מסמך משפטי: JCC 2

תיאור

Judicial record of an inspection of the state of the two Rabbanite synagogues in Fustāt, in the Roman fortress (qaṣr al-shamʿ), and an authorized and supervized restoration of them, in 878 AH. A thorough description of the structure, state and position of both synagogues is given, including repairs needed. The first synagogue described is "that of the Irāqiyīn, near the Hanged (church)" (bijiwār al-muʿalaqa). The second synagogue described is "that of the Palestinians (al-shāmiyīn), also known as the synagogue of the Rabbanite Jews". It is located in the alley (khawkha) al-Khabīṣa. To the west of the synagogue is a complex (dār) "known as the funduq of the poor of the Jews". The first inspection took place on the 20th of Rabiʿ al-Awwal 878 AH. A second inspection, with a higher authority, took place on the 1st of Rabiʿ al-Ākhar. The findings were approved by the head Judge on the fourth day of the same month. The renovations took place, and when finished were inspected by another delegation, which approved that all what was done was legal, according to the above-mentioned decision, and that the two synagogues were now in the same state they were "before the destruction and burning". Therefore this report was written down, at the end of the year 878 AH. The document was copied by a calligrapher in the early 20th century and was published and translated by Gottheil about 20 years later. Gottheil doubted the quality of the copy made by the calligrapher, but a photocopy found at the NLI approves the calligrapher's readings. The photocopy's shelfmark is CAHJP ET-Ca. 20. The modern archive of the Rabbanite Jewish community of Cairo (JCC) was created in the early 20th century based on centuries-old documents preserved by several respected Cairene Jewish families. It was catalogued by Yisrael Ben-Zeev in the 1930's, and he also made some photocopies. The archive has since been lost, and it seems that it was deposited in the Egyptian National Library (see Rustow, A Lost Archive, p. 496 note 8). Currently, only the hand-written catalogue and the photocopies made by Ben-Zeev are accessible, in the National Library of Israel.