Letter to His Sons’ Teacher

This short note in Judeo-Arabic, sent by an unnamed father to the teacher of his two sons, reprimands the teacher while also seeking to excuse his sons’ tardiness. The father is unimpressed by his older son’s inability to recite his lessons at the end of the week, and he seems to blame the teacher. The students would have brought this letter with them to school. Children learned the Arabic language and various Hebrew subjects in a multidisciplinary curriculum. Here, it is indicated that the boys have different teachers for language and for religious instruction. Words in italics were originally in Hebrew.