Gittin - Daf 66
- Someone in a pit instructing to divorce his wife
The next Mishnah states: מי שהיה מושלך לבור – Someone who was thrown in a pit, ואמר כל השומע את קולו יכתוב גט לאשתו – and said, “Whoever hears [my] voice should write a get for [my] wife,” הרי אלו יכתבו ויתנו – those who hear may write and give a get to her. The Gemara asks: וליחוש שמא שד הוא – But let us suspect that it is a demon, and not the husband!? It answers: כשראו לו דמות אדם – The case is where they saw a human form. The Gemara asks that demons may also appear in human form, and ultimately answers: דחזו ליה בבואה דבבואה – where they saw the shadow of a shadow (i.e., the lighter and longer of the two shadows cast when the sun is low), because although demons have a shadow, they do not have a “shadow of a shadow.” The Gemara still asks: ודלמא צרה היא – But perhaps it is a co-wife impersonating the husband to trick her into thinking she is divorced!? A Baraisa in Rebbe Yishmael’s academy taught: בשעת הסכנה – In a time of danger (such as this case), כותבין ונותנין אף על פי שאין מכירין – we write and give a get, even if we cannot identify the husband with certainty.
- Telling two or three people to write a get, if they can appoint others
The Mishnah states: אמר לשנים תנו גט לאשתי – One who says to two people, “Write a get for my wife,” או לשלשה כתבו גט ותנו לאשתי – or he said to three people, “Write and give a get to my wife,” הרי אלו יכתבו ויתנו – these people must write and give it themselves and may not appoint others in their place. Two reasons are given on Daf 29a why two people cannot appoint another shaliach (either because the husband is ashamed that more people should know of his inability to write the get himself, or because such a shaliach cannot appoint another shaliach). In the second case, although they are three people, they must write it themselves because he explicitly told them to. If he told three people “Give a get to my wife,” Rebbe Meir holds: הרי אלו יאמרו לאחרים ויכתבו – These people can tell others to write it, מפני שעשאן ב"ד – because he designated them as a Beis Din, who is able to appoint other sheluchim. Rebbe Yose disagrees and says that even if one told the Beis Din Hagadol in Yerushalayim, “Give a get to my wife,” they would not be able to appoint others and would even have to learn how to write in order to give it themselves.
- If sheluchim instruct a sofer to write the get, but they sign it
The academy of Rav sent an inquiry to Shmuel: ילמדנו רבינו – Let our Master teach us, אמר לשנים כתבו ותנו גט לאשתי – if one said to two people, “Write and give a get to my wife,” ואמרו לסופר וכתב – and they told a scribe and he wrote it, וחתמו הן מהו – but they signed it themselves, what is the halachah? Shmuel sent his answer: תצא – She must leave her second husband (i.e., the get’s validity cannot be relied upon), והדבר צריך תלמוד – but the matter requires further study. The Gemara analyzes Shmuel’s uncertainty. It could not have been if מילי– mere words can be transferred from one shaliach to another, because Shmuel said the halachah follows Rebbe Yose, who holds words cannot be transferred! Rather, his question was about the husband’s instruction to “write,” אי כתב ידן אי כתב הגט – if it means only writing their signatures, but anyone can write the get, or did it mean the writing of the get as well. Our Mishnah, which says the sheluchim must “write” the get, could similarly refer to the writing or signing. Although Shmuel generally holds that מילי cannot be transferred to a second shaliach, he holds that if they were only instructed to sign the get, כתב הגט נעשה כאומר אמרו – then regarding the writing of the get, it is as if he told them, “Tell another person to write it.” Although the Gemara will ultimately conclude that Rebbe Yose argues even regarding "אומר אמרו" – where he tells them, “Tell others to write it,” Shmuel himself holds it is valid.
