Letter to Nahray ben Nissim

Greetings to our mighty and respected one, the honourable and holy, our master and teacher Nahray, glory of the scholars and crown of the discerning—may our God who dwells on high extend generously the thread of his kindness to him day and night, that his song be with him, to open for him the storehouses of salvation from the four winds—son of the scholar Nissim—may his memory be for a blessing. From me, his friend, who requests God—may He be exalted—to increase his wellbeing and who entreats Him to extend his days in prosperity and his years in delight. May He, in his grace, adorn him with kindness and crown him with mercy in His mighty faithfulness. May He hear my prayer for him. May He reunite us happily to keep sweet company, to walk together in His house. And were I to tell our mighty one the great extent of my longing for sight of him and my powerful desire to gaze upon him, I would fill many sheets. God—blessed be He—has been asked to bring together the separated and gather up the scattered in His grace. I am compelled at this time to inform him—his Rock keep him—that a year of poverty and pathetic subsistence, of limited livelihood, and the violence against us of robbers and of the rulers of this city has been brought to a close with the arrival of three captives with cruel masters who are traders from Amalfi. We inform him of our discovery that these three people were taken from a ship and were robbed by Byzantine soldiers of everything; they stripped them bare of [their] merchandise . . . and they enslaved them . . . and they planned to. . . .

“And we have brought them for you to buy them and to do them a favour as we ourselves did with them when we took them from [the soldiers] and made ourselves responsible for their upkeep.” So, despite the fact that time betrays us and our houses are empty of all goods, we have taken upon our necks the heavy yoke of their upkeep for about a month and we have struggled hard to find the price of even one of [the captives], managing to secure just ten dinars in donations and we would like fifty dinars to cover their needs. This leaves forty dinars to come from the communities of Egypt—their Rock keep them. Altogether this will give fifty dinars. The total price [for the captives paid] by their masters [i.e., to the soldiers who originally took them] is forty-four and a half dinars; two of [the captives] for thirty-two and a half dinars and the third for twelve dinars. The master of one of them said to us: “I am due the sum of sixteen and a half. I will make you a present of half a dinar, so you just have to give me sixteen dinars.” The two others said: “For the other two [captives] we will only accept thirty-six dinars.” And so we are still striving until the Holy One, blessed be He, appoints their redemption. And all those who tremble at the words of our God should gather together and speak with them, [telling them] to gird up the loins and brace up the belly because it is for their sake that the word of the Lord has come upon us. To the honourable, great and holy, our master and teacher Nahray the wise. A pearl of learning, son of the scholar Nissim, may his memory be for a blessing and for [life(?)]. [May he progress] upwards and be successful in every deed and act. From me, the least of the people of the covenant, Yeshu‘a ha-Kohen, the Haver, son of the scholar Joseph, Bet Din, who loves him like his soul. A covenant of peace, and master . . . and your well-being increase forever and for eternity.

Source: CUL T-S 12.338.