Cairo Genizah : Letter

Cairo Genizah

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Letter to David ‘the great Nasi, Head of the exile of all Israel’ (i.e. David b. Daniel), late 11th century, from a woman afflicted with a disfiguring disease, which has left her impoverished. The woman explains that she ‘doesn’t have a husband, son, daughter, brother, or sister’, and asks for a charitable collection to be taken for her, either in Cairo or in ‘the city’. Opens with quotes from Psalms 20:2-3, 72:13. The letter was written by a scribe, rather than the woman herself, as a slip of the pen ('her face', corrected to 'my face') reveals. </p>