מסמך משפטי: NLI CAHJP ET-Ca. 61

תיאור

A photocopy of a Muslim court deed documenting various endowed properties of the Qaraite community of Jerusalem. The deed is from 1563 CE, and it references a previous deed from 1559. Current location of the original document, or how or from where its photocopy arrived the NLI, are unknown at the moment. The document and its content were mentioned during a conflict over control of Qaraite endowments in Jerusalem during the 1930's, as is discussed in Yosef Algamil's book 'History of the Qaraites' [Hebrew], vol. II, pp. 337-365 (like PGPID 40643). The main figure mentioned is ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. ʿAbd al-Jaʿafār b. ʿAbd al-Karīm, the Qaraite from Damascus, who is described as "the religious supervisor over the endowments of the poor among the Karaite Jews who reside in Jerusalem (al-nāṭir al-sharʿī ʿalā waqf ṣaʿalīk al-yahūd al-qarāʾiyīn al-muqīmīn bi-l-quds)". One property is confirmed according to a previous deed, dated 17th of Dhū al-Ḥijja 966 AH. This property, as well as the supervisor's son, who was also a supervisor on the Qaraite endowments, are mentioned in a court deed from 1583 CE (PGPID 40646). Altogether, 12 different properties are described in detail, including their various parts and neighboring properties. The properties are located "in the Qaraite neighborhood" (using maḥalla and ḥāra interchangeably). Adjacent landmarks include "the old synagogue of the Qaraite community (kanīs tāʾifa al-yahūd al-qarāʾiyīn al-qadīma)", "the alley of the bakery", "the house of Zaytūn the Jew", the apartment of "the son of the Ḥanbalī faqīh", "the endowment of the hospital (māristān)" etc. The document confirms that these properties are under the supervision of the said ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz "for over forty years, before the conquest" of Jerusalem by the Ottomans. A certain ʿAbd al-Karīm b. Mūsā, the Jewish physician, who is "the supervisor of the Qaraite properties in Jerusalem", is mentioned in two documents from the Muslim court of Jerusalem, published by Amnon Cohen (nos. 339 from 1551 CE, and 371 from 1558 CE, in his volume dedicated to the 16th century), dealing with properties which seem to be the same as the ones detailed in the current document. This ʿAbd al-Karīm might be ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz's grandfather. The document is signed and approved by the governor of Jerusalem, with additional signatures confirming the governor's one, and the date is 11th of Shaʿbān 970 AH (5.4.1563 CE). The file at the NLI includes, besides the photocopy, a full translation to Hebrew, approved by an Israeli notary (in 1976) and bears a stamp of "the Qaraite community of Israel".