Gittin - Daf 67
- Sheluchim instructed to appoint others to write, and the concern for the wife hiring people
The Gemara discusses sheluchim explicitly told to appoint others: אמר לשנים – If he said to two people, אמרו לסופר ויכתוב – “Tell the scribe to write a get,” ולפלוני ופלוני ויחתמו – and tell Ploni and Ploni that they should sign it, Rav Huna said in Rav’s name: כשר ולא תעשה זאת בישראל – it is valid, but this should not be done in Yisroel. The Gemara explains why it should not be done: חיישינן שמא תשכור עדים – we suspect that [the wife] might hire witnesses to falsely tell a scribe and signers that the husband requested a get. This concern is challenged from a Baraisa which teaches that witnesses signed onto a bill of sale of a get are never suspected of signing falsely!? The Gemara answers: מעשה לא עבדי דבורא קאמרי – An action (such as signing falsely) they would not do, but they would speak falsely (tricking people to produce a get for the husband). Amoraim disagree if the husband may instruct two people to tell a scribe to write a get and they should sign it. There is no concern that the wife would hire people to do this (since no one would sign falsely), but some hold the Rabbis forbade this case to avoid the former case.
- Instructions to ten people to write or deliver a get
A Baraisa states: אמר לעשרה כתבו גט ותנו לאשתי – If one said to ten people, “Write and give a get to my wife,” אחד כותב על ידי כולם – any one of them writes on behalf of all of them (and two sign it). כולכם כתובו – But if he said, “All of you write it,” אחד כותב במעמד כולם – one of them writes it in the presence of all of them. We assume he did not intend for all of them to physically write it (although the Mishnah on Daf 66b taught that they all must sign it). Similarly, if he instructed ten people to deliver the get, only one must do so, but if he said, “All of you, deliver this get,” then one delivers it in the others’ presence. The Gemara discusses מנה – where he enumerated the sheluchim (counting them by number). Rav Huna says it is not tantamount to saying כולכם, and Rebbe Yochanan says it is. Rav Pappa explains that there is no argument; one discusses where he enumerated some of them, and the other discusses where he enumerated all of them. This distinction is explained in two opposite ways. Rav Yehudah and Rava discuss language enacted to write into the get to avoid such problematic cases.
- מי שאחזו קורדייקוס
The seventh Perek begins: מי שאחזו קורדייקוס – One who was seized by kurdiakos (a type of madness), ואמר כתבו גט לאשתי – and said, ”Write a get for my wife,” לא אמר כלום – he has said nothing (i.e., we ignore his instructions, since he issued them when he was not competent). If he first requested a get to be written, and then was seized by kurdiakos, after which he said not to write the get, we ignore his retraction for the same reason. Shmuel explains the cause of kurdiakos: דנכתיה חמרא חדתא דמעצרתא – he was “bitten” by drinking fresh wine from the press. The Mishnah calls it kurdiakos, referring to the spirit which possesses a person who drinks fresh wine, so an amulet can be written to drive it away. The Gemara offers a cure for this condition: red meat roasted on coals, and heavily diluted wine. The Mishnah continues: נשתתק – If one became mute, ואמרו לו נכתוב גט לאשתך – and they said to him, “Shall we write a get for your wife?” והרכן בראשו – and he nodded his head, we test his mental competency with six questions, three of which the answer is yes and three of which the answer is no. If he answers them correctly (by nodding or shaking his head), we rely on his instructions to write a get.
