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Week 86 - Wednesday - 18 July 2001

GITTIN: CHAPTER 7: MISHNAH 1

If a man was seized with kordiakos, and said, "Write a get for my wife" - he did not say anything. If he said, "Write a get for my wife," and he was seized with kordiakos, and he retracted and said, "Do not write" - his last words are nothing. If a man became mute, and they said to him, "Shall we write a get for your wife?" and he nodded his head - they test him three times: if he said for no, "No," and for yes, "Yes," then they write and give.

Kehati

As explained in the last part of the preceding chapter a get may only be written by the husband or on his order, and any get not written by his order is invalid. Our mishnah teaches if the husband is not in full possession of his mental faculties when giving orders to write a get, it is invalid, and he may not divorce his wife with it, even when he recovers.

If a man was seized with kordiakos - an illness which impairs a person's mental capacity. According to Rambam, it is a type of epilepsy, and said, "Write a get for my wife" - even if he said, "Write and give" (Tosafot), he did not say anything - since he cannot think clearly, and even when he recovers they may not write a get on the basis of his request, because his words have no effect for anything, and if it is written on the basis of this statement, it is invalid just as a get which was written without the husband's order, is mentioned above.

If he - a healthy person, said - to two people, "Write - and give - a get for my wife," and give it to her - and he was seized with kordiakos - afterwards, and he retracted and said, "Do not write" - that they should not write a get for his wife, his last words are nothing - his words spoken when he was ill are nothing and after he recovers they write the get and give it to his wife on the basis of his original request, and they do not have to reconfirm his intention.

If a man became mute - if a person became a mute, and they said to him - two people asked him, "Shall we write a get for your wife?" and he nodded his head - affirmatively, they test him three times - with three different subjects, to ascertain whether he is of clear mind, e.g., in winter, they ask him whether fruit is growing on the trees, or in the summer, whether snow will fall today, etc., if he said for no - he responded correctly to a question to which the proper answer is "No" with "No," and for yes - he responded correctly to a question to which the proper answer is "Yes" with "Yes" - then this is a sign that he is lucid, and we can rely on his actions, and since he nodded his head concerning the get, then they write and give - even though they asked him only whether to write, they nevertheless write the get and give it to his wife, for the same law applies to him as to an ill person whose request to "Write," is regarded as if he said, "Write and give," as mentioned above (Hameiri).

GITTIN: CHAPTER 7: MISHNAH 2

If they said to him, "Shall we write a get for your wife?" and he said to them, "Write!" They told the scribe and he wrote, and the witnesses and they signed - even though they wrote it and they signed it and they gave it to him, and he in turn gave it to her, the get is invalid, until he tells the scribe, "Write!" and to the witnesses, "Sign!"

Kehati

Our mishnah resumes discussion of the law taught in 6:7, regarding a man who said to two or three people, "Write and give a get to my wife," or even if he said only "Give a get to my wife," they themselves must write the get, sign it, and give it to her, for the law is in accordance with Rabbi Yose, that an agent may not pass on his mission to another agent. The mishnah teaches that if they did not write the get themselves, but told a scribe to write, and they signed, or told witnesses who signed according to their instructions, then even though they gave the get to the husband after it had been written and signed, and he gave it to his wife, the get is invalid, because a get is valid only if the person wrote it, and the witnesses signed, on the order of the husband.

If they said to him, "Shall we write a get for your wife?" - If two people asked an ill person of sound mind, or a healthy person about to sail, or to travel in a caravan (see 6:5, above); "Do you want us to write a get for your wife?" and he said to them, "Write!" - then they themselves must write and sign the get; they may also give the get to the wife, since the mishnah here refers to an ill person, or to a person going on a journey, as explained above, whose instruction to "Write" is equivalent to "Write and give"; and if they themselves do not write it and sign it, but rather - they told the scribe and he wrote - the get, and - or told - the witnesses and they - witnesses - signed - in accordance with the agent's instructions, then -

even though they wrote it and they signed it and they gave it to him - i.e., the scribe and the witnesses, after they wrote and signed, gave the get to the husband, and he - the husband, in turn gave it to her - to his wife, thereby showing that he was not particular that his agents themselves write and sign the get, nevertheless, the get is invalid, until he - the husband himself tells the scribe, "Write!" and to the witnesses, "Sign!" - since the get must be written and signed by the order of the husband, and even if he says to three people, "Give a get to my wife," they themselves must write it and sign it, as was already explained in the introduction to this mishnah; furthermore, even if he said to them, "Tell the scribe to write and to the witnesses to sign," the get is invalid, until the husband himself tells the scribe to write and the witnesses to sign (Gemara).

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