Commentary for Gittin 7:8
הֲרֵי זֶה גִטֵּךְ אִם לֹא בָאתִי מִכָּאן וְעַד שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ, וּמֵת בְּתוֹךְ שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ, אֵינוֹ גֵט. הֲרֵי זֶה גִטֵּךְ מֵעַכְשָׁיו אִם לֹא בָאתִי מִכָּאן וְעַד שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ, וּמֵת בְּתוֹךְ שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ, הֲרֵי זֶה גֵט:
(If he said:) "This is your get if I do not come from now until twelve months," and he died within twelve months, it is not a get. [For since he did not say: "From now after twelve months it shall be a get," and he died within that time, she requires yibum.] (If he said:) "This is your get from now if I do not come from now until twelve months," and he died within twelve months, it is a get.
Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
אינו גט – but since he did not say, “from now,” it implies that after twelve months it would be a Jewish bill of divorce, and behold, he died within that time period, and she would need her dead husband’s brother [if they had no children in their marriage while he was alive] to marry her.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
[If a husband says,] “This is your get if I do not return within twelve months”, and he dies within twelve months, it is not a get.
[If he says,] “This is your get from now if I do not return within twelve months”, and he dies within twelve months, it is a get.
In today’s mishnah, a husband conditions his get upon is return home within twelve months. The mishnah discusses the validity of the get should he die within that time.
As we learned in mishnah three, there can be no divorce after death. In the first section, the wife is a widow because the get could not become valid until after twelve months. At the point when the get could become valid, the husband was already dead. In contrast, in the second section the husband says “From now…”, meaning that the get will become retroactively valid to the point at which it was given. When he fails to return after twelve months, she is considered a divorcee and not a widow. An interesting question asked, but not solved, in the Talmud, is whether or not she may remarry after he dies but before the twelve months are up. On the one hand, in the future she will be considered a divorcee at the point of the giving of the get. On the other hand, she has still not reached that point. [This is sort of a mishnaic time warp, and I love time warp scenarios].
[If he says,] “This is your get from now if I do not return within twelve months”, and he dies within twelve months, it is a get.
In today’s mishnah, a husband conditions his get upon is return home within twelve months. The mishnah discusses the validity of the get should he die within that time.
As we learned in mishnah three, there can be no divorce after death. In the first section, the wife is a widow because the get could not become valid until after twelve months. At the point when the get could become valid, the husband was already dead. In contrast, in the second section the husband says “From now…”, meaning that the get will become retroactively valid to the point at which it was given. When he fails to return after twelve months, she is considered a divorcee and not a widow. An interesting question asked, but not solved, in the Talmud, is whether or not she may remarry after he dies but before the twelve months are up. On the one hand, in the future she will be considered a divorcee at the point of the giving of the get. On the other hand, she has still not reached that point. [This is sort of a mishnaic time warp, and I love time warp scenarios].
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