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Week 87 - Monday - 23 July 2001

GITTIN: CHAPTER 8: MISHNAH 2

If he said to her, "Take in this bond of indebtedness," or if she finds it behind him, she reads it, and it is her get - it is not a get, until he says to her, "This is your get." If she put it into her hand and she was sleeping, she wakes up, she reads it, and, it is her get - it is not a get, until he says to her, "This is your get." If she was standing in the public domain and he threw it to her - nearer to her, she is divorced; nearer to him, she is not divorced; half and half - she is divorced and not divorced.

Kehati

Our mishnah is based on three legal principles: (1) the get must be given for the purpose of divorce (as mentioned in the Introduction to the Tractate); therefore, if a husband gives a get to his wife as a bond of indebtedness, it is not a valid get; (2) the husband must give the get into the hands of his wife and she may not take it by herself; it follows that if the get was on the ground or even on the body of the husband, and the husband said to her, "Take your get from there," it is not a valid get; (3) when the get is placed in the wife's domain, it must be in a guarded place of which she is conscious, as was taught in the preceding mishnah.

If he - the husband, said to her - his wife, when he gave her a get, "Take in to the house this bond of indebtedness", or if she finds it - the get, behind him - her husband. The Gemara explains that, e.g., the get was on his back, and he turned his back toward her so that she could take it. But she did not know that it was a get, and she reads it and, she sees that - it is her get - it is not a get, until he says to her, "This is your get" - even if he says to her, "This is your get," after it came into her hand, then it is a valid get, and he does not have to take it back and give it to her again so that he can say "This is your get" when giving it (according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, in a baraita quoted in the Gemara). If, however, the get was on the ground, or on his body, and he did not turn his body toward her, then even if he said to her, "Take your get," it is not a valid get.

If he - the husband, put it - the get, into her - his wife's, hand and she was sleeping - and the get was therefore not guarded, and afterwards when - she wakes up, she reads it - the document which is in her hand, and, she sees that - it is her get - it is not a get, until he says to her, "This is your get" - even if he says to her "This is your get" only after she wakes up from her sleep, and did not say it to her at the time he gave her the get, it is a valid get, but if he did not say, "This is your get," in the cases mentioned in the mishnah, the get is not valid (as explained in the introduction to this mishnah.)

If she was standing in the public domain - or in any domain which does not belong to both of them, and he - her husband, threw it to her - there, nearer to her - if he threw it to within four cubits of her - since the area within four cubits of a person acquires possession for him - and (according to the opinion of Rabbi Yohanan in the Gemara) even if the get was farther than four cubits but was within her reach but not within the husband's, e.g., there was a hill or a river between the husband and the get, then - she is divorced - the Sages ruled that in such a case she is divorced in order to safeguard agunot (deserted wives), since marriages are contracted subject to the rules of our Sages (Rosh). But if the get fell nearer to him - where it is within his reach but not within hers, she is not divorced - since the get is not in her domain; half and half - if the get fell in a place where both can reach it or where neither of them is in control, i.e., they cannot look after it separately, but together they can (Gemara and Tosafot), she is divorced and not divorced - i.e., her divorce is in doubt.

GITTIN: CHAPTER 8: MISHNAH 3

So, too, in regard to betrothals. And so, too, in regard to debt: if his creditor said to him, "Throw me my debt," and he threw it to him - nearer to the lender, the borrower benefits; nearer to the borrower - the borrower is liable; half and half - the two of them divide. If she was standing on the top of the roof and he threw it to her, as soon as it reached the airspace of the roof, she is divorced. If he is above and she is below and he threw it to her - as soon as it left the domain of the roof, if it was erased or burned, she is divorced.

Kehati

So, too, in regard to betrothals - if she was standing in the public domain and he threw her the money for her kiddushin (betrothal) then if it was nearer to her, she is betrothed; if it was nearer to him, she is not betrothed; half and half, her betrothal is in doubt. The Gemara explains that since the Torah writes, "And she departed from his house, and goes to be another man's wife" (Deut. 24:2) - the Torah likens becoming (i.e., kiddushin) to departing (i.e., divorce).

And so, too, in regard to debt - as the mishnah goes on to explain that if his creditor said to him, "Throw me my debt" - the creditor was standing in the public domain, and told the debtor to throw him the money he owed him, and he threw it to him - and the money he threw to him was lost, then if the money fell nearer to the lender - within four cubits of the creditor, or even farther but he can look after it, but not the debtor the borrower benefits - and he is exempt from paying; but if it fell nearer to the borrower - where the borrower can look after it, the borrower is liable - to pay; half and half - in a place where both can look after the money, as explained in the preceding mishnah, regarding a get the two of them divide - the debtor has to pay the creditor only half of his debt. The Gemara explains that this refers to a case in which the lender says to the borrower, "Throw me my debt in the same way as a get," i.e., according to the laws which govern the throwing of a get, but if he says simply, "Throw me my debt," then even if it falls close to the lender, the borrower is still liable to pay if it was lost, because the lender meant, "Throw me (my debt) and guard it." However, if the lender says to the borrower, "Throw me my debt and be released," then even if the money falls close to the borrower, and it was lost, he is exempt from paying (Rambam; Tur; Bartenura; see also Tosefot Yom Tov).

If she - the wife, was standing on the top of the roof - her roof, and he - the husband, threw it - the get, to her - there, as soon as it reached the airspace of the roof - as soon as the get comes within three handbreadths of the roof, and is considered as having landed, since a space of less than three handbreadths is regarded as closed (Gemara). According to another interpretation (in the Gemara), the mishnah refers to a roof which has a railing, and as soon as the get enters the area enclosed by the railing, she is divorced - and even if the get is later lost, erased or burned (as explained in the last section of the mishnah,) she is divorced, since the get was already in her possession.

If he - the husband, is above - standing on his roof, and she - the wife, is below - standing in her courtyard, and he - the husband, threw it - the get, to her - into her courtyard, as soon as it - the get, left the domain of the roof - and entered the domain of her courtyard, even - if it was erased - by water in the courtyard, or burned - by a fire in the courtyard, she is divorced - for the get was in her possession before it was erased or burned. If, however, there was a fire in the courtyard before he threw her the get, it is as if he threw it into the fire, and she is not divorced.

We interpreted the mishnah, as do most commentators, that the phrase "if it was erased, or burned," also refers to the case in the first section of the mishnah, in which she is standing on the roof and he is standing in the courtyard. According to Rambam, however, this phrase refers only to the last section. Rambam writes: "If she is standing on her roof, and he is below in his courtyard, and he throws it upwards to her, as soon as it reaches the airspace of the railing, or to within less than three tefahs of the roof - she is divorced, provided that it lands. But if it is erased or burned before it reaches her, then even though it was erased after it reached the airspace enclosed by the railing, or came to within less than three handbreadths of the roof, it is not a [valid] get, and she is not divorced because the wind raised it, and it was erased or burned, and cannot land (Hil. Gerushin 5:3; see also the commentaries on Rambam and Ran, who have difficulty in resolving Rambam's ruling.)

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