(If he said:) "This is your get on condition that you serve my father," "on condition that you nurse my son," [The gemara explains that where he did not qualify his words, not stating specifically how much time she should serve his father, he is to be understood as having stated "for one day," and the condition is fulfilled if she serves his father or nurses his son one day alone.] …How long does she nurse him? [That is, how long is the time of nursing, within which, if she nurses him for one day, the condition is fulfilled?] Two years. R. Yehudah says: Eighteen months. [But if she nursed him after two years, according to the rabbis, or after eighteen months, according to R. Yehudah, this is not nursing, and the condition has not been fulfilled. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Yehudah.] — if the son died, [and she did not nurse him at all]; or if the father died, [and she did not serve him], it is a get. [For he (the husband) did not wish to taunt her, but only to gain some benefit, and it was not required. Had he known that his father or his son would die, he would not have made the condition in the first place.] (If he said:) "This is your get on condition that you serve my father for two years," "on condition that you nurse my son for two years" — if the son died, or if the father died, or if the father said: "I do not want you to serve me," without offense [i.e., even though she did not anger him, so that the forestalling (of the fulfillment of the condition) is not due to her], it is not a get [and, it goes without saying, if it were with offense.] R. Shimon b. Gamliel said: In such an instance, it is a get, [since she did not offend and was not the cause of the forestalling.] R. Shimon b. Gamliel stated a general rule: (In the instance of) any forestalling which is not due to her, it is a get. [The halachah is not in accordance with R. Shimon b. Gamliel.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
על מנת שתשמשי את אבא, על מנת שתניקי את בני – In the Gemara it is proven that every undefined [period] where the time was not fixed- how much time she should wait upon his father or how long she should nurse his son, it is like specifying one day and the condition is fulfilled if she waits upon his father or nurses his son for only one day.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Introduction
In this mishnah, instead of conditioning the get upon her paying him money, the husband stipulates that to be divorced she must continue to look after his father. We can easily see the social situation reflected in this stipulation. The husband no longer wishes to remain married, but the wife has performed an important function in the family. The mishnah discusses when we consider the stipulation fulfilled.
I should make an important note when discussing these situations. The Mishnah does not generally provide an opinion whether a husband, or really any person, has done something “virtuous”. The Mishnah is often interested in the technical, legal details and implications of things that can potentially occur. These mishnayoth are not providing approval of a husband’s essentially blackmailing his wife. Rather, they admit that such action is legally possible and hence its implications must be discussed.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
כמה היא מניקתו – that is to say, how long is the period of nursing, for she nursed him one day in that time period, the condition has been fulfilled.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
[If a husband says], “This is your get on condition that you look after my father”, [or] “On condition that you nurse my child” How long must she nurse? Two years. Rabbi Judah says, eighteen months. In this scenario, the husband made the get conditional upon his wife’s continuing to look after his father or to nurse his child. The time limit for looking after the father is the remainder of the father’s life. However, the wife need only nurse the child for two years, the standard length of time in which an average child nursed in mishnaic times. Rabbi Judah says she need nurse only for eighteen months, which was probably the minimum amount of time that children nursed in this time period.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
שתי שנים רבי יהודה אומר: י"ח חודש – but if she nursed him after the two year period of the Rabbis was completed or eighteen months according to Rabbi Yehuda, this is not nursing, and the condition has not been fulfilled. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
If the child dies or the father dies, the get is valid. When the husband said that she must continue to take care of his father or child, his intention was that she should do so as long as the father or child was alive. Should they die, she has fulfilled the stipulation on the get and it is valid.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
מת הבן – and she had not nursed him at all
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
[If he says], “This is your get on condition that you look after my father for two years”, [or] “On condition that you nurse my child for two years”, if the child dies or if the father says, “I don't want you to look after me”, even though she has not caused him to complain, the get is invalid. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: something like this is a get. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel said a general rule: wherever the obstacle does not arise from her side, the get is valid. In this the husband stipulates a limit of two years to her having to take care of his father or child. The mishnah takes this to mean that she must take care of the father or nurse the child for a full two years no matter what happens. Therefore, in this case if the father or child dies, she has not fulfilled the stipulation. Furthermore, if the father decides he no longer wants her to wait on him, she still hasn’t fulfilled the stipulation. This is certainly true if she gave him reason to “fire” her, but according to the first mishnah, even if she was not at all at fault, she still has not fulfilled the condition. However, Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel disagrees with this. He holds that if she was not the obstacle which prevented the fulfillment of the stipulation, then the get is valid. Therefore, if the father gets angry at her and she was not at fault, she is divorced.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
או מת האב – and she had not waited upon him
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
הרי זה גט – for he did not intend through his condition to cause her pain, but rather for his own comfort, and for this, it was not necessary, for if he knew that his father or son would die, he would not have made the condition.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
שלא בהקפדה – even though she did not provoke him to anger , and there was no delay on her part, it is not a Jewish bill of divorce. And all the more so, if he exhibited a temper.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
כזה גט – since she did not cause him to lose his temper and there was no delay on her part, but the Halakha is not according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel.
