Geniza Lab

Ruya asks for the safe return of the haver, the leader of the Fustat community, who had traveled to Alexandria to force Yosef to repay a loan of 2.5 dinars. The writer wanted to travel to Malij to find Yosef because the latter intended to leave for Tyre and Jerusalem, but the parnas 'Allun and Yosef's wife held him back with force. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter, from the elders of the Jewish community in Ṣahrajt, Egypt, to Efrayim b. Sehmarya he-Ḥaver, in Fusṭāṭ, confirming receipt of Efrayim’s letter and implementation of his instructions relating to an improper marriage. Dating: 1034 CE. Mentions [...] b. Nāmūs, and Raḥmūn, Ibn Yosef, and [...] Ibn Yāʾīr. (Information from CUDL.)

Two paper leaves, very damaged, which form a part of a collection of letters from Evyatar ha-Kohen Gaon b. Eliyyahu, sent from Tyre. The first letter is addressed to Isaac b. Shemuel, the Spaniard, a Dayyan in Fustat. Evyatar appeals to Isaac to help the parnas "ha-Kohen we-ne'eman" ("trustee"), referring to Eli b. Yahya of Fustat. Greetings are sent to a certain parnas Abu al-Ridha and to the Hazzan Abu al-Mu'mar. Dated 1091. The second epistle is evidently addressed to a priestly scholar in Iraq who was authorized by the exilarch Hezekiah. It appears he had written Evyatar about a widow who had become liable to the levirate as her husband Yefet had died without issue. Evyatar sends greetings in the names of his two sons, Eliyyahu and Sadoq, and the banker Shemuel b. Aaron and the shaykh Abu 'Ali Ḥasan are also mentioned. (Jacob Mann, The Jews in Egypt and Palestine under the Fatimids, NY: Ktav Pub., 1920-22, rpt. 1970, 1:192-4, 2:228-9; and Mark Cohen, Jewish Self-government in Medieval Egypt, Princeton University, 1980, 112) EMS

Letter from Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq in Aden to Ḥalfon b. Netanel. Dated: 1452 of the Seleucid era (= 1140 CE). (Information from CUDL) Aden; Marcheshvan 1452; October 14 - November 11, 1140

Fragment of a letter (written by Ṣedaqa Nes), to the head of the exile, Natan ha-Kohen Sholal (d. 1502) in Cairo (the penultimate Nagid), concerning a fraudulent cheese seller who was fined by Yosef ha-Nagid, a predecessor of Natan, for selling non-kosher cheese as if it was kosher. Also mentions Samuel and his brother Isaac, the Persians, and Moshe Abū Shaʿra. (Information from CUDL; see also Goitein's index cards.) Earlier description for CUL Or.1080 J174: Confidential letter sent from Jerusalem by Yiṣḥaq to his brother in Cairo. In Hebrew. Dating: Late. The writer complains that a certain Yaʿaqov with the help of a certain non-Jew has stolen a portion of his money, which belonged to Yiṣḥaq's brother, and promises to send the remainder of the money by a messenger or bring it to Cairo himself. (Information from Goitein's index cards.)

Letter from Abū Naṣr b. Avraham, in Alexandria, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter contains information about trade in silk and pearls. In addition, Abu Nasr reported how he acted in regard to a precious headgear given to him by Yehuda ha-Levi, the Spanish poet. The letter also transmits news from Spanish travelers about the passing away of two great Spanish Rabbis. The letter was written in the 12th of November 1141. (Information from Frenkel.) "I and every human being in the house was ill for forty days. I have not left the house. . . . Your letter arrived in which you asked me to deliver the bales of silk to Abū ʿUmar Ibn al-Bahgdadī al-Laffāt. However, he has not received a thing, for I have nobody who could carry them to him; my brother Abū ʿUmar is ill since his arrival from Cairo and I have nobody able to act for me, for Abū l-Najm (the writer's factotum or partner often mentioned) and his son are ill also. I ask God to turn the end to the good." At the end of the letter: "As soon as I gain a little strength, I will not stay in this city for one hour." See Goitein's note card #27107, and Med Soc V, 103.

Letter from the office of the Gaʾon Sar Shalom b. Moshe ha-Levi (in office ca. 1176–95) to a certain community. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan, with the signature of the Gaʾon at the bottom. Dated: Iyyar 1497 Seleucid, which is 1186 CE. Concerning two teachers, saying that both of them would continue to receive "ṣibbur" (pledges for public charity), but that one of them was permitted to act as a teacher and as a slaughterer, while the other was only entitled to receive fees for writing marriage and divorce contracts and other legal documents, and for performing circumcisions. Lines 1–6 can be found on T-S 10J 29.4, lines 7–16 on T-S 10J 24.7. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 122, and from Goitein's index cards.)

Letter from Yosef b. Gershon (a French scholar appointed by the Nagid Avraham Maimonides to be one of the three judges of the Jewish community in Alexandria), probably written to the Nagid. In Hebrew. Complaining about one of his fellow judges, whose name is not preserved, and seeking confirmation of his position from the local non-Jewish authorities. Also mentions the third judge, Eliyya, with whom he is pleased, and Ṭahīr, an elder of the community. (Information from CUDL; see also Goitein's index card.)

Letter fragment to the congregations of Fustat and in particular to the dayyan Elazar. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter, apparently to the holy congregation in Shafrir Misrayim (Fustat), similar to 10J24f. 9 recto. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Moshe b. Shemuel b. Jami, probably sent from Fustat to his partner in Qabes, mentioning merchandise in the Maghreb and Egypt, and asking Hayya Gaon to find him a good copy of one of the parts of the Mishnah that he could not find in Fustat. (Information from Gil)

Letter fragment of thanks from Daniel b. Azarya (1051-1062) to the parnas.

Letter from Yehuda b. Aharon b. al-ʿAmmānī, in Alexandria, to Abū l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin (Thābit), "the Glory of the Cantors," in Fustat. Dated: 14 Iyyar, 1216 CE. The letter contains information about a communal conflict between Anatoli the Judge and Yehuda's paternal uncle—Ṣadoq b. Shemuel b. al-ʿAmmānī—and his son Mufaḍḍal. (Frenkel suggests this is the same case against a judge that Yehuda mentions in T-S 13J21.25, but that letter was written in 1208.) Ṣadoq had made a taqqana and collected signatures of important Alexandrians such as Abū Saʿd b. Nānū and Bū l-Rabīʿ al-Kohen in order to appoint his son Mufaḍḍal to lead the congregation (as judge?), but Mufaḍḍal is young, beardless, and unmarried, and therefore regarded as unfit to lead the congregation over an older, distinguished man. Moreover, Ṣadoq went to the Nagid Avraham Maimonides for approval of the taqqana behind the back of Anatoli the Judge, who was understandably angry when he heard. It seems that Mufaḍḍal has been shunned by most of the population for the last few months. Yehuda himself is waiting for the Nagid to respond with a fatwa to a query of his own, and he is resentful that the Nagid does not recognize that Yehuda is the one who is managing all the affairs of the synagogue, while his uncle is addicted to wine and incompetent (Med Soc V, 39 and 516, n. 148). Yehuda mentions the Tāj (the Aleppo Codex) "which was written and pointed by Ben Asher or Ben Naftali" in the last line of the main text on verso. The addressee Abū l-Majd was recently sick, and others in his household still are. See also T-S 16.305, a letter written in spring 1217 in which Yehuda thanks Avraham Maimonides for resolving the conflict between him and his uncle. Information in part from Frenkel and from Gotein's note card. ASE.

Part of a letter, possibly to [Ṭoviyyahu ha-Kohen b.] ʿEli ha-Kohen he-Ḥaver ha-Meʿulle, which refers to sending a letter to 'the distinguished prince' (השר הנכבד) Saʿadʾel 'our nephew' and also to 'the dear elder' Yeter ha-Levi and to 'The Lady' (הגבירה) 'our niece'. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Daniel b. Azarya to Eli b. Amram, Fustat. Daniel instructs Eli how to summon to the court. On the other side the letter from Eli b. Amram to Daniel b. Azarya. (Information from Gil, Palestine; and Goitein's index cards) VMR

Very blurred letter to the Nasi and the Head of the Diaspora (David b. Daniel?) asking for assistance for hungry people. The needy person is probably Shelomo b. Abraham, named at the bottom of the page. MY. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter, probably written by Elazar ha-Kohen b. Shelomo, who worked for the addressee, sending condolences for the death of the dowager and asking for assistance. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

A booklet containing copies of eight letters by Rav Sherira Gaon and one letter by Rav Hayye Gaon. End of the 10th century. The letter by Rav Hayye Gaon is addressed to the sister of Yosef b. Ḥasan b. Bundār, probably a community leader in Northern Iraq. All letters mainly deal with financial matters; the first seven mention places in Yemen. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, pp. 83-84.)

Introduction to a letter, written in rhymed prose and addressed to Seʿadel "the 'sar." There are some large Hebrew letters at the top of the recto and at the bottom of the verso. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Hayya Gaon to Elhanan b. Shemarya, Fustat. February 7, 1018. The Gaon writes after he has been asked to write to Fustat on behalf of one of the community members in Baghdad, Ali b. Bishr, whose brother, Yosef b. Bishr, is in Fustat and needs help. The writer also informs Elhanan that the Sura Gaon Dosa b. Seadya passed away. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #39) VMR