Gittin - Daf 86
- שלשה גיטין פסולין ואם נשאת הוולד כשר, and Rebbe Elazar’s opinion that עדי מסירה כרתי
The next Mishnah states: שלשה גיטין פסולין – There are three invalid gittin, ואם נשאת הוולד כשר – but if she married on their basis, the child from a subsequent marriage is legitimate (and not a mamzer). They are: (1) כתב בכתב ידו ואין עליו עדים – [The husband] wrote it in his handwriting, but it has no witnesses signed on it, (2) יש עליו עדים ואין בו זמן – or it has witnesses signed on it, but has no date in it, (3)יש בו זמן ואין בו אלא עד אחד – or it has a date in it, but only one witness signed on it. This Tanna considers these gittin only Rabbinically disqualified, so a subsequent child is legitimate. Rebbe Elazar holds the get is valid: אף על פי שאין עליו עדים – Even if there are no witnesses signed on it, אלא שנתנו לה בפני עדים כשר – but he gave it to her before witnesses, it is valid, וגובה מנכסים משועבדים – and one can collect (a kesubah with this get, or) with any unsigned document from sold properties, because he holds עדי מסירה כרתי – the witnesses to delivery enable the get to sever the marriage, and signatures are only needed for proof. Later, Amoraim will pasken like Rebbe Elazar regarding gittin, and argue if we rule like him even regarding other documents.
- כתב ידו or כתב סופר
Rav said: כתב ידו שנינו – What we learned in the Mishnah is referring to [the husband’s] handwriting. Rav is discussing the final case of the Mishnah, יש בו זמן ואין בו אלא עד אחד – it has a date, but only one witness, and Rav is saying that the get is only Biblically valid (and the subsequent child legitimate) if the husband himself wrote it, but if it was written with a scribe’s handwriting and signed by only one witness, the get would be invalid and the subsequent child would be a mamzer. Shmuel said: אפי' כתב סופר ועד – Even when the get was written with a scribe’s handwriting and signed by one witness the child is not a mamzer, because the Mishnah on Daf 87b says כתב סופר ועד כשר – a get written in the handwriting of a scribe and signed by one witness is valid. Rav notes that the Mishnah there implies she is permitted to marry, whereas in our Mishnah, she may not marry. Thus, that Mishnah must mean that the scribe signed the get, and it has two signatures. Shmuel says both Mishnayos refer to the scribe’s writing, but that Mishnah is בספרא דמובהק – written by an expert scribe, whose signature is equal to testimony that the husband requested the get.
- Two identical gittin which were confused
The next Mishnah states: שנים ששלחו שני גיטין שוין – Two men who sent two identical gittin, ונתערבו – and they became confused such that the shaliach does not know which is which, נותן שניהם לזו ושניהם לזו – he should give both [gittin] to this woman, and both to that woman, to ensure that each receives her get). לפיכך אבד אחד מהן – Therefore, if one of them is lost, הרי השני בטל – the second [get] is useless, since we cannot identify whose it is. Rebbe Yirmiyah says that this Mishnah does not agree with Rebbe Elazar, who holds עדי מסירה כרתי, because הא לא ידעי בהי מינייהו קא מגרשה – [the witnesses to delivery] do not know with which [get] he is divorcing her (i.e., each woman, respectively). Rashi explains that Rebbe Yirmiyah holds that since Rebbe Elazar does not require signing לשמה, he must interpret the לשמה requirement as referring to the delivery. Abaye answers how Rebbe Elazar can agree with the Mishnah: אימא דבעי ר' אלעזר כתיבה לשמה – I can say that Rebbe Elazar requires only the get’s writing be לשמה, נתינה לשמה מי בעי – but does he require the delivery to be לשמה? He does not.
