Letter: Bodl. MS heb. f 102/48

Description

Letter from an unidentified Torah scholar. Dating: Likely 11th century. The writer mentions the city of Fez and people who have become affluent and are honoring him ('and the station of the Torah'). He very happily reports on the birth of a son to him—"may God keep him alive and preserve him and send him a speedy recovery(!)"—whom he named after his late father. The letter may be addressed to a woman, based on the verb endings in the margin of recto, but this part is difficult to read. On verso, it seems that the writer's brother had died without offspring. He prays that God will keep his son alive so that he can 'toil over him like my father toiled over me.' There seem to be blessings for a female family member around here (wa-razaqakum tanẓurū awlād awlādhā). The writer says he is always praying for the addressee during Birkat Kohanim. He greets Abū l-Khayr Ṣadaqa ha-Levi and his two sons Moshe and Yeshuʿa.