Jewish correspondence under Muslim rule
900-1100
Letters from Jewish scholars and religious leaders in the Cairo Geniza
Introduction
The relationship between Judaism and Islam started in the seventh century, after the spread of Islam from the Arabian Peninsula. Both religions originated in the Middle East and there is a lot of overlap between them in terms of their values and standards, guidelines and principles. You could even argue that Islam was strongly influenced by the Jewish faith. In this study I used documents (mainly letters) from the Geniza archive in Fustat, old Cairo. Based on these documents I tried to outline the Jewish communities in Muslim countries around the Mediterranean in the 10th and 11th century. I looked at the way the Jewish elite maintained contact with each other and how they corresponded with each other. The focus lies on the letters of leaders of the religious academies of Pumbedita, Sura and Jerusalem and how they had contact with the Jewish community of Fustat. The surviving correspondence of some important Jewish figures who lived under Muslim rule- can give answer to the question: How did the Jewish elite had contact with each other in the medieval Islamic world? To answer this question properly, I identified the letters and dealt with the content. Then I looked at the underlying meanings and indicated the importance of these letters. Eventually tried to explain connections and show the networks among various Jewish communities and the religious academies in the Islamic Middle Ages. |
Cairo Geniza The Genizah archive provides a unique look into the world of Jews living under Muslim rule. This archive contains about 300,000 documents dating from the tenth century onwards. Dr. Solomon Schechter and Charles Taylor visited the Geniza (storage room) of the Ben Ezra Synagoge in Fustat, old Cairo, in 1896-97. They brought 193,000 manuscripts to Cambridge. These documents are still preserved in Cambridge and many are digitized. The collection is the largest and (according to Cambridge itself) most important collection of medieval Jewish manuscripts. |
Geonim of Pumbedita and Sura
The period of 900-1100 was the end of the Geonim-era. Geonim were the rulers of the religious academies in Pumbetida and Sura. For centuries they decided about Jewish policy and what was religiously accepted or not. Their influence reached all the Jewish communities around the Mediterranean, and especially the ones in North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. Especially the leaders of the Jewish community in Fustat (as well as other Jewish communities) turned with their religious matters and difficult legal issues to the geonim in Babylonia. They wrote letters to them and got a response back, on which they subsequently did verdict in their community. These ‘responsa’ of the geonim were stored and preserved in the geniza of the synagoge and they formed a basis for future legal rulings.
Some powerful geonim include Sherira Gaon (906-1006), his son Hai Gaon (939-1038) and Samuel b. Hofni Gaon (d. 1013). They all tried to involve the Jewish communities, and especially the one in Fustat, to support their academies. They all wrote letters to the seek financial support and to invite Jews to learn at their schools. A good example is shown at the top of this page (figure 1). In this letter Sherira Gaon reminds the Jewish people that several years have elapsed since questions and donations were sent from these communities to his academy, but he as their religious leader has not forgotten them as they appear to have forgotten him and his school. He states that the academy is in dire financial straits, and this is causing an alarming drop in enrolment.
The academy in Pumbedita was traditionally the most powerful, but from the beginning of the eleventh century the Palestine academy is becoming more and more important. Strong geonim of both academies tried wherever possible to influence the community leaders in Fustat. Hai Gaon for example also tried to extent his influence in Fustat. He wrote letters to the local leaders to pursue them to support the Pumbeditan academy.
But the academies were not only busy with the power struggle in Fustat. Geonim were religious leaders and of course they all had their own vision regarding the Jewish religion and culture. They exchanged their ideas with other religious thinkers and leaders all around the Mediterranean.
The period of 900-1100 was the end of the Geonim-era. Geonim were the rulers of the religious academies in Pumbetida and Sura. For centuries they decided about Jewish policy and what was religiously accepted or not. Their influence reached all the Jewish communities around the Mediterranean, and especially the ones in North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. Especially the leaders of the Jewish community in Fustat (as well as other Jewish communities) turned with their religious matters and difficult legal issues to the geonim in Babylonia. They wrote letters to them and got a response back, on which they subsequently did verdict in their community. These ‘responsa’ of the geonim were stored and preserved in the geniza of the synagoge and they formed a basis for future legal rulings.
Some powerful geonim include Sherira Gaon (906-1006), his son Hai Gaon (939-1038) and Samuel b. Hofni Gaon (d. 1013). They all tried to involve the Jewish communities, and especially the one in Fustat, to support their academies. They all wrote letters to the seek financial support and to invite Jews to learn at their schools. A good example is shown at the top of this page (figure 1). In this letter Sherira Gaon reminds the Jewish people that several years have elapsed since questions and donations were sent from these communities to his academy, but he as their religious leader has not forgotten them as they appear to have forgotten him and his school. He states that the academy is in dire financial straits, and this is causing an alarming drop in enrolment.
The academy in Pumbedita was traditionally the most powerful, but from the beginning of the eleventh century the Palestine academy is becoming more and more important. Strong geonim of both academies tried wherever possible to influence the community leaders in Fustat. Hai Gaon for example also tried to extent his influence in Fustat. He wrote letters to the local leaders to pursue them to support the Pumbeditan academy.
But the academies were not only busy with the power struggle in Fustat. Geonim were religious leaders and of course they all had their own vision regarding the Jewish religion and culture. They exchanged their ideas with other religious thinkers and leaders all around the Mediterranean.
Jewish intellectual networks
All Jewish religious leaders were corresponding with each other and with the Jewish communities about religion, finances and legal matters. There was a relative freedom for them to exchange their ideas and thoughts. Mighty geonim could exert much influence on the Jewish people. The letters of the Geniza clearly show us that the intellectual and religious elite made use of networks. The leaders in Fustat had strong links with the academies, but also with other Jewish communities. An example: As the leader of the most important Jewish community in the Islamic region, Ephraim ben Shemaria helped to control the flow of money and donations from al-Qayrawan (modern day Kairouan, Tunisia) to the Palestinian academy. This made Ephraim b. Shemaria a powerful figure and he was the central node in the Jewish cultural and intellectual network.
The network between Fustat and the academies has been important for many generations. Exciting about the network is that correspondence could be friendly as well as unfriendly. There were many political disputes and the documents show a fierce struggle for power in the tenth and eleventh centuries. But the same network was used for support and financial assistance.
The academies were centres of authority and formed central nodes from where decisions about religion and legislation were made. These had an effect on the communities far away. But in their turn academies also depended on these communities, particularly in financial terms.
All Jewish religious leaders were corresponding with each other and with the Jewish communities about religion, finances and legal matters. There was a relative freedom for them to exchange their ideas and thoughts. Mighty geonim could exert much influence on the Jewish people. The letters of the Geniza clearly show us that the intellectual and religious elite made use of networks. The leaders in Fustat had strong links with the academies, but also with other Jewish communities. An example: As the leader of the most important Jewish community in the Islamic region, Ephraim ben Shemaria helped to control the flow of money and donations from al-Qayrawan (modern day Kairouan, Tunisia) to the Palestinian academy. This made Ephraim b. Shemaria a powerful figure and he was the central node in the Jewish cultural and intellectual network.
The network between Fustat and the academies has been important for many generations. Exciting about the network is that correspondence could be friendly as well as unfriendly. There were many political disputes and the documents show a fierce struggle for power in the tenth and eleventh centuries. But the same network was used for support and financial assistance.
The academies were centres of authority and formed central nodes from where decisions about religion and legislation were made. These had an effect on the communities far away. But in their turn academies also depended on these communities, particularly in financial terms.
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Conclusion
Jewish communities had a considerable degree of autonomy under their Muslim rulers. People lived by their own laws and the Jews had their own legal system, in many cases without the intervention of the Islamic authorities. Religion and elite were very intertwined. This was mainly because of the fact that legislative and judicial power lied in the hands of leaders who were at the head of religious schools. The Jewish community in Fustat was strongly influenced by the academies of Pumbedita, Sura and Jerusalem and Jews from all parts of the Islamic world recognized the geonim as the highest religious authority.
In religious matters, the network was initiated and the community leaders submitted their questions to the geonim. The responsa formed the law in the synagogues of Fustat. Mighty geonim like Sherira Gaon and Hai Gaon influenced the Jewish religion, culture and law with their responsa and other documents.
The religious elite tried constantly to control the populace and gain power, but they also debated frequently about religious matters. Via this network numerous documents and people went back and forth. Without this network, the life of the Jews in Fustat would have been entirely different.
Jewish communities had a considerable degree of autonomy under their Muslim rulers. People lived by their own laws and the Jews had their own legal system, in many cases without the intervention of the Islamic authorities. Religion and elite were very intertwined. This was mainly because of the fact that legislative and judicial power lied in the hands of leaders who were at the head of religious schools. The Jewish community in Fustat was strongly influenced by the academies of Pumbedita, Sura and Jerusalem and Jews from all parts of the Islamic world recognized the geonim as the highest religious authority.
In religious matters, the network was initiated and the community leaders submitted their questions to the geonim. The responsa formed the law in the synagogues of Fustat. Mighty geonim like Sherira Gaon and Hai Gaon influenced the Jewish religion, culture and law with their responsa and other documents.
The religious elite tried constantly to control the populace and gain power, but they also debated frequently about religious matters. Via this network numerous documents and people went back and forth. Without this network, the life of the Jews in Fustat would have been entirely different.
Images
Figure 1: Cambridge University Library.
Figure 2: Cambridge University Library.
Figure 3: Wikipedia image of an exhibit depicting at The Museum of the Jewish People (Beit Hatfutsot), Tel Aviv.
Figure 4: Wikipedia image of the map of the Abbasid Empire in combination with own work.
Further reading
Ackerman-Lieberman, Phillip I. The Business of Identity: Jews, Muslims, and Economic Life in Medieval Egypt. Stanford, Ca: Stanford University Press, 2014.
Bareket, Elinoar. Fustat on the Nile: The Jewish Elite in Medieval Egypt. Leiden: Brill, 1999.
Goitein, S. D. A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World As Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
Libson, Gideon. Jewish and Islamic Law: A Comparative Study of Custom During the Geonic Period. Cambridge, Mass: Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School, 2003.
S.B.
Figure 1: Cambridge University Library.
Figure 2: Cambridge University Library.
Figure 3: Wikipedia image of an exhibit depicting at The Museum of the Jewish People (Beit Hatfutsot), Tel Aviv.
Figure 4: Wikipedia image of the map of the Abbasid Empire in combination with own work.
Further reading
Ackerman-Lieberman, Phillip I. The Business of Identity: Jews, Muslims, and Economic Life in Medieval Egypt. Stanford, Ca: Stanford University Press, 2014.
Bareket, Elinoar. Fustat on the Nile: The Jewish Elite in Medieval Egypt. Leiden: Brill, 1999.
Goitein, S. D. A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World As Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
Libson, Gideon. Jewish and Islamic Law: A Comparative Study of Custom During the Geonic Period. Cambridge, Mass: Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School, 2003.
S.B.