رسالة: T-S NS 108.149a

الوصف

Portion of a letter, or copy of a letter, written on a folio in the format of a literary text. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. Dating: likely 12th century (no earlier than 1121) based on the reference to "the time of al-Afḍal." Concerning communal disputes in the Rīf, mentioning Buḥayra and Damietta. Mentions a dispute over ownership of a bible codex (muṣḥaf); someone who went and obtained a document from the governor (wālī) ordering the Jews to assemble; another government official (ḥājib) came out and seems to have levied fines; the community "would have been lost if they had not had it registered that he was insane (majnūn)." When the Jews gathered, someone spoke and referred to events "from the time of al-Afḍal" (Fatimid vizier from 1094–1121). The next section shows that the writer works as a circumciser in this community; he alludes to various disputes that arose out of this. "Your slave (i.e., I) calls out in public on Shabbat that anyone who wishes to circumcise his son, I will not prevent him." He seems to have a specific rival (the same one who was officially registered as insane?) who is addressing the congregation from the pulpit (minbar) accusing the writer of falsehoods. The next section, written in Hebrew in an elevated register, refers to the yeshiva. The last section preserved refers to the arrival of Avraham al-Rūmī b. Shabbat (or Shabbetay) who had legal disputes related to the Qodesh. He seems to have liquidated his assets (naḍḍa jamīʿ mā lahū) in order to travel from Damietta back to Byzantium.