Scholarship on Legal document: T-S 6J2.15 + T-S 10K8.13

T-S 6J2.15 1r

1. What does his honor, the precious one, crowned with splendor, our master
2. and teacher, our lord, light of our eyes, our nagid Avraham, the distinguished
3. rabbi, the mighty hammer, the great nagid, nagid of the people of the Lord
4. of Hosts, may his glory be exalted and his honor be magnified forever, Amen, forever, selah, say

1. בדבר בר ישראל שיש לו אשה, ויש לו ילדים ממנה, באלכסנדריה.
2. והניח אותה, ויצא ובא וקנה שפחה. והיא איננה שפחה
3. לשם שירות, אלא או פילגש או בעלת הבית. ושהה עמה
4. זמן מה, וכאשר רצה לנסוע לפיום, הלביש אותה בכסות
5. יפה, שלא לבשה אשתו מימיה, והלך לפיום עם השפחה,
6. והניח ילדיו יתומים ואשתו אלמנות חיות. ופץ
7. ואמר, אין רואה ואיש הישר בעיניו יעשה, ואין איש
8. שם על לב. יורנו ,האם מותר לשהות עמה בלי
9. כתובה, [ו]בלי לשלם לאשתו את המאוחר שלה, [ושיניח] את אשתו וילדיו
10. ויתייחד עם שפחה בבית ותש[הה] ע[מו. האם] זה [מו]תר
11. או לא? או האם מותר לבר ישראל פנוי לשהות עם
12. שפחה, ויהא לן ומשכים עמה בבית, כשאין לו (שם) לא
13. אשה ולא אחות ולא אם. יורנו ,האם מותר להתעלם
14. מזה, או לא? יורנו כתורתו הקדושה וחכמתו
15. הרחבה, ושכרו כפול מן השמים.
16. התשובה
17. אסור להתייחד עם שפחה.
18. ואם יתברר שאדם זה עשה
19. כך, יוחרם בשמו, עד שיוציא
20. את השפחה וירחיק אותה. וכתב אברהם.

T-S 10K8.13 1r

1. regarding a Jewish man who has a wife and children, some of them in trade.
2. He threw her out and went and bought a slave (jāriya), but she is not a slave
3. for personal service (jāriya li-l-khidma), but rather a concubine or lady of the house. He stayed with her
4. for some time. When he left to travel to the Fayyūm, he dressed her in fine
5. clothing the likes of which his wife had never worn in her life, and went to the Fayyūm with the jāriya,
6. leaving his children as orphans and his wife as a widow in his lifetime.
7. As it is said, "There is no one watching, and each man does what is right in his own eyes, and no man
8. takes notice" (cf. Isaiah 57:1). Instruct us: Is it permitted for him to stay with her without 
9. a marriage contract and without paying his wife from her marriage settlement, [abandoning] his wife and children
10. and being alone with a slave at home, secluded with her? Is this permitted
11. or not? Is it permitted for an unmarried Jewish man to stay with
12. a slave, living with her and treating her as his wife in the house when he has neither
13. a wife nor sister nor children (at home)? Instruct us whether it is permitted to be silent
14. about this or not. Instruct us according to His holy Torah and broad
15. wisdom, and your reward will be doubled from Heaven.
16. The answer:
17. It is not permitted to be alone with a slave (shifḥa).
18. If it is proven that this person did
19. this, he should be excommunicated by name until he forces
20. the slave to leave and distances (himself from) her. Written by Avraham.
21. What does our master say likewise about women who collect
22. some dirhams or gold from each other, and then the time of shemiṭa arrives:
23. Does the law of shemiṭa apply to them or not? May his reward be doubled.
24. The answer:
25. The law of shemiṭa for women is the same as
26. for men, whether the debt is owed by them or to them.
27. Written by Avraham.