Pre-Exilic Halakhic Text in Judeo-Spanish from the Cairo Genizah by R. Jacob Canpanton

Abstract

This article brings to light a unique responsum preserved in the Taylor-Schechter Cairo Genizah collection. Though it does expound upon the halakhic and historic content of the responsum, these do not introduce many innovations, and are not the source of its uniqueness. The singularity of the document is that the text, written in Hebrew letters, is in Castilian vernacular with words and expressions in Hebrew. Whereas in Islamic lands a tradition of halakhic writing in Judeo-Arabic developed (until its disappearance in the late Middle Ages), halakhic writings in a language other than Hebrew or Aramaic were rare in Europe. The responsum was composed, in our estimation, in the 15th century, and is one of relatively few written in Spain in this period that have been preserved. The responsum enriches our knowledge of the language of the Jews while still in the Peninsula, and also sheds light on their religious and cultural life. It was authored by R. Jacob Ca[n]-panton, whom we suggest is the father of the well-known scholar R. Isaac Canpanton. Information on R. Jacob is limited, and until now there were no known halakhic writings of his. If our identification is correct, it serves to illuminate further the personality of this Jewish sage.