Gittin - Daf 21
- A get in the hand of a slave which the husband gives his wife
Rava said: כתב לה גט ונתנו ביד עבדו – If he wrote her a get and placed it in his slave’s hand, וכתב לה שטר מתנה עליו – and wrote her a gift document for [the slave] and gave it to her, קנאתהו ומתגרשת בו – she acquires [the slave] and is divorced with [the get]. Through the slave becoming her property, she can simultaneously acquire the get through the kinyan of chatzeir (acquisition of items found on one’s property). The Gemara asks that a slave is a חצר מהלכת – a mobile “courtyard,” which cannot be used for acquisitions (since it is unlike an ordinary courtyard)!? Even if it is stationary, Rava taught: כל שאילו מהלך לא קנה עומד ויושב לא קנה – Anything that would not effect a kinyan while moving, cannot effect a kinyan even while standing or sitting still. The Gemara concludes that Rava’s first ruling applies בכפות – where [the slave] is bound and cannot walk and qualifies as a chatzeir for kinyanim. Rava said a similar ruling with a get in the husband’s property, for which the husband wrote and gave his wife a שטר מתנה. The need for the two rulings is explained.
- Abaye’s challenge to using a gifted chatzeir to receive a get
Abaye challenged Rava’s two rulings, which validate a get given through gifting a chatzeir. Since the law of chatzeir to receive her get is derived from the word "ידה" – her “hand,” it must resemble her hand: מה ידה דאיתא בין מדעתה ובין בעל כורחה – Just as her hand [acquires the get] whether with her consent or against her will, אף חצרה דאיתא בין מדעתה ובין בעל כורחה – so too, her chatzeir [must be able to acquire the get] whether with her consent or against her will. But since a chatzeir given as a gift requires her consent (since she can refuse the gift), it should not qualify to transfer a get!? Rav Shimi bar Ashi countered that a שליח לקבלה – shaliach for receiving a get, who can be appointed by the wife to effect the divorce when he receives it, also operates only with her consent, yet is effective! The Gemara responds that the law of shaliach does not have this requirement, because is not derived from “her hand” as a chatzeir, rather it is darshened from a passuk about shelichus. Alternatively, the Gemara points out that at times, a שליח לקבלה can receive a get against the wife’s will: a father can receive a get for his daughter who is a minor, against her will.
- אין כותבין במחובר לקרקע
The next Mishnah states: אין כותבין במחובר לקרקע – We do not write [a get] on something attached to the ground, since giving her the get would require cutting between the writing and giving. כתבו במחובר תלשו וחתמו ונתנו לה כשר – If he wrote it on something attached, then detached it, completed it and gave it to her, it is valid. Rebbe Yehudah says it is only valid if both the writing and signing were done on something detached. Although the first clause of the Mishnah implies that no writing can be done on an attached item, and the second clause rules it valid, the Gemara first explains: והוא ששייר מקום התורף – provided that he left blank the place of the “toref,” i.e., the critical writing of the get (the names of the parties, place, date, and basic language of divorce), until after it was detached. The Tanna is Rebbe Elazar, who does not require signatures, and interprets "וכתב" to mean the writing itself. The Mishnah, then, is saying that no part of the get is allowed to be written while attached (this is a gezeirah lest the toref be written while attached), but if it was, it is still valid as long as the toref was written while detached. Reish Lakish explains the Mishnah differently.
