ثيقة شرعيّة: AIU VII.D.57

الوصف

Bifolio from a court register/pinqas from a Rabbanite beit din in Cairo. In Hebrew. Location: Cairo. Dated: Shevat/Av 5443 AM, which is 1683 CE. The name of "the second witness" is given underneath each entry, perhaps because the first witness is understood to be the same as the court scribe. These witness names include Elʿazar Esmeralda; Ḥayyim Ashkenazi; Avraham Hārūn. The first entry on the upper right corner of the recto confirms that this fragment is a missing bifolio and join from the court register BL OR 6356.1-16 (PGPID 30310). The second entry in AIU VII.D.57 has a heading referencing a previous entry "two pages earlier" between Avraham b. Yehuda Tipa, Shalom b. Moshe Jaʿbās, and Mordekhay Jaʿbās– who each appear in document #63 on the final page of BL OR 6356 (PGPID 40941). The date range of each pinqas fragment's entries also directly coincide with one another Shevat 5443 AM/Av 5443 AM (Join: Matthew Dudley). Folio 1r, right side: (Document #1) Lower lines of a psaq din with the copied signatures of three dayyanīm: R. Mordekhay ha-Levi (d. 1684 CE), R. Moshe Vital, and R. Yisraʾel Romano. The court rules on various claims and lawsuits between the business partners: Yehuda קשטלאץ, Yom Ṭov ha-Kohen, and Ḥayya Shalom. The upper lines of this entry appear on the lower left corner of this fragment's verso. (#2) An updated rental agreement related to the property partnership between Avraham b. Yehuda Tipa, Shalom b. Moshe Jaʿbās. This version of the agreement states that Shalom is already living in the upper-story apartment, however, Mordekhay Jaʿbās commits to pay the 25 medin/month rent (whereas in the previous entry he only appeared as guarantor). This new arrangment points to the likelihood that Shalom Jaʿbās failed to pay rent on the property and Mordekhay stepped in to uphold their side of the agreement. (#3) Investment partnership for the benefit of an orphan. Raḥel, the widow of Moshe Ṭayyib aka Ḥajj, invests 2,400 medin from her orphan daughter's property with a certain Yehuda Marṭalī(?) (מרטלי). Raḥel's patronymics and new marital nomenclature are also provided by the court scribe: daughter of Yosef ha-Kohen Ḥomṣī (probably a toponym connected to Homs, Syria) and wife of Nissim Ḥayūn. Folio 1r, left side: (Document #4) List of accounts from the estate of Shemuʾel ha-Levi Shuqayr, now in the hands of his sons (who are surprisingly left unnamed). The nature of the accounts is highly varied, from "the three swords of Ḥusayn Çavuş", "the price of marble sold," two clocks (סאעאת ב), a rosewater/perfume sprinkler, rent collected on properties, and renovation expenses. Folio 1v, right side: (Document #5) Debt acknowledgement between Avraham Cas[...]l and three men to whom he promises future payments totaling to 14,920 medin: David b. Shemuʾel Simḥon, Yosef Simḥon, and Saʿadiya Zermagh. Avraham will pay 5,000 medin of the total sum following his first sixty days in the "ṣarf ha-dīwān shel Būlāq", likely part of the Ottoman customs operation in the Nile port. Based on the payment structure, it is possible Avraham was subleasing the right to operate a moneychanging operation within the Ottoman "customs bureau" (dīwān), for which the other three men were the primary leaseholders. For a similar leasing arrangement in the same court register, see document #64 in BL OR 6356. (#6) Debt acknowledgment in which Yehuda Villasid and his son-in-law Moshe b. Yaʿaqov Villasid commit to pay 9,150 medin by the end of Sivan to Falcona, widow of Yehonatan Ben-Villasid, and her children. Yehuda and Moshe commit to repay the amount by way of debts owed to them in a tezkere from "al-Emir Ḥasan tābʿi Sinos/Sinoş(?) Ağa." For Yehuda and Moshe Villasid, see also documents #8 and #18 in BL OR 6356. (#7) Upper lines of a rental agreement with specific provisions regarding usage and/or blockage of entrances to an apartment in the Christian quarter of Cairo (Ḥārat al-Naṣāra). The property is also described as being near the houses of a certain Yosef ha-Levi רפי. The apartment was previously the residence of Shemuʾel ha-Levi Porekh aka Shuqayr and, following his death, is now controlled by his sons Yehuda, Ḥabīb, Avraham, and Yosef (the same individuals referenced in document #4 of this shelfmark). Moshe Sanes agrees to rent the property for two years at a cost of 90 medin per month. The lower lines of this court register entry are missing. Folio 1v, left side: (Document #8) Lower lines of a document, most of which is missing and not contiguous with document #7 (which should begin on another page with the name of a street). (#9) Investment partnership for the benefit of the Sephardi Congregation. Yehuda b. Moshe Ṭayyib aka Ḥajj receives an investment of 3,000 medin from Yiṣḥaq Navaro, Gabbay of the Sephardi Congregation. The funds are from the "qodesh communal chest" of the congregation (ממעות הקדש הארגז של הק׳׳ק ספרדים). If Moshe Yehuda does not make any revenue for the congregation during the 9-month investment then he commits to make pay 60 medin per month to the qodesh, as a gift taken his own assets. Yehuda and his unnamed wife offer a "gold esṭefān with pearls" as collateral for the investment, a type of jewelry occasionally found in early modern dowry lists (the term's exact meaning requires further research). (#10) Abbreviated ketubba of the bride and groom Mira bt. Yaʿaqov Ben-Alḥadab (widow of Shelomo Rios) and Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq De León. The total valuation of the ketubba is 90,000 medin. For the couple's engagement deed, see document #59 in BL OR 6356. This abbreviated ketubba entry includes four dowry items that were not listed with the original engagement deed. (#1) Debt acknowledgment in which Yehuda b. Ḥayyīm קשטלאץ commits to repay the 1,000 medin that was loaned to him by Yom Ṭov ha-Kohen. (#12) Upper lines of a psaq din that continues onto the recto as document #1. The beit din rules on various claims and lawsuits between the business partners: Yehuda קשטלאץ, Yom Ṭov ha-Kohen, and Ḥayya Shalom. The court rules that Yehuda does not have any valid ongoing claims against Yom Ṭov and Ḥayya based on the prior deeds of release (שטרי מחילות) that were drawn up between them. MCD.