Page 234 - GQ-9

26* Amir Ashur and Efraim Lev

not describe his medical problem, but asks about food (the amount of bread he
can eat), drink and if he can go bathing. Most probably the doctor knew the
patient and his medical problem, since he gave precise answers without asking
for the symptoms. The doctor ends his reply with the phrase ‘ve-rofe holim

˙

yerape’kha’ (‘May He who heals the sick heal you!’)73
This short letter is informal, lacking honorary titles and names of both the

sender and the recipient, as opposed to the previous document (A). Therefore
this document can be considered a medical responsum between patient and
physician.74 The drink that was recommended by the physician is, in fact, a
recipe for medicine.

‡Ó ¯‡„˜Ó ÌÎ ˙ȇÏÂÓ ‡È 1
ԇΠԇ ʷÎ˙χ ÔÓ Ï· 2
3
‰Ï΄ ̇ÓÁ ÈÏ Áψ˙È 4
5
Ï„‚È ÍÓÂÏ˘Â ‰ÙÈÙÎ 6
ÈÙ ‰Ó Ï˜˙˙ ·‡¯˘ ˙ȇ 7
ÁÏˆÈ Ô‡Î Ô‡Â ˙‡˜Â‡Ï‡ ı˙Ú· 8

‰Èχ ˙‚˙Á‡ Ô‡ ¯È˙Î ‡Ó ·¯˘

ÌÂÏ˘Â

Verso
‡È‰˙˙ ‡Ó ̇ÓÁ ‰Ó Û˙Ù˙Î˙ Ê·Îχ 1
„ƒ¯ƒÂ ·ˆÎÓ Á‡Ù˙ ·‡¯˘Ï‡Â „Á‡Ï‡ ÌÂÈÏ 2
ı‡¯˜‡ ‡ „¯Â Á‡Ù˙ ı‡ÓÁ· Ϙ˙χ 3

¯È˘‡·Ëχ· ÁÂÏˆÓ ‡Óχ ‡ƒÓÈÏ 4
‰˜Â˜„Ó ‰ÏÂÒ‚Ó ‰Ï‚¯ ¯Ê· ¯ÈÒÈ 5

73 The common belief was that every action is controlled by God, see Goitein and Friedman,
India Traders of the Middle Ages: Documents from the Cairo Geniza — ‘India Book’, p. 34.

74 Another example, written by Maimonides is found in T-S AS 152.86, see E.
M. Wagner, ‘A newly-discovered fragment of a letter written by Maimonides’,
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/Taylor- Schechter/fotm/october-2007/