Wenn jemand aus dem Ausland kam und krank wurde, ernennt Beth-Din [einen Boten] und schickt ihn, und er (der erste) sagt vor ihnen (Beth-Din): "Vor mir wurde es geschrieben und vorher mir wurde es unterschrieben. " Und der letzte Bote braucht nicht zu sagen: "Vor mir wurde es geschrieben und vor mir wurde es unterschrieben", sondern nur: "Ich bin ein Bote von Beth-Din." [Und es ist selbstverständlich, dass Beth-Din in Übereinstimmung mit dem Gesetz gehandelt hat. Und der zweite Bote kann einen dritten ernennen— bis hundert und alles in Beth-Din, was impliziert wird durch "Der letzte Bote muss nicht sagen ... sondern nur: 'Ich bin ein Bote von Beth-Din.'"]
Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
עושה בית דין – [the court appoints] an agent and sends him
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Introduction
Today’s mishnah discusses a person who is delivering a get from abroad and cannot complete his delivery.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
שליח בית דין אני – without further qualification, the Jewish court did this validating him, and the second agent appoints a third agent, [and so-on-and-so-forth] until [the] one-hundred[th agent], and all of them are [appointed] in the Jewish court, since it is taught in our Mishnah, “the last agent [does not have to say, ‘it was written in my presence and signed in my presence’]” but only says that “I am the agent of the [Jewish] court.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
If one bringing a get from abroad becomes sick, he may arrange a court of law and send him [on with the get,] declaring before them, “In my presence it was written and in my presence it was signed.” Generally, the person who was charged to bring the get should bring it himself. If he cannot because he becomes sick on the way, he cannot merely give it to another messenger because the husband did not give him permission to do so. In order to deliver the get to the wife, he will need to set up a court of law consisting of three judges and make his declaration in front of them. The court may then, on the husband’s behalf, appoint an agent to deliver the get.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
And the last agent is not required to say, “In my presence it was written and in my presence it was signed”, rather he declares, “I am the messenger of a court.” The agent sent from the court obviously cannot say, “In my presence it was written and in my presence it was signed”, which the person delivering the get usually needs to say, because that would not be true. Upon delivering the get, what he can say is “I am the messenger of the court.” We can trust that the court would not have sent him had the get not been executed properly. As an aside, by calling him “the last agent” the mishnah alludes to the fact that this may not be the original agent sent by the court. The passing of the get from one agent to the other may happen many times.
