Letter: Bodl. MS heb. d 65/9

May God give you a long life of strength and prosperity, O our great and noble Elder, and days filled with happiness and contentment. May He not deprive you of success, and may He be with you in this world and the world to come.

I am writing on the twenty-fifth of Kislev [December 1015], the day of the departure of the caravan—may God protect it. I have sent to you in it—may God be your support—an explanatory letter aside from this one. I gave it to our brother Abū ‘Imrān b. al-Majjānī—may God protect him—and he put it in his bundle of papers. With him also is a letter for our brother Abū Ibrāhīm b. Sahl. Please see to it that it gets to him. I have previously described to you the tranquility here which followed the terrible anxiety, and our confidence which followed our dread. Indeed, this is due to God Almighty and Exalted, for he has granted the return of the Sultan [Bādīs b. al-Manṣūr] from the Maghreb safe and victorious, as well as the return of the Elder, my Master Abū Isḥāq the Nagid, along with him. At the time of their return from the Maghreb, a caravan had come from the East carrying a sealed bundle containing packets of letters from our Masters, the Heads of the Yeshivot.

I have apprised you in detail of the contents of our Master Hay’s letters to the congregation and to us dignifying the Elder Abū Isḥāq—may God strengthen him—with the title “Nagid of the Diaspora.” And he [the Nagid] summoned the people before his blessed seat and presented himself before them. Then he took up a collection [on behalf of the Yeshivot], and the people gave. This took place during this same month. We have not been able to collect all the money. However, it is being collected. We shall write to our Masters, the Heads of the Yeshivot, and send the letters along with the money to you in the last caravan of the season—God willing.

I have informed you . . . explained what happened with the Nagid of the Diaspora—may God strengthen him—and Ismā‘īl b. Barhūn1 with regard to the money from a previous collection which he entrusted to the latter two years ago and which he was to send to his brother Abu ’l-Khayr in Fustat that he might pass it on to you, so that you—may God be your support—might take care of it. The money remained with him until the departure of the Nagid for the Maghreb. The Nagid ordered Ismā‘īl to write to his brother to pass it on to you so that you could forward it to the Heads of the Yeshivot. And when the Nagid went, we asked for such a letter from Ismā‘īl, but he refused, feeling that the Nagid would be a long time in the Maghreb. However, he was gone only two months and returned safe and victorious. And now again we have asked him to write to his brother so that the money would be passed on to you, and he insisted that he had written. But then, he said, “I have sworn never to send anything via Abu ’l-Faraj b. ‘Awkal—may God protect him. However, I shall write my brother that this money belongs to the Elder, Abū Isḥāq the Nagid of the Diaspora. Do as he instructed you in his letter, and we shall be free of it!” So we said to him, “Write it then.” He pledged with several oaths that he paid him in gold and silver coin totaling 200 dinars, of which 10 dinars are for the members of the Palestinian Yeshiva and the remainder for the members of the Iraqi Yeshivot. Our letter with the relevant information will reach you with the next caravan. We want to gather up all that is being collected now. It too shall reach you. We shall ascertain the total amount and shall write to you with regard to each individual and what he should receive.

I have already informed you in my more detailed letter which was sent just prior to this one with a small company of travelers that the letters of the Nagid will reach Abu ’l-Khayr instructing him that the money be passed on to you. In the letters is an authorization from the Nagid, validated in court, stating that he should forward nothing except through you. The Nagid has just now hastened and written a letter in his own hand to our brother Abu ’l-Khayr—may God shield him—reminding him of what had previously been sent to him via his brother quite a while ago and specifying what was sent in gold and what in silver. He further informed him of the rate of exchange and ordered him to convert everything into gold and to hand it over to you so that it should be in your possession until you receive the money collected this year. He also instructed him how it should be divided, and how much should be allotted to each of our Masters, the Heads of the Yeshivot. He admonished him to pass the money on to you alone. And he [Abu ’l-Khayr]—God willing—is one who would not disobey.

Our brother-in-law, their brother, Abu ’l-Faḍl, has arrived from Spain bringing with him the collection from there . . . for the Jerusalemites . . . and 30 for the Iraqis. We shall write to you regarding its division. He dealt with it solely for the sake of Heaven, and he devoted himself zealously to it until it arrived. May God reward him.

Please receive our best regards. . . . May the end be good.

verso

To our great and chosen Elder, Abu ’l-Faraj—may God shield and preserve him—Joseph b. Jacob b. ‘Awkal (may his soul find rest). May God be his Protector and Shepherd.

From Joseph and Nissīm, the sons of Berekhiah (may his soul find rest).

Destined for Fustat—God willing.