Gittin - Daf 20
- Engraving a get – הא דחק תוכות הא דחק יריכות
A Baraisa states: "וכתב" ולא חקק – “And he shall write” [a get], which implies, but he shall not engrave one. This is challenged from another Baraisa: עבד שיצא בכתב שעל גבי טבלא ופינקס יצא לחירות – A slave that went out with a גט שחרור written on a board or tablet goes free, even though such writing is engraved!? The Gemara answers: הא דחק תוכות– Engraving is invalid where he engraved the spaces inside and around the letters, leaving the shapes of the letters raised indirectly, which is not considered writing. הא דחק יריכות - Engraving is valid writing where he engraved the legs of the letters themselves into the board. The Gemara seeks to prove that even engraving areas around the letters is writing from the ציץ, whose engraving is described as “like gold dinars.” Since coins are engraved through a form which presses the area around the design, it proves that the ציץ was engraved the same way, even though the ציץ requires “writing”!? The Gemara explains that the similarity to coins refers only to the fact that the words protruded; however, the inscription of the ציץ was made by directly carving letters from the reverse side.
- הרי זה גיטיך והנייר שלי
A Baraisa states: הרי זה גיטיך והנייר שלי – If one says to his wife, “Here is your get, but the paper remains mine,” אינה מגורשת – she is not divorced. Since he did not give her the paper, the letters are left without a surface. על מנת שתחזירי לי את הנייר – But if he says, “Here is your get on condition you return the paper to me,” הרי זו מגורשת – she is divorced (provided she eventually returns the paper), because a gift which is conditional on its return is a legitimate gift. Rav Pappa asked: בין שיטה לשיטה ובין תיבה לתיבה מאי – If the husband retained ownership of the paper between the lines and between the words of the get, what is the halachah? Since he gave her the parts of the paper on which the letters are written, is the get valid? The Gemara concludes: תיקו – Let it stand unresolved. The Gemara asks that the above get should be invalid for another reason: דספר אחד אמר רחמנא ולא שנים ושלשה ספרים – the Torah said one “document,” and not two or three documents. By retaining the spaces, she effectively receives a divided document!? The Gemara answers that the letters were partially attached, such that even if the blank space between them was removed, the document would remain whole.
- If a woman is in possession of the husband’s slave who has a get written on his hand
Rami bar Chama asked: היו מוחזקים בעבד שהוא שלו – If it was known that a particular slave was [the husband’s], וגט כתוב על ידו – and a get is written on his hand, והרי הוא יוצא מתחת ידה מהו – and later he is produced by [the wife], and she claims he was given to her as a divorce, what is the halachah? Do we assume he was given to her, since he is in her possession, or might he have gone to her voluntarily? Rava asks that a get on the slave’s hand should be invalid because it can be erased, and the Gemara answers that it was tattooed onto the slave’s hand. The Gemara resolves Rami bar Chama’s question based on Reish Lakish’s statement: הגודרות אין להן חזקה – Animals do not have the law of chazakah that possession of them demonstrates ownership, since they are mobile. Regarding the slave, as well, since he is mobile, we cannot assume he was given to her just because he is in her possession.
