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Week 88 - Monday - 30 July 2001

GITTIN: CHAPTER 9: MISHNAH 6

If two gets were written side by side, and two Hebrew witnesses run from under this one to under this one, and two Greek witnesses run from under this one to under this one - the one with which the first witnesses are read is valid. One Hebrew witness and one Greek witness, one Hebrew witness and one Greek witness run from under this one to under this one - both are invalid.

Kehati

Witnesses who sign the get normally write their name and the name of their father, e.g., "A son of B." Our mishnah deals with two gets which were written side by side, i.e., in two separate columns on one scroll, and teaches that if there are only two witnesses, and their signatures go from under one get to under the second get, e.g., if the signatures are written in Hebrew "A, son of B witness" and "C son of D witness," and "A, son of," appears under one get and "B witness" under the other, and likewise "C son of" under one and "D witness" under the other get, the get under which the signatures of the witnesses (who signed in Hebrew) are placed, is the valid one because their own name is the principal part of their signature. If the witnesses signed in another language, writing from left to right, and wrote their first names "A" and "C" under the second get, on the left, and "son of B, witness" and "son of D, witness" under the first get on the right, then the one on the left is valid. However, the Gemara explains that both gets are valid if "A" and "C" are written under one get, and "son of B, witness" and "son of D, witness" are written under the second get, for it is as if it read "A witness," "son of B witness," and "C, witness," "son of D, witness," and it is taught in mishnah 8, below: a get which is signed "so-and-so, witness" or "the son of so-and-so, witness" is a valid get.

Our mishnah deals with a case in which two gets were written side by side, and four witnesses signed in the manner described above, two of them in Hebrew, right to left, and two of them in another language, from left to right.

If two gets written side by side - on one scroll, one get on the right side, and one get on the left side, as explained above, and - the signatures of - two Hebrew witnesses - i.e., who signed their names in Hebrew, run from under this one - the get on the right side, to under this one - the get on the left side, i.e., their names are written under the get on the right side, and their father's names are written under the get on the left side, as described above, and two Greek witnesses - i.e., the signatures of Jews who write in Greek from left to right, run from under this one to under this one - under the get on the left side, and their father's names under the get on the right side, the one - get, with, i.e., under which the - names of the - first witnesses are read is valid - if the signatures of the Hebrew witnesses appear first, the get on the right side is the valid one, and if the signatures of the Greek witnesses appear first, the get on the left side is the valid one. The Gemara explains that the get with later signatures is not valid, because we fear that the second set of witnesses signed according to the order of the signatures of the first set, e.g., if the witnesses writing in Hebrew signed first, we fear that the witnesses who signed in Greek also signed from right to left, and all four are signed on the right side; and similarly, if the Greek witnesses signed first, we fear that the witnesses who signed in Hebrew followed the order of the Greek signatures, and also signed from left to right, and all four are signed on the get on the left side (Bartenura; see also Tosefot Yom Tov).

One Hebrew witness and one Greek witness, one Hebrew witness and one Greek witness run from under this one to under this one - the two gets were signed alternately by the four witnesses, i.e., the first witness in Hebrew, the second after him in Greek, the third after him in Hebrew, and the fourth after him in Greek, and the signatures extend under both gets, as was described in the introduction to our mishnah, both - gets, are invalid - because we fear that the second witness, who signed in Greek, also signed from right to left, while the others signed normally, and three witnesses are signed on the right side, and only one on the get on the left side, or that the second witness signed in Greek properly but the third witness reversed the order of his Hebrew script and signed from left to right, while the fourth witness signed normally in Greek script, from left to right, and three witnesses are signed on the get on the left side, and only one is signed on the get on the right side.

GITTIN: CHAPTER 9: MISHNAH 7

If he left over a small part of the get and wrote it in the second column, and the witnesses are below - it is valid. If the witnesses signed at the top of the column, on the side, or on the back of an unfolded get - it is invalid. The top of this one was joined to the top of this one, and the witnesses are in the middle - both of them are invalid; if the end of this one is beside the end of this one, and the witnesses in the middle - the one with which the witnesses are read is valid; if the top of this one is beside the end of this one, and the witnesses in the middle - the one with which the witnesses are read is valid.

Kehati

Our mishnah continues to teach about the signatures of the witnesses on the get.

If he left over a small part of the get and wrote it in the second column - i.e., he wrote one get in two columns, on one scroll, because there was not enough space in the right-hand column for the entire text of the get, and he completed it in the left-hand column and the witnesses are - signed - below - at the end of the get, in the left-hand column, it - the get, is valid - if it is clear that nothing had been cut from the parchment, and that the scribe had intended, from the outset, to complete the get in the second column. However, if this is not clear, the get is invalid, because we fear that he wrote the two gets side by side, and cut off the lower part from the first column, and the upper part from the second column and made one get from them (Gemara, Git 88a).

If the witnesses signed at the top of the column - above the get, or if they signed on the side - on the right or left margin of the get, or - they signed -on the back of an unfolded get - on the other side of the parchment, in an unfolded get - it - the get, is invalid - since by Rabbinic law the witnesses must sign at the bottom of the page, below the text of the get. A get mekushar, however, is signed on its back, (see 8:9). The top of this one joined the top of this one - he wrote one get from the middle of the page downwards, and the other get from the middle of the page upwards, and the witnesses are in the middle - between the two gets, both of them - both gets, are invalid - because the signatures of the witnesses cannot be read with either get, since their signatures are on top of the get, and if the end of this one is beside the end of this one - he wrote one get from the top downwards, and another get in the same column from the bottom upwards, and the witnesses - are - in the middle - between the two gets, the one get, with which - the signatures of - the witnesses are read - the one next to which the signatures are placed in their usual position, is valid - the get on the bottom, however, is not valid because the signatures of the witnesses are upside down in relationship to it. If the top of this one is beside - next to, the end of this one - he wrote two gets, one after the other, and the witnesses in the middle - at the end of the first get, the one - get, with which the witnesses are read - i.e., the first get, is valid.

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