18.02.2012 25.Schwat. 5772 Mischpatim Paraschat Schkalim
Judentum:
The collection of Maimonides’s responsa that was published in its original Judeo-Arabic contains some wonderful material for the historian.
The collection of Maimonides’s responsa that was published in its original Judeo-Arabic along with a Hebrew translation by Joshua Blau contains some wonderful material for the historian. The first volume (of four, 1957-1986) has a responsum, numbered 45, with a question presented by a man living in Egypt in the second half of the 12th century. Because responsa are not dated, we can only approximate when it was written, which would be between 1135 and 1204, the period when Maimonides, or Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, lived in Fustat, Egypt.
This anonymous fellow (questioners’ identities are not revealed) presumably approached the court with a query concerning his wife. He mentioned that at some point during their marriage, he “happened to take a trip in connection with personal matters and for business reasons, and he was absent from his city on and off for four years.” (My translation.) We have no idea what his profession was; it sounds as though he might have been a businessman but there is no proof of this one way or the other….