מכתב: T-S 13J9.18

תיאור

Letter from a woman named Raḥela Naʿmīṣ to her son. Dated: 28 Shevaṭ (5400 +) 162 AM = 31 January 1802 CE. Much of the letter consists of salutations (רב שלום ר׳׳ש) that the recipient's mother passes on from family members and other contacts such as Shelomo Barukh and Shemuʾel ha-Levi. The latter man is Raḥela's paternal uncle and the former may be her father, but the reading "אבי" could be "מצדי" ("from my side"). Among the many warm salutations, Raḥela may also tell her son to send a funeral shroud "lam tnsānī(?) min ghayr al-kāfn min kul bidd" in line 7 ("definitely do not forgot(?) the funeral shroud for me"). Some keywords are not clearly rendered here, yet another geniza letter between a mother/son from two weeks later deals with the issue of sending a "shroud" (כפן) and also mentions the names Shelomo Barukh and Sh[emuʾel] ha-Levi. This may be a coincidence but the overlap in nomenclature and theme underlines the possibility that the two letters are somehow related and Raḥela Naʿmīṣ or her son was in Damietta (AIU VII.E.94 - PGPID 30392). Lastly, this letter also features a damaged addendum that is torn away after the second line. (MCD with information in part from CUDL.)