Letter: Reinach III

Description

Letter draft probably from Efrayim b. Shemarya probably to the Palestinian Gaon Shelomo b. Yehuda. (Identifications are according to Bareket.) In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender defends himself against the accusations that he embezzles communal funds and corresponds with the exilarchs and the heads of the Iraqi yeshivas, including Hayya Gaon, glorifying himself with their letters to him and paying them more respect than he does to the Palestinian yeshivot. He insists that he he does not correspond with them—he just received a single letter from the exilarch and sent a single letter to Hayya. He also denies that he asked Hayya about eating meat after the fast (probably referring to the 9th of Av). He mentions various other people from the Egyptian community by name. He concludes with expressions of great deference and pleas not to believe the slander that he honors anyone more than he honors the Palestinian Gaon and the Palestinian yeshiva. NB: The Reinach Geniza manuscript is a single, large sheet of paper measuring 44cm x 46cm and containing 7 distinct blocks of text. Its current whereabouts are unknown, but it was published by Schwab with a facsimile in 1920: https://www.persee.fr/doc/rjuiv_0484-8616_1920_num_70_139_5266. (Information in part from Schwab and Bareket.) ASE