Monetary contract, signed by the dayanim of the Sanaa Beit Din in the 18th century: the head of the Beit Din R. Yichye Tzalach - the Maharitz, and R. Salam son of R. Yosef Bashari. Bir al-Azab (Sanaa, Yemen), Sivan 1767. Judeo-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic.
Contract pertaining to the property of Yeshua and Yehuda sons of Sa'id Elgamal (Gamliel). With the calligraphic signatures of the Maharitz and R. Salam son of R. Yosef Bashari.
R. Yichye son of R. Yosef Tzalach - the Maharitz (1715-1805), foremost Yemenite rabbi in the 18th century, and a leading halachic authority. He was the disciple of his grandfather Mori Tzalach, and of R. Aharon HaKohen Iraki, R. Yichye Iraki and R. David Mishreqi, author of "Shetilei Zeitim". At the age of 43, he was appointed chief rabbi and head of the Beit Din of all Yemenite communities, a position he held for more than 45 years. His authority was unequivocally accepted throughout Yemen, and to this day many Yemenite Jews adhere to his customs and rulings. He compiled the Tiklal siddur with the Etz Chaim commentary, and many halachic works: Zevach Toda and Shaarei Kedusha on the laws of shechita, Shaarei Tahara on the laws of niddah, Responsa Peulat Tzaddik, and other books of halachah, ethics and kabbalah.
The dayan R. Salam son of R. Yosef al-Bashari (Bashari; 1701-1771) was ordained in 1749, and served as dayan alongside R. Pinchas son of R. Shlomo Iraqi and the head of the Beit Din R. Saadia Qati'i. He later served as dayan in the Beit Din of the Maharitz. The Maharitz composed a lamentation upon his passing, which he recorded in the pinkas of the Sanaa Beit Din (R. Amram Korach, Saarat Teiman, Jerusalem 1954, p. 21).
Bir al-Azab is a neighborhood of Sanaa. The neighborhood was built after the Exile of Mawza in 1679, when the Jews were required to live outside of the city's walls (Encyclopedia LiKehillot Teiman, I, p. 35).
[1] leaf. Approx. 9 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Minor tears. Folding marks.