מסמך משפטי: JCC 3

תיאור

An almost complete Muslim court deed from 1456 CE. The deed describes in detail events that took place during 1455-1456, as the heads of the Rabbanite and Qaraite communities of Cairo appealed to the authorities to receive permission to renovate ruined parts in their ruined synagogues in Cairo and Fusṭāṭ. The deed mentions various previous discussions, appeals and testimonies, going back the events during 1442-1443 CE (discussed in Mark Cohen’s article in BSOAS 47). The deed is almost identical with a deed discussing the same events, and focusing on the Qaraite synagogues in Cairo and Fusṭāṭ (in al-Mamṣūṣa quarter). The deed focused on the Qaraite synagogues was preserved in the Qaraite synagogue Dār Simḥa, and was studies and photocopied there by D.S. Richards, who also published an edition and translation of it (PGPID 40663). The present deed, focused on the Rabbanite synagogues in Cairo and Fusṭāṭ (in qaṣr al-shamʿ), was kept by the Rabbanite community. It was deposited in the modern archive of the Rabbanite Jewish community of Cairo (JCC) which was created in the early 20th century. 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 notes and the photocopies made by Ben-Zeev are accessible, in the National Library of Israel. A full photocopy of the deed can be consulted at the NLI under the shelf mark CAHJP ET-Ca. 21. The text and structure of the deed are almost identical with the deed already edited and translated by Richards, so the description below will focus on some of the differences: The text of the extant deed (in the time the photocopy was made) parallels line 31 onwards in Richards' text. It mentions the appeal of the heads of the two Jewish communities, but while Richards' text, which concerns the Qaraite synagogues, mentions first ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq, the head of the Qaraite community, and only then Iṣḥāq, the head of the Rabbanite community, the present text mentions the Rabbanite head first. While Richards' text describes “the synagogues which belong to the Qaraites in al-Qāhira and Miṣr”, and first turns to “the synagogue in the Ḥārat Zuwayla neighborhood in al-Qāhira” (line 67), the present text describes “the synagogues which belong to the Rabbanites in al-Qāhira and Miṣr”, and first turns the Rabbanite synagogue in the Ḥārat Zuwayla neighborhood, “in the alley known as al-Qābila”, a description confirmed from other sources. Then follows a detailed description of the current condition of the synagogue – this section is missing in Richards' main text, but is probably parallel with fragmented deed also preserved in Dār Simḥa synagogue and published by Richards (PGPID 40664). Then follows a detailed description of “the two Rabbanite synagogues found in Miṣr” - first a detailed description of the synagogue “al-shāmiyīn”, and later of “kanīsat al-ʿirāqiyīn”. This detailed description parallels the fragmented description of the Qaraite synagogue in al-Mamṣūṣa quarter in Richards' text, which ends in line 95. Most of the rest of the text is completely identical with Richards' text, including the date the initial inspections of the synagogue were confirmed by the court – 17 Ramaḍān 859 AH (31.8.1455 CE). Later, further inspections and discussion took place. The final confirmation took place on 18 Ṣafar 860 AH (in Richards' text of the Qaraite synagogues it was 9 Ṣafar). The deed includes further confirmations and testimonies of some of the engineers and witnesses who were present in the inspections.