Letter: T-S 32.10

Description

Letter from a certain Elishaʿ to a notable titled Rabbenu Moshe Av Bet Din (הרב המובהק הפטיש החזק . . . דגל הרבנים הרב הגדול ביש רבנו משה אב בית דין שלכל ישראל). Goitein initially identified the addressee is Moshe Maimonides (1168–1204 CE), though he also suggested on paleographic grounds that the letter more likely dates to the mid-13th century. The identity of the recipient is discussed in Friedman and Goitein, India Book IV1, 92, n219, where Friedman observes that Maimonides famously rejected the titles "Rosh Yeshiva" and "Av Bet Din" as "mere names of flattery" (פטומי שמא בעלמא, a reference to Bava Meṣiʿa 66a). The sender acknowledges receipt of the addressee's letter (ḥaḍarat musharrifat sīdī) in which he reports having given charity to the scholar Avraham b. Yosef al-Siqillī (the Sicilian) in the presence of the Nagid (this proves that the addressee is not himself the Nagid). Also mentions the congregation of Damascus and the fact that none of the promised money has been received. He mentions a power of attorney and begs the addressee to "exert [himself] to liberate the money of these poor people." The last few lines of the letter are mostly torn away. (Information in part from Goitein's index card and CUDL.)