Letter to the Jewish Community of Minyat Zifta

In this Judeo-Arabic letter, Moses Maimonides appeals to the community of Minyat Zifta, Egypt, in the Nile Delta, to assist an individual named Isaac al-Dar‘ī in paying the poll tax, an annual tax that frequently imposed difficulties on the poor. It is possible that Maimonides encourages Isaac to pay the tax in Minyat Zifta because the taxation rate was lower in smaller provincial towns. Isaac’s status as a “newcomer” denotes that he had not yet paid the poll tax in another area. The Cairo Geniza preserves countless similar requests made to business and communal leaders for financial aid. Payment of the poll tax on behalf of a poor Jew was frequently regarded as a pious act.

May God grant long life to your excellency, my prop and support, the elder “the Trusted” [al-Thiqa] “the Trustworthy” [al-Amīn], and perpetuate your honor. The one who esteems you, your slave Moses, greets you and expresses distress that you are so far away and asks you kindly to assist the bearer of this letter, Isaac al-Dar‘ī [of Dra‘, a town in Morocco], for he is an acquaintance of mine. Ask the ḥaver [fellow; an honorific—Ed.] [may his] R[ock] p[rotect him] to charge the community with his care, so that he gets the money for his poll tax in your town. He has to pay two poll taxes, one for himself and one for his son. If possible, your excellency, let him pay it in your town, Minyat Zifta. So do it, because he is a newcomer and thus far has not paid anything. He is on his way to Damietta on a matter important for me. On his way back, action should be taken for him according to your means. May your welfare increase, as well as the welfare of the ḥaver and his son and the welfare of her son, [may his] R[ock] p[rotect him].

Moses b. Maimon, [may] the m[emory of] the r[ighteous be] b[lessed]

[Verso:]

To his excellency the most illustrious and most noble elder “the Trusted” “the Trustworthy,” may his honor be perpetuated.

[Below, in Arabic letters:] By means of Ibrāhīm al-Dar‘ī.¹

Source: CUL T-S 12.192.