Alle sind in der Lage, ein Get zu schreiben, sogar ein Taubstummer, ein Idiot und ein Minderjähriger. [Dies unter der Bedingung, dass ein Erwachsener über ihm steht und ihm sagt: "Schreiben Sie es im Namen dieses Mannes." Aber ein Nichtjude oder ein Knecht sollte, selbst wenn ein Erwachsener über ihm steht, das get ab initio nicht schreiben, denn sie sind von unabhängigem Verstand und handeln in ihrem eigenen Namen; Selbst wenn ein Erwachsener ihnen sagt, sie sollen es für jemand anderen schreiben, schreiben sie es selbst. Und wenn ein Nichtjude oder ein Knecht die Tofess des Get schreibt und ein wissender Israelit den Toref schreibt— der Name des Mannes und der Frau und das Datum, all dies erfordert Lishmah (spezifische Absicht) —das get ist gültig. Ebenso sind ein Taubstummer, ein Idiot und ein Minderjähriger, die nach unserer Mischna in der Lage sind, ein Get zu schreiben, nur in Bezug auf die Tofess geeignet, aber in Bezug auf die Toref ist es nicht gültig, es sei denn geschrieben von einem wissenden, erwachsenen Israeliten.] Die Frau kann ihr schreiben schreiben, und der Mann kann seine Quittung (der Zahlung der Kethuba) schreiben. Denn das get wird nur durch seine Unterzeichner wirksam. Alle sind in der Lage, das Get zu bringen, außer einem Taubstummen, einem Idioten und einem Minderjährigen [der keinen unabhängigen Intellekt hat], der blind ist [Er ist nicht qualifiziert, das Get aus dem Ausland zu bringen, und kann nicht sagen: "Vor mir wurde es geschrieben und vor mir wurde es unterschrieben." Aber um nach Eretz Israel zu kommen, wo er nicht sagen muss: "Vor mir wurde es geschrieben und vor mir wurde es unterschrieben"— oder sogar im Ausland, wenn das Get durch seine Unterzeichner bestätigt wird oder um die Botschafterin der Frau zu sein, die das Get erhält —Für all dies ist ein Blinder fit und ein Nichtjude. [Denn er ist nicht im Gesetz von Gittin und Kidduschin (Ehe) enthalten. Und in einem Bereich, in dem er selbst nicht eingeschlossen ist, kann er nicht als Bote für einen anderen dienen.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
ואפילו חרש שוטה וקטן – [and concerning them – the deaf-mute, imbecile and minor], a Jewish adult stands over them and says to him: Write this for the sake of “so-and-so.” But a heathen and a slave, even if an adult Jew stands over them, ab initio, he should not write the Jewish bill of divorce, because they have the temperament [to write a Jewish bill of divorce], and on their personal knowledge we operate, for even if a Jewish adult says to him: “Write for the sake of “so-and-so” , he should not write other than for himself. But if a heathen or slave wrote the blank form of the document [of the Jewish bill of divorce] and a Jew possessing awareness wrote the part of the document that makes it binding; which is the name of the man and the woman and the time (i.e., date), for all of these require [being written] for their sake (i.e., the man, the woman and the Jewish bill of divorce), the Jewish bill of divorce is valid. And similarly, a when we say in our Mishnah that a deaf-mute, imbecile and/or minor are fit to write a Jewish bill of divorce, these words refer to the blank form of the document, but not the part of the document that makes it binding, is not valid, other than if it is written by an adult Jew who possesses awareness.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Introduction
The first section of this mishnah deals with who may write a get, and the second section with who may deliver a get.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
חוץ מחרש שוטה וקטן – who all lack awareness.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
All are qualified to write a get, even a deaf-mute, an imbecile and a minor. A woman may write her own get and a man his own receipt [for the ketubah], since the document is upheld only by its signatures. Anyone can write a get including people who were categorically considered not to have “awareness”. These people can write a get even though they would not even understand what they are doing (remember that in the ancient world deaf people were wrongly considered to lack intelligence), because as we see below, the critical issue with the get is that it is signed by valid witnesses. Similarly, a woman may write her own get (this would make for an interesting scenario), and a man may write his own receipt for having paid the ketubah to his wife. Since the get is upheld not by checking who wrote it but who signed it, it matters not who does the writing. Although the woman has written her own get, the witnesses will not sign it unless they are sure that it was written upon the husband’s directive. Similarly, witnesses will not sign a receipt for payment unless they know that the husband paid the money to the wife.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
וסומא – [A blind person] is prohibited from bring a Jewish bill of divorce from outside the land of Israel, because he is unable to say, “it was written in my presence and signed in my presence.” But, to bring a Jewish bill of divorce in the land of Israel, where it is not necessary to say, “it was written in my presence and signed in my presence,” or even in the Diaspora, if the Jewish bill of divorce is verified through its signatories, or to serve as the agent of the woman to receive her Jewish bill of divorce, for all of these, the blind person is considered valid.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
All are qualified to bring a get except a deaf-mute, an imbecile, a minor, a blind person and a non-Jew. Almost anybody can deliver a get from a husband to his wife. The exceptions are again those people who categorically do not have awareness. In all areas of halakhah, someone who does not have “awareness” cannot act as someone else’s agent. A blind person can also not deliver a get, even though blind people were not considered to lack “awareness”. The Talmud explains this to mean that he cannot deliver a get from abroad to Israel because he cannot say “In my presence it was written and in my presence it was signed.” Note that blind people were considered to have “awareness”, unlike deaf-mutes who could not really communicate. Non-Jews cannot marry or divorce Jews and therefore cannot serve as agents for delivering a get.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
ונכרי – he is not [included] in laws of Divorce and Kiddushin/betrothal for the sake of marriage, and anything of his own person is not worthy, he cannot perform the act of agency for another.
