מסמך משפטי: Yevr.-Arab. I 328

תיאור

Legal record (#73) in a court register/pinqas from a Karaite beit din in Cairo (on ff. 24v-25v of Yevr.-Arab. I 328). Dated 11 Iyyar 5325 AM (1565 CE) in the opening lines, but the latest court session mentioned is 23 Iyyar. Complex and detailed court case regarding the rumors that are circulating about the conduct of Raḥel bt. ʿAbd al-Maʿṭī al-Fūlādī, Reʾuben b. ʿAbd al-Maqṣūr al-Kohen al-parnas, and an unnamed Rabbanite man– some of which took place on the second night of Passover (a few weeks before this court record was drawn up). The case begins with the appearance of Raḥel's husband Hārūn b. Abd al-Ḥaqq al-Mawardī before the judges and community members in a court session at Bayt Simḥa (Dār Simḥa Synagogue). He "requests... for judgment" (וטלב ... לדין) to be rendered and then swears on the Ten Commandments (אלעשרת דברות). He stands before the court in disagreement with a certain Hārūn b. Yosef al-Kurdī, who Hārūn b. ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq claims has been making "excessive and deficient statements" about his wife in front of another community member, Yosef b. ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Ḥawwāsh. Hārūn b. Yosef al-Kurdī then testifies that he heard the rumors from: Hārūn b. ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Ḥawwāsh and Ṣedaqa b. Yosef al-Naqqāsh. Ṣedaqa b. Yosef al-Naqqāsh then testifies before the court about a conversation he overheard between Raḥel and Reʾuben b. ʿAbd al-Maqṣūr al-Kohen al-parnas, who were speaking to each other "in the dark" somewhere on al-Sīrja Street (זקאק אלסירגה) on the second night of Passover. Some of the keywords in Ṣedaqa's testimony are unclear (ll. 14-18), but he overheard Reʾuben say: "bring me the half you have now and the half from earlier." The judges then ask Reʾuben to confirm and explain this demand, he states: "yes, I said to her bring me half the bread-dough from this time and the other half from earlier." The court record then specifies that Reʾuben was working on the "production of unleavened bread" (מן צנאע אלפטיר). The legal issue at stake seems to be whether a transaction took place on the second night of Passover– with Raḥel and Reʾuben admitting before the court that a purchase occurred between them. The second allegation/rumor against Raḥel is brought by Hārūn b. ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Ḥawwāsh, who testifies that he was in Dammūh and entered the home of Raḥel's husband– where he saw people getting drunk and a Rabbanite man among the group. While Raḥel's husband was "playing ʿoud and singing," Hārūn b. ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Ḥawwāsh testifies that he saw her "sitting alone with the Rabbanite man," who then proceeded to "place his hand on her leg" (ואלרבאן //יחט// אידה עלי רגלהא). The judges ask Raḥel about this matter; she rejects the allegation. Community members in attendance are then asked for individual testimony, with some of them calling for the issuance of a ḥerem (בעץ מן אלגמא׳ קאלו ללדיינים אטלקו חרם). The first page of this case thus ends and it appears the second page was intentionally cut out, with only a thin stub visible along11 the binding. The case continues onto the final page days after the court session one took place on 11 Iyyar. It seems likely that the missing/cutout page contained portions from the first and second sessions given that this final section mentions a brief third session (undated on a Thursday) and possibly a fourth session on the evening of Thursday 23 Iyyar. Witnesses appear before the court to provide additional and, at times, conflicting testimony. For example, Ibrahīm al-Fūlādī testifies (ll. 19-21) that he entered the home of Hārūn b. Abd al-Ḥaqq al-Mawardī that night, saw the host Hārūn playing ʿoud, but did not see the Rabbanite man there (ולם ראה אלרבאן). In the end Raḥel swears that everything (disparaging) being said about her, both "in Dammuh and elsewhere," is false. Her husband Hārūn testifies in the closing lines that "in his heart he is reassured/put at ease" about his wife's conduct and "does not have any doubt in her" (וליס ענדי פיהא לא ריב). MCD.