Gittin 7:1-2

Gittin 7:1

If a man loses his mental faculties and then instructs someone to write a get for his wife, his words are of no consequence. If he instructed someone to write a get for his wife and subsequently lost his faculties, then he changed his mind and said not to write it, his second statement is of no consequence. If a man lost the power of speech and others asked him if they should write a get for his wife, in response to which he nodded, they check three times. If he responds with appropriate gestures to yes-or-no questions, they write and deliver the get.

Gittin 7:2

We previously discussed (in chapter 6) people for whom a get is written and delivered even though they only said to write it. (Generally, people in dire or dangerous situations.) Let’s say they asked such a person whether they should write his wife a get and he replied, “Write it.” They then had a scribe write it and witnesses sign it. They gave the get to the husband, who gave it to his wife. Despite all this, the get is invalid because the husband must be the one to instruct the scribe to write the get and the witnesses to sign it.