Letter to His Father, Joseph
You certainly wish to know the news from the Maghreb; the ears of all who hear about it will tingle (Jeremiah 19:4). People, distinguished persons as well as common people have arrived, among them Jews, who were present at the battlefield. They reported that ‘Abd al-Mu’min the Sūsī [from the Sūs region in Western Morocco] attacked the Amir Tāšfīn…
This letter was written from Solomon ben Joseph ha-Sijilmāsī to his father, who had been in India, describing the conquest of the Maghreb in 1145 by ‘Abd al-Mu’min and the Almohads. This event was one of those moments when the legal status of the Jews as a protected “people of the book” was violated by the ruling Muslims. The letter contains typical information about commercial transactions but goes on to describe in detail the persecution, murder, and forced apostasy of North African Jews. Ellipses indicate lacunae in the manuscript.
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