the recipient) releasing Abū Zikrī from all claims relating to the store and the courtyard. However, if Ismaʿīl does not accept this settlement, he should write as much, and the court in Palermo will proceed with the implementation of justice. Information from Menahem Ben Sasson's edition. ASE.