Responsum: On an Accusation of Sexual Harassment

Moses Maimonides

Late 12th Century

Colorful illustration of four figures: a woman with her arm held by a white-bearded man, both standing before a red-bearded man on a throne holding a spear, with a fourth figure hiding behind him, all wearing decorated turbans and robes, with Arabic text zig-zagging along the side.
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This Judeo-Arabic responsum was preserved in the Cairo Geniza. An individual wrote his question on a piece of paper and submitted it to a rabbinic authority, in this case, Maimonides. Maimonides then wrote his answer on the same piece of paper and, presumably, gave it back to the inquirer. In this case, Moses ben Levi ha-Levi of Qalyūb, Egypt, a communal official, asked about a case where a normally trustworthy older widow accused a male schoolteacher of “jokingly” asking to sleep with her. Given that there was no additional proof and that both figures reportedly had otherwise sound reputations, Moses ben Levi asked for guidance about how to proceed. The first part, italicized and in brackets, added by the editor, is extant in another fragment found in the Geniza.

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Related Guide

Early Medieval Law and Religious Observance

7th to 12th Century

Creator Bio

Moses Maimonides

1138–1204

Born in Córdoba, Spain, Moses ben Maymūn (Abū ʿImran Mūsā ibn Maymūn ibn ʿUbayd Allāh; Moses Maimonides, also known as Rambam, an acronym of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon) was a scion of a rabbinic family and the proud heir to the Sephardic tradition of learning. After fleeing to Fez around the age of ten to escape Almohad persecutions in his homeland, he moved to Fustāt (Old Cairo), where he came to head the Jewish community and to serve as physician to the royal family. An active communal leader, Maimonides’ multifaceted contributions to Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew literature include the following: his Commentary on the Mishnah (1168), Book of the Commandments and the Mishneh Torah (both completed around 1178), Guide of the Perplexed (completed around 1190), numerous responsa, important topical essays, and a voluminous corpus of medical texts. His profound influence on virtually every subsequent Jewish thinker finds expression in the popular adage that compares Moses Maimonides to the biblical Moses himself: “From Moses to Moses there was none like Moses.”

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