Letter: ENA 2735.2

Description

Letter from Ḥasan b. Manṣūr al-Neʾeman, probably in a small town, to ʿAllūn b. Yaʿīsh (aka ʿEli b. Ḥayyim ha-Kohen) the well-known parnas (dated documents 1057–1107), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter opens with blessings for the addressee and for his son Abū Kathīr, who is also a parnas. The sender speaks on behalf of "all of us" in congratulating the addressee on his recovery from illness. He reports that "al-Mumḥe Ibn al-Shofeṭ" spent the holidays with their community and served as cantor. During the synagogue service, this son of a judge mentioned "our Lord" in the end of the prayer which caused an uproar among the local elders. Goitein suggests that this cantor may be identical with the writer of T-S 8J15.3 (PGPID 1946). This document used to be listed on PGP under the nonexistent shelfmark ENA 2736.20. See also T-S NS J454 (PGPID 8792), a letter from al-Mumḥe Ibn al-Shofeṭ which appears to be in the same handwriting as this one.