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Week 86 - Friday - 20 July 2001

GITTIN: CHAPTER 7: MISHNAH 5

"This is your get, on condition that you give me two hundred zuz"- then she is divorced and she has to give. "On condition that you give me within thirty days from now" - if she gives him within thirty days, she is divorced; and if not, she is not divorced. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said, It once happened in Sidon that one said to his wife, "This is your get on condition that you give me my cloak," and his cloak was lost - and the Sages said, She should give him its value.

Kehati

Our mishnah teaches that if a person gives his wife a get stipulating, "This is your get on condition, etc." then as soon as the condition is fulfilled, she becomes divorced retroactively from the time she received the get, for if the husband makes a condition using the words, "al menat" ("on condition"), it is as if he said, "This is your get from now."

If a person gives a get to his wife and says to her, "This is your get, on condition that you give me two hundred zuz" - then she - the wife, is divorced - from now, from the time the get is given, and she has to give - him two hundred zuz to fulfill the condition that he stipulated with her; and even if the get is torn up or lost before the fulfillment of the condition, she does not require a new get. And if he says to her, "This is your get On condition that you give me - two hundred zuz - within thirty days from now" - fixing a time limit for the fulfillment of the condition, if she gives him within thirty days, she is divorced - from the time that the get was given to her, for the condition was fulfilled; and if not - if she does not fulfill the condition within thirty days, she is not divorced - and we do not say that the husband only said, "within thirty days," to urge her to pay quickly but he is not particular about the time limit of thirty days, but rather that since he made this condition when he gave her the get, she is only divorced if she fulfills the condition, as stipulated.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said, It once happened in Sidon that one said to his wife, "This is your get on condition that you give me my cloak," and his cloak was lost - and she was unable to fulfill the condition he had stipulated, and the Sages said, She should give him its value - thereby fulfilling his condition. The Gemara explains that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel disagrees here with the view of the First Tanna - which is missing in the mishnah - who holds that "If a person says to his wife, 'This is your get, on condition that you give me my cloak,' and the cloak was lost - she is not divorced," because she must give him the cloak, and if she is unable to fulfill his condition, the get is invalid. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, however, holds that she does not have to give him the cloak, but can give him its value, and the get is valid; and "it once happened in Sidon that one said to his wife, 'This is your get on condition that you give me my cloak,' and his cloak was lost - and the Sages said, She should give him its value." The halakhah is not in accordance with Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel.

GITTIN: CHAPTER 7: MISHNAH 6

"Here is your get, on condition that you serve my father," "on condition that you nurse my son" - How long must she nurse him? Two years. Rabbi Yehudah says, Eighteen months - if the son dies or the father dies, then it is a get. "This is your get, on condition that you serve my father for two years," "on condition that you nurse my son for two years"; if the son dies, or if the father dies, or if the father says, "I do not want you to serve me," without anger - it is not a get. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, Such as this is a get. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel stated a general rule: If the hindrance is not from her, then it is a get.

Kehati

If a person gives a get to his wife and says to her, "Here is your get, on condition that you serve my father" - without specifying how long she should serve him, or if he said to her, "Here is your get on condition that you nurse my son" - without specifying how long she should nurse, How long must she nurse him? - the Gemara explains that if she serves his father, or nurses his son, for one day, the condition has been fulfilled, and she is divorced, since he did not specify the length of time. Regarding nursing, however, the condition is fulfilled only if she nursed his son one day within the child's period of nursing, and the mishnah therefore asks, "How long must she nurse him?" i.e., how long is the period of nursing, within which nursing him one day fulfills the condition stipulated? Two years - from the son's birth-date. Rabbi Yehudah says, Eighteen months - but if she nursed him after the period of nursing, i.e., after the two years, according to the First Tanna, or after the eighteen months, according to Rabbi Yehudah, the condition is not fulfilled, and she is not divorced. The mishnah does not, however, specify a time period of service for the father which is during his lifetime.

If the son dies - before she could nurse him, or the father dies - and she did not serve him, it is a get - though she did not fulfill the condition, - because we say that the husband did not intend to distress her with his condition and to hinder her divorce, but rather made conditions for his convenience, and since his father or his son died, he no longer needs the fulfillment of the condition, which he would not have stipulated if he had known that his father or his son would die. According to Rambam, the get is valid only if the father or the son died after she had served them for one day; but if the father died before she served him, or the son died before she nursed him, the get is not valid (Hil. Gerushin 8:19).

If, however, the husband says to his wife, "This is your get, on condition that you serve my father for two years," or if he says to her, "This is your get on condition that you nurse my son for two years"- i.e., he specifies a period of time for his condition, then her get becomes valid only at the end of the period stipulated, and therefore if the son dies, or if the father dies - before the conclusion of the two years, or if the father says, "I do not want you to serve me," and even if he says this - without anger - i.e. she did not anger him, and it was not through her fault that the father did not want her services, nevertheless - it is not a get - since his condition was not fulfilled.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, Such as this - case when the father says, "I do not want you to serve me," without anger (as explained above), then this - is a get - and it is likewise a get if the father or the son dies, for Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel stated a general rule: If the hindrance - to the fulfillment of the condition, is not from her - which is not caused by her, but by another factor, e.g., the son or the father died, or the father does not want her to serve him (through no fault of her own) then it is a get - even though the condition was not fulfilled. The halakhah is not in accordance with Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel (Rambam, Hil. Gerushin 8:20).

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