Cairo Genizah : Poetry; legal document

Cairo Genizah

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Recto: the document on verso was cut into 3 equal-size pieces and used to write poetry celebrating the birth of a son. The scribe’s hand is rather shaky. Verso: an enactment, dated Nisan 1205 CE in Fusṭāṭ, supporting the authority of Abraham Maimonides (referred to as ‘Raʾīs’). After his father’s death, the young Abraham faced resistance from many quarters and people rejecting his rešut avoided attending synagogue services and set up private assemblies. As the community was in danger of fragmenting, a 30-year moratorium was enacted to abolish the custom of rešut and prohibit - under pain of excommunication - the setting up of a private place of prayer. Signed at the bottom: Moses ha-Kohen b. Mordecai ha-Kohen, Sar Šalom ha-Kohen b. Jacob ha-Kohen, Samuel b. Yefet b. […]. In the margin, the writer of the recto piyyuṭ has written several names: Samuel b. Abraham, ובת b. אברים, Joseph b. אדונים.</p>