In 1165, Moses Maimonides left the Almohad capital of Fez following the martyrdom of his teacher, Judah ha-Kohen ibn Susan, and the mounting pressures of religious persecution. Sailing from Morocco, he landed at Acre, journeyed to Jerusalem and Hebron, and then continued to Egypt. His first wife had died young and so after settling in Fustat, he remarried, taking as his wife the sister of Ibn Almali, one of the royal secretaries—linking himself to one of Egypt’s prominent Jewish families. 

This short letter congratulates Moses Maimonides on his recent second marriage. The author of the letter, Judah ha-Kohen ben Tuviahu, served as the head of the Jewish community of Bilbeis from the 1170s until his death around 1218. He offers blessings and praise and expresses his deep admiration for the renowned sage.