רשומה קשורה ל-מסמך משפטי: Bodl. MS heb. a 3/37

Recto

1. To the mighty of the country and its dukes. The ones chosen of that which is the Choice, and mingled in It. The troops of Gaba and Its redeemed. Who cause knowledge to speak, and draw It out. 

2.  Who meditate understanding and are Its noises. Who are engaged by custom and assemble for It. Who are endowed with privileges and Its habitations. Who search wisdom and are Its soldiers. 

3.  Who taste purification and are dipped in It. Who know the precious One and Its increases. With whom kashrūt is laid up in store and who are perfected in It. Who are taught in the pattern of that which is the Choice and are Its lanes.

4.  Who understand the enlightening One and Its words. Who are the wise of the faithful One and led forth by It. Who postulate on the closed (paragraphs) and are Its peculiar treasures. Who are the neighbors of the Testimony and Its hard workers. 

5.  Who interpret the pearls and are Its judges. Who try the hidden things and lift up their voices for It. Who are the renowned of tradition and Its congregations. Whose souls delight in the company of the highest One and who are Its legs. 

6.  Who hasten the song and are Its paths. Who uphold the Torah and are Its eminent ones. The nobles of the assemblies. The righteous of the congregations. The fittest of troops. 

7.  Who are notable in glories. Known in love. Keepers of affection. Large in generosity. Detesters of quarrel. Namely, the congregations of Ṣōvā, 

8.  which is honored and important, agreeable and fine. Their illustrious elders. Their notable princes. Their elect men. 

9.  Their righteous presbyters. Their elect young men. Their fit descendants. In the very first place, the righteous leader 

10.  and fit pioneer, His Honorable Great Holiness, our Lord and Master, Jacob, he-Ḥāvēr be-Sanhedrīn Gedōlā, b. R. Joseph Bēt-Dīn, of blessed memory; and the sages and scholars 

11.  who set up justice and perpetuate law. Who burden themselves, and tie about their necks the encumbrance of the people. 

12.  The envoys of the population, the parnāsim and the trustworthy ones, who are the succor of the destitute, see to clothes and meals, feed and gratify, 

13.  sustain and show mercy. And to the rest of their multitude. Their big and small, rich and destitute, humble and average. May all be preserved, 

14. (14-15) and guarded forever. May they not be changed. May they be maintained and not suppressed, set upright and not blackened. May God protect and shelter them, and succor them in His umbrage; attract them to His goodness and strengthen them against any evil. Reward them with His bounty, have mercy and pity. Thus He will do, since He is refuge 

15.  

16.  and strength. Receive great greetings from us, your loving and beloved brethren, the congregations that dwell in the city of Tyre, 

17.  who tremble, are in fear, and sigh over the affliction of the low city, the renowned one. Who cry over its diseases and the might of its afflictions. 

18.  Since its straits have been multiplied and its calamities have came together. We supplicate and implore the mighty One, increase prayer and chanting, to relieve them, and to hasten 

19.  His pity for them. May He act this way, and withdraw wrath. It is manifest and known before God that we array benedictions for you often and in every assembly. We do not 

20.  withhold nor skip them amongst the benedictions for the congregations of the nation of God, our mighty One, may it increase and never wither. As to the contents of this our letter to you: There came to us His Honorable Great Holiness, 

21. (21-22) our Master Joseph the son of our Master Abraham, of blessed memory, known as al-Sūmīsāṭī, and told us that he received letters from the notables of your community, may God preserve them, concerning a compound that is in the vicinity of your Great Synagogue, about which there occurred conflict and quarrel. Some people said that it was

22.  

23.  heqdēsh for the synagogue and that there was a man who withheld it from (the synagogue),saying that he bought it from its owner. There was an enormous conflict caused by this compound 

24. (24-25) among you. This compound is known as (the compound) of Hillā b. Joseph b. Hillā. It so happened that the owners of this compound, namely my Master Mevōrākh and my Master Mufarrij, the sons of our Master Joseph, of blessed memory, the son of our Master Hillā, were in our city of Tyre, that is (situated) on the shore of the Great Sea of the sunset, so we asked them 

25.  

26. (26-27) about this aforesaid compound. So Mevōrākh and Mufarrij, namely the sons of Hillā b. Joseph b. Hillā, answered telling us: We truth- fully inform you that this compound, that belonged to our father, Hilla, in the city of Ṣōvā, is in the vicinity of the Great Synagogue; it is known 

27.  

28.  by the name of our father and his ancestors; it is a celebrated one, so that there is no need to mention the bordering properties. Our father dedicated its rent to the Great Synagogue. 

29.  ... and our father, of blessed memory, was gathered (to his people) while the compound was under his authority. He did not sell it to anybody in the world nor donate it as a gift. After his 

30.  death we remained its heirs, since there is no heir of our father except ourselves. We did not sell this compound nor appoint any proxy 

31.  over it. Any man who comes claiming that our father sold it, or that we sold it, or that we appointed somebody as proxy to sell this compound, or 

32.  (if there comes) a man in our name, he bears false witness, speaks lies, his talk is empty, and nobody should give heed to what he says. 

33.  Any man who claims that he has a deed against our father or against us, let him set it forth, since we know that if a man sets forth

34. (34-35) such a deed against us it is forged, so the dishonor of who set it forth will be revealed. And Mevōrākh and Mufarrij, namely the sons of Hillā also answered before us: We dedicated the rent of the aforesaid compound to the Great Synagogue which is in Ṣōvā 

35.  

36.  ..... and advanced the rent of this compound since the day it was held by the tenant 

37.  .......... and to save ... of the rent and to spend it on the needs of the Great Synagogue (to) which 

38.  we dedicated .... We do not need the money of this compound, but if, God forbid 

39.  .. we will sell, and (nobody) has this right, since it is on this condition that we dedicated its rent. So after we listened to the words 

40.  .... of the sons of Hillā and their judiciousness, we wrote and imprinted our deposition in this letter and sent it 

41.  to you, to appease quarrel among you, eliminate conflict, and withdraw discord. And may God from His dwelling make you dwell safely, 

42.  abide in quietude, remove from among you any quarrel, conflict, dispute, and discord, and plant among you love, affection, amity, 

43.  justice, and peace. And may He hasten, in your days, the gathering of His flock, the building of His Sanctuary, and the coming of His Anointed. Written on the first of the month of Marheshwan 

44.  in the first year of the shemiṭṭā,, the year 4789 of the creation. And then, greetings. 

45.  Yefet b. Mevasser, of blessed memory. Samuel b. R. Moses he-Ḥāvēr, of blessed memory. Jacob ha-Kohen b. R. Naʿamān, of blessed memory. 

46.  Witness: Joseph b. R. Abraham, of blessed memory. Witness: Simḥā b. Musāfir .... Nethaneel b. R. Yeshūʿā, may he have a good outcome. 

47.  Solomon b. Shemaryā Ṣedāqā b. ʿAlī, of blessed memory. ʿAllūn b. R. Khalaf, of blessed memory. Solomon b. R. Ṣedāqā, of blessed memory. 

48.  Aaron ha-Kohen b. Solomon, according to whom the deposition was written. 

49.  Joseph ha-Kohen he-Ḥāvēr, b. R. Jacob, of blessed memory.