Letter: NLI 577.2/15

recto

1. [. . .] 
2. [. . .] 
3. [. . .] that you had a document or 
4. [. . .]
5. [. . .] they did not say, we (are acting) in accordance with our father’s will and demanding {alt. tr.: [This is] what they said: in accordance with our father’s will, we demand} our right, [and indeed they did not]
6. produce a handwritten statement testifying to what was [due] them, nor a document with witnesses, and they did not have a w[ill]
7. proper, as wills should be. And it came to pass, when we saw all that was written in your letter
8. and read it to them [and h]eard all their words, we were amazed and much distressed, 
9. and we said, How has such evil been don[e], to spread slander [and] idle, evil words
10. and abuse with their li[ ps] one who is appointed by the exilarchs and the heads of
11. the yeshivas over all of Israel and invested with the trust of the rulers who are overseas
12. and those who are in the desert. It is hereby our opinion and we state, in truth, that these men
13. must be fined, each and every one of them, a fine to be paid to our lord Maḍmūn, Prince of
14. the Congregations, because he is a distinguished person. The penalty imposed for embarrassing another depends entirely on the offender and the person affronted, and everything
15. is defined in terms of his dignity, taking the most stringent view. Since our sages have said that for distinguished persons one increases the limits of compensation for humiliation.
16. And this is what they said—may their memory be for a blessing! ‘A certain person insulted R. Judah b. Han̄in̄a; the case was brought before
17. R. Simeon b. Lakish, and he fined him a pound of gold.’ Now, had they paid him many times that amount,
18. it would have been to no avail, until they appeased him, for thus said our sages—may their memory be for a blessing! ‘Our Rabbis taught: Even if he were to give
19. him all the riches in the world, he would not be forgiven until he asked him ( for pardon), for Scripture says: “Therefore, restore
20. the man’s wife, since he is a prophet,” etc.’ And (this is) to inform you //that// there is an obligation upon ʿIwāḍ, Yeshūʿā and Ḥasan
21. ha-Kohanim, sons of the late Jacob ha-Kohen—may he rest in Eden!—(to pay) our lord Maḍmūn, Prince of the Congregations, upon each
22. and every o[n]e of them, one pound of gold, for what they have done and opened their mouths wide
23. and written in their letters indecent things, suspicion and complaints and slander and things
24. that are not proper, and behaved brazenly. For that reason they are liable to fines. And they (the sages) have further said:
25. ‘Whoever is liable to a fine is also liable to excommunication, and whoever is liable to excommunication is liable to flogging.
26. And whoever has been excommunicated and dies under excommunication—his coffin shall be stoned.’
27. See, gentlemen, what an evil tongue has caused, for there is no sin more grievous
28. than that. And slander is the cause of affliction, as they said: ‘It was taught: R. Eliezer [!] b. Parta
29. says: Come and see how great is the power of an evil tongue! Whence do we know (its power)? From the spies, for if one who
30. slanders his fellow man, all t[he more so . . .] [. . .] upon him
31. [. . .]