Responsum: On an Accusation of Sexual Harassment

Late 12th Century

About This Entry

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.

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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[Question: What says our honorable, exalted master, Moses, the great rabbi among God’s people, the prince of all Israel—may his name endure forever!—about the case of an upstanding Jewish man, a teacher of young children for whom instruction is his livelihood, who has never been suspected of sexual indiscretion and who comports himself in a pious manner, and an aged widow, on whose account no man would come under suspicion,] has reported that [the teacher] jokingly expressed to her a desire to sleep with her. But she has no witness to this and no proof. And nothing like this has previously happened to him except for her allegation, which she made with the intention of harming him, damaging his reputation, cutting off his livelihood and putting him to public shame. Is her report concerning him credible or not?

And if the aforementioned man wishes to free himself of suspicion, should he place a public ban on anyone alleging that he has done such a thing or telling lies about him or harbouring suspicions about him? Let our teacher instruct us and may he receive a double reward from Heaven.

The answer: Her testimony is not acceptable. And every individual has the right to excommunicate by name anyone who has publicly impugned his reputation, but not to pronounce an excommunication over someone who [merely] harbours suspicions about him. And the correct way to proceed in this case is to silence the gossiping and not to pronounce a ban and not to have any further discussion in public. Written by Moses.

Source: CUL T-S 8K13.8.

Translated by Benjamin M. Outhwaite.

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Notes

Words in brackets appear in the original translation.

Credits

Moses Maimonides, “Legal Query Answered by Moses Maimonides,” trans. Benjamin M. Outhwaite, from Benjamin M. Outhwaite, Melonie Schmierer-Lee, and Cayley M. Burgess, Discarded History: The Genizah of Medieval Cairo (Cambridge: Cambridge University Library, 2017), 33. Used with permission of the publisher.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.