Letter: T-S 16.255

Description

Enthusiastic letter by Yaʿaqov b. Yeshaʿyahu ha-Kohen, a leader of the Jews of Yemen, to Mevorakh b. Saʿadya, congratulating him on his appointment as Head of the Jews. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 196, 197) The letter was sent from the Ṣulayḥid capital of Dhū Jibla to Fusṭāṭ around 1095 CE. The letter emphasizes the close connection between the Yemeni Jewish communities and Mevorakh, revealing that Yemeni Jewry during this period was connected to Egypt and the Palestinian Rabbanite yeshiva, and not only to the Babylonian Yeshivot as had been believed (see on this Ashur and Outhwaite, “An Eleventh-Century Pledge of Allegiance to Egypt from the Jewish Community of Yemen” CmY 22 (Juil. 2016) 34). (Nathaniel Moses) Old IB number: 350. New IB number: VII, 64