Letter: Yevr.-Arab. II 1744

Letter Yevr.-Arab. II 1744

Metadata

Shelfmark
Yevr.-Arab. II 1744
Primary Language
Judaeo-Arabic

Description

Letter from Avraham Ẓaʿir, Jerusalem, to the Qaraite community of Fustat/Cairo. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer greets a great many people by name, including the ḥakhams Yeshuʿa Rofe and Avraham Rofe b. Aharon Rofe, and Eliyya Levi. It seems some or all of these people had made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The remainder of the letter is a sharp rebuke for the addressees' failure to fulfill their vow to raise money and sent it to the Jerusalem community upon their return. The letter also contains the cryptic line, "We are Jews like you. Do not think us of the party of the wicked man from Istanbul." (Could this refer to Shabbetay Zevi? Gershom Scholem writes that he did have a number of Qaraite followers. Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, p. 776.) Needs examination.

Related Places

Destination
Cairo
Mentioned
Constantinople
Origin
Jerusalem

Additional metadata

Collection
National Library of Russia, Firkovitch (Firk.); Antonin
Input date
In PGP since 2020
National Library of Russia, Firkovitch (Firk.); Antonin, Yevr.-Arab. II 1744. Available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/documents/28080/ (accessed February 9, 2026).