Cairo Genizah : Legal document

Cairo Genizah

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Court record detailing an allowance for a widow, Sitt al-Ḥusn bat ʿEli, and her baby, Sitt al-Faḵr bat Yaḵīn ha-Kohen, from the community chest. Abū Manṣūr Yaḵīn ha-Kohen b. Abū l-Ḥusayn Yaḥyā (known as al-Ḥalabī al-Ṣayrafī, i.e. the Aleppan banker) died penniless and as his widow is still nursing their baby she is unable to work. She asks the community judges to give her a monthly allowance (20 dirhams) while she is nursing and raising her daughter. The judges agree, but rule that the money given should be considered a debt granted to the baby by her mother, and that in future the mother will be able to collect the debt from the baby or from the baby’s heirs. Signed by Abraham b. Shemaiah, Isaac b. Samuel, and Ḥalfon b. Manasseh ha-Levi, who also wrote the document. Dated 1120 CE.</p>