Geniza Lab

A letter to Biמyamin Yerushalmi from the Karaites of Qal'a

Copies of letters to the community of Troki from the community of Lithuania.

A letter to Yosef Shlomo b. Moshe from Yosef Avraham b. Shmuel

A letter from the community of Luzki to Ishaq b. Shlomo

Letter from an unknown writer, in Alexandria, to the judge Yiṣḥaq Aripol, in Fustat/Cairo. The writer's name and signature appear, but are very faded. Written in Hebrew. Dated: 5457 AM (שנת תבנה), which is 1696/97 CE. The purpose of the letter is to forward a legal query that the writer received from Livorno, which is presumably identical with the Hebrew text in a different hand written on the inner side of the fold.

Letter draft from one Jewish community (A) to another Jewish community (B) in a different land. In Hebrew. Locations unknown. Dating: Late. Catalogued as 18th century, which seems a good guess. The letter is a justification of why community A acted a certain way when a man arrived and presented a letter of recommendation from community B. The letter of recommendation bore the signatures of many of the notable men of community B (which are listed again in this letter). For some reason, community A suspected that he was a fraud and his letter was forged, perhaps in part because he presented them with a legal query that any ignoramus would have been able to answer. So they refused to honor his letter of recommendation. It seems the purpose of the present letter is to explain what has happened so that the leaders of community B do not think that they are not respected in community A. If they do not believe this story, community A is sending this letter with Mordekhai ha-Ḥakham who can answer all their questions to their satisfaction.

Letter copy. In Hebrew. Attributed to Yehuda ha-Levi on the final page. Mostly consists of extremely poetic praises for the addressee ("whose like has not been seen in Spain") and self abasement. The writer explains why he is unable to fulfill a certain request that was made of him. Unclear if the original writer is identical with the famous Yehuda ha-Levi; evidence in favor of the identification is that he does not seem to have his father's name or other names listed (which would be necessary for a less famous Yehuda ha-Levi), the reference to Spain, and the caliber of the Hebrew prose. But needs examination.

Non-Geniza. Letter from the Qaraite community of Jerusalem to the Qaraite community of Troki (אטרוקא). Dated: 1646 CE.

Non-Geniza. Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Shelomo (1755–1826) to the ḥakhams Shemuel Kohen and Yosef Shelomo, in Yevpatoria (גוזלווא). Dated: 1820 CE. Contains an intricate legal query. Also an order for the book Shviley Emuna, "because I need it very much sometimes for the healing of the sick." Information in part from NLI.

Non-Geniza. Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Shelomo (1755–1826) to Yosef Shelomo b. Moshe Lutzki, in Yevpatoria. Dated: 1820 CE. Information from NLI.

Non-Geniza. Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Shelomo (1755–1826) to Simḥa Yiṣḥaq Lutzki. Information from NLI.

A letter contains mostly discussion on the calendar from Ishaq b. Shlomo

Non-Geniza probably. Letter or letters. At least one is dated: 22 Nisan 5581 AM, which is 1821 CE.

Copies of letter to the Karaite community of Qal'a from Istanbul regarding communal matters

A letter from Shemuel Hariv

A letter from Avraham Levi to Yosef b. Moshe Luzki

A letter from Mordechai b. Nisan to Shalom and Moshe

A letter from Shmuel b. Yosef to his brother Moshe the cantor

A letter from Yosef b. Ishaq to Yosef b. Zerah

A letter from Avraham b. Levi to Shmuel b. Ishaq Luzki