1,736. Five Gets in One Document

Hilchos Geirushin 4:18

Let’s say that five men collectively write one get to divorce all their wives. The get is valid so long as the terms they use are inclusive: man A divorces woman A, man B divorces woman B, etc. Similarly, each of them must tell his wife that she has the right to remarry, including the entirety of a get’s standard text. Two witnesses must sign the get at the bottom and it must be delivered to each of the women in front of witnesses. If witnesses don’t see it being delivered, then only the woman in possession of the get is considered divorced. However, let’s say that the scribe wrote the entirety of a get’s text for couple A, followed by a second get for couple B underneath it in the same document, etc. for all five couples, after which witnesses signed at the bottom. If this document was delivered to each of the women in front of witnesses, divorce is effected for all of them. If no witnesses saw it delivered and the get is in the possession of one of the women, then if her get is the last one in the document so that the witnesses’ signatures are immediately after her get, then divorce is effected for her; if one of the women whose get is higher up possesses the document, then the efficacy of her divorce is thrown into question.

Hilchos Geirushin 4:19

If the scribe wrote, “We – man A and man B – divorce our wives – woman A and woman B…,” completing the get, it is invalid even if it was given to each woman in front of witnesses. This is because two women can’t be divorced using the same get as per Deuteronomy 24:1, “He shall write for her.” We see that it must be written “for her,” not “for her and for someone else.” If the scribe continued and wrote the text for each woman – man A divorces woman A, man B divorces woman B…,” then the divorces are valid.