Oxford, Bodleian MS. Heb. b. 11/24

Bodleian Library (Oxford, United Kingdom)

Historical shelfmarks: Bodl. MS Heb. b 11 (Cat. 2874), fol. 25; Bodl. MS Heb. b 11, f. 25. Note that in the Bodleian online catalogue it is recorded under the shelfmark MS. Heb. b. 11/24, fol. 25, whereas in the other catalogues it appears under the designation MS. Heb. b. 11/25.

One leaf document

Paper

Brown (iron-gall)

Calamus

No ruling can be seen

38

12th Century CE

After autumn 1131 CE

Yemen, Aden

Egypt, ʿAydhāb

Orient

Letter

This is a letter of gratitude for Ḥalfon's halakhic responsum on matrimonial matters concerning one Abū l-Ṭāhir, who needed to return to Aden from India. Ḥalfon had been asked to write his expert opinion with regard to a man who died without male offspring, in which case his widow was obliged to marry one of his brothers, normally the eldest (levirate marriage). It is reasonable to assume that R. Yaʿaqov, mentioned in l. 22 as someone who admired Ḥalfon's responsum, is Yaʿaqov b. Salīm, who wrote ח5 (CUL Or.1080 J225), who was close both to Ḥalfon and to Khalaf. The greetings at the end confirm the closeness of Khalaf to Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon and to the family members of Ḥalfon (and they shed light on some questions, such as how many brothers Ḥalfon had). (Information from Goitein, Friedman and Ashur, India Book IVB).

No vowels or accents

Bought through the Rev. Prof. Sayce, 1896 (from the Genizah).

990053390800205171

https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/itempage?vid=KTIV&scope=KTIV&docId=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS990053390800205171&SearchTxt=heb.%20b%2011.25,AND (Date accessed: 2025-12-15)

https://genizah.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/catalog/volume_9 (Date accessed: 2025-12-15)

S. D. Goitein, Mordechai Akiva Friedman and Amir Ashur, India Book 4: Ḥalfon the Traveling Merchant Scholar‎ (in Hebrew) (Ben Zvi Institute, 2013), vol. 4 B.
ח11

Available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/documents/9052/ (accessed December 15, 2025).