V. LETTER
Paper 11 1/8 x 7 3/8 inches.
Carefully written in half-square Hebrew characters, in fairly good mediaeval Hebrew.
The paper is torn and the writing illegible in many places.
On the verso there is an address, but it is illegible save for the words:
יקרה......המעותר לשם [יעקב] בר יוםף החסיר.....
Also on the verso, but upside-down, in very faded script which appears
to be older than that on the recto, are portions of verses from the Bible,
as follows: Isaiah lxv, 8, 9, 13, 16-18, 20 (קרוש for ירושלם)-25 ; lxvi, 1, 2, 5, 7-14, 18-23.
Judges xv, 15-19; xvi, 28. We cannot imagine their purpose.
At the top of the recto are a few scrawled Arabic letters of no apparent import.
This letter was written to a Ga’on Jacob Ben Joseph ha-Hasidh,
perhaps the Jacob Ben Joseph Ab-Beth-Din who as rabbi signed documents
at Fustat in A.D. 1016 and 1018, and did the same at Aleppo in 1028.
Cf. Mann, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 37, 150. The writer of the letter is an
important person in Jerusalem. At the time when this Jacob was in Fustat
the chief dignitary in Jerusalem was Josiah Ga’on. Cf. Mann, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 71 ff.
His letters are not unlike this in their opening words.
The “glorious
place ” which collapsed was probably a synagogue; and the cause may have
been the earthquake of A.D. 1016. Cf. Mann, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 72, 156.
Apparently Jacob had left Jerusalem some time before, bearing a commission from
Solomon Ben Khalaf al-Bukl in Jerusalem to his wife in Fustat. Solomon had given
Jacob two gold-pieces with which to pay her
way to Jerusalem. Evidently he expected trouble, for he gave to Jacob
a statement of his possessions in his house at Fustat and directions to take
possession of these. The only response that came was another messenger,
Nathan or Hibah by name, son of Zachariah, who arrived in Jerusalem with
a protest from the wife that Solomon had no grounds for his action. Nathan
next undertook to carry to the wife in Fustat a letter of divorce, which he
promised to deliver to her in the presence of a certain Abraham the Hazzan.
Nathan appears with all the documents and with Solomon’s statement
that it was in the house of the writer that Jacob had sworn to carry the
original message to the wife. The writer is equally certain that nothing of
the kind ever took place under his roof, nor had he heard of the affair at all.
He now writes in great haste to Jacob and tells him that he is sending by
a Spaniard, al-Azhar, a copy of the wife’s protest, which is to be delivered
to Abraham, the intended witness of the divorce proceedings.
Incidentally
it is said that a certain “glorious place” in Jerusalem has collapsed.
Recto:
- To ...... in the name of those who are enwrapped in turbans, Habers of
doctrines, teachers of doctrines, elders ......
- ...... a good name to write it is : Master Jacob, “ The Appointed1” to be
called by [the title] Ge’dn Jacob !
- Everyone who tastes of his wisdom and beholds (?) his humility. May
God keep him, and preserve him and assist him, and be his help,
- and enliven him(?) son of Joseph the Pious. Peace! Peace be upon
you ! Beloved and dear, and friend (?).
- From the Lord of Peace and from the City of Peace, and from her paths!
And peace also from me who love you as my own life !
- I write these pages earnestly, to inform [you] of the arrival of Master
Nathan, messenger of the congregation2, known [in Arabic as] Hibah3,
son of Rabbi
- Zachariah, bringing an Arabic4 document of deposits and its seals. And
it makes demands of Solomon Ben Khalaf al-Buki5
- about his wife. And she says to him [in the document] “ This [document
of yours which you have sent me] is not a [proper] complaint, nor does
it contain proof [justifying] a demand.” And the man Solomon said
- “I sent by Rabbi Jacob Ha-Me‘uttadh' two gold-pieces, with which to bring her, if
- she were willing to come ; and, if she did not desire [to come], I gave into
his hand a document of memorandum as to all that was in her possession, namely
- ‘Mine is that which she made6 in my house, for the work of her hands
is mine as well as that which I bought for her. If she admits the
claim,
- collect from her her overdue7 [debt], then the remainder shall be the
support of my daughter.’ But up to the present there has not come
from him
- any letter nor has he let [me] know what has been done.” And this man,
our Master Hibah, says that in my house an oath was taken
- in the presence of elders,8 our Master Solomon Ben Abraham Ben Ezra,
and Memuhamdn Ben Yapheth, and others9. But never
- did there happen in my presence anything |like this,| nor did I do in my
house anything [ like this,] and [that] you [Rabbi Jacob] were one of
them. And things happened
- After this by me to give her two pieces of gold
- and he write And our Master Rabbi Nathan became surety for him
that he would bring to her(?) after two days(?) documents thith
- er [as a] complaint she should produce the [marriage?] document,
in his presence and in the presence10 of Rabbi Abraham the Hazzan...
and tear it up
- in your presence. And she should receive the letter of divorce.
And [that] he would write for this Solomon a document of damages.
But [as for] the expenses of his daughter
- herself (?), that he would give her two gold-pieces the year for as long as
she wished her mother. And now
- I shall give her the two gold-pieces after she has torn it up the
later years
- as a deposit with our Master Solomon the Haber, son of Rabbi David.
And it is the writing of your hands
- accepting We are sending them in haste with a duplicate11 [for re- turn].
And I was astonished at you then that you did not write
- what was to happen. And behold [here is] the executed bill of divorce
in the possession of our Master, Rabbi Hibah. He will take it to her or send it
- by the hand of his messenger, for he has authorised [us to send]
messengers, so that it may reach her safely. I have acquainted you
- with this to give to Rabbi Abraham. I have already given it to our Master Azhar
the Spaniard12
- son of Rabbi Jonah, and I am confident that they have been given to him.
And I have been hoping that you would come at the feast [of
Weeks] and so also on the Ninth of
- Ab, and so also at the [other] feast days. And behold I have had to
wait for good news of it13. And may the ..... with you be near!
- .... And we and all ......14 are well. But the glorious15 place, which
had been built upon, fell on the 17th of the month
- of Ab(?), and it was a Sunday, at the tenth hour of the day. May it be
His pleasure to build a firm building ! Greetings !
- And greetings [to] your son, and greetings [to] all your relatives !
[God] prolong the life of your brother Solomon, son of Rabbi Yahya (?) -- [May] his rest [be in] Eden !
1 I.e. Ha-Me‘uttadh. Early in the eleventh century the Egyptian Jews broke away
from the authority of their brethren in Palestine and established a religious and legal
school (Yeshibhah) that went by this name “Ge’on Ya‘kob.” See Mann, op. cit., vol. i, p. 191.
2 שע = שליח צבור
3 Shortened from הבת אללה as נתן from נתנאל.
4 הגרי “of Hagar.”
5 From Buk, the name of a river near Baghdad. See Yakut, Geogr. Worterbuch, vol. i, p. 762; Muschtarik, p. 71.
6. שעשה
7. מאוחר has no article; but that is not uncommon in our texts.
8. This passage was deleted.
9. וזןלתם?
10. About eight illegible letters are written above the line here.
11 דיוקני generally means “picture.”
12. הספרדי
13. “My hearing of his situation for good has been delayed."
14. This abbreviation occurs in line 7 also. Does it mean “etc.” ?
15 Or “ steep,” or “spiral.
