Letter of Recommendation to Eli ben Ḥayim ha-Kohen (I)

Nathan ben Mevorakh sent this Judeo-Arabic letter to Eli ben Ḥayim, a parnas (administrator of charitable funds) in his community, ostensibly to recommend that Eli offer patronage to a Damascene Jew named Abū Sa‘d ben Phineas, who was traveling to Fustāt (Old Cairo). Nathan, however, used this occasion to inform Eli of his own resignation from his position in the Ascalon community, which he had gained as part of an attempt to quell a dispute between local Jews and a group of Jewish newcomers from Gaza. Several other letters about this incident survive, each testifying to the interconnectedness of the communities around this region and the political efforts of their leaders.