Letter: T-S 8J21.6

Recto

1. "And peace with you and peace with Him who support you," etc. (1 Chronicles 12:19). 
2. To brother and friend, / great in knowledge, / beloved and cherished, soul bound up with soul,
3. engraved on my heart, the great, my right eye, my powerful arm,
4. his honor, gre(atness and) hol(iness), (our) mas(ter) and tea(cher) Ephraim the ḥaver of the great Sanhed(rin),
5. / glory of the ḥavers, who is exalted / among those invited to assemble, / may God be your succor / and place
6. over you His cover, / son of his honor, gr(eatness and) ho(liness, our) ma(ster) and teacher Shemarya the teacher, who rests in Eden,
7. the garden of God. From the day we parted until this day I have heard no news of what
8. you have done for me. No one has told me what has been done lately on my behalf. I remain
9. like a man locked up in prison, [and] I am causing a burden for the people of the house. Now, you
10. have always done great kindnesses for me; perpetuate your kindness this time when we meet,
11. and do not be neglectful, for my heart and eye are counting on
12. the kindness of the Rock, first, may His name be blessed, and on your kindness. Many scholars have
13. come here from the Land of Edom (Europe) and from the Land of Israel. Let me be
14. like one of them among my people. Earn merit for what you do for me. As you know, Moses our teacher, of b(lessed) m(emory), achieved merit
15. and bestowed merit on others, and the merit of others depends upon h[im], as it is s(aid): "He executed the Lord's judgments

 

Recto, margin

1. and His de(cisions) for Is(rael)" (Deuteronomy 33:21). Time is pressing. If you can
2. speak on my behalf with the collector of the poll tax, that would be good. If, God forbid, that is difficult
3. for you, let me know and I shall turn elsewhere, be it right or left.
4. I fear I will come out of this without a solution and be put in prison. 

Recto, above

May your welfare increase like the multitude of the locusts. Isaac, your admirer, asks that your welfare increase.