The same applies to betrothal, and the same applies to a debt. If one's creditor said to him: "Throw me my debt (i.e., what you owe me), and he threw it to him — (if it landed) near the creditor, the debtor is acquitted (of his debt); near the debtor, the debtor is (i.e., remains) liable; "half and half," they divide. [The gemara explains the instance to be one where he says: "Throw me my debt within (the framework of) the law of gittin" so that the debt has the status of a get. If the debtor threw it near the creditor, and it were lost, the debtor is acquitted and he need not pay; if near the debtor, the debtor is liable, etc. But if he said to him: "Throw my debt to me and be acquitted of it," once he throws it to him, in any circumstance, he is exempt. If she were standing on top of a roof and he threw it to her, once it reaches the "atmosphere" of the roof [less than three tefachim (handbreadths) from its surface, that space being regarded as part of the roof], she is divorced. If he were above, and she below, once it left the domain of the roof [i.e., once it left the domain of the roof (on which he were standing) and entered the domain in which she were standing], (even) if it were erased or burned, she is divorced. [This, where the throwing of the get into the courtyard preceded the outbreak of the fire in the courtyard. For if the latter preceded, then ab initio the get is "going to the fire," and she is not divorced.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
אמר לו בעל חובו: זרוק לי חובי – In the Gemara we establish it for when the creditor says, throw me my debt (the monies owed by the debtor) in the [manner similar to the] nature of Jewish divorce, and since he [i.e., the creditor] said this to him [i.e., the borrower], this obligation of indebtedness has the same [format] as the law the law of Jewish divorce, for if the borrower threw it closer to the creditor, and it [became] lost , the borrower is acquitted and he is not liable to pay [again], but if it landed closer to the borrower, he is liable to pay. But if the creditor said to him: throw me my debt and it shall be dismissed, since he threw it to him in any matter, he is exempt.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Introduction
The first section of the mishnah is a direct continuation of yesterday’s mishnah. It teaches that the laws concerning a husband throwing a get to his wife are the same as the laws of a man throwing betrothal money or a betrothal document to a woman or a borrower repaying his debt by throwing money at the creditor.
The second half of the mishnah deals with a husband who is on a roof and throws a get down to his wife or is below and she is on the roof and he throws the get up to her.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
לאויר הגג – wherever there is a gap of less than three handbreadths near the bottom of the roof, it isd considered a “Lavud” – the legal fiction of considering separated parts as united.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Similarly with betrothals and similarly with a debt. If a man’s creditor said to him, “Throw me my debt”, and he threw it to him, if it lands nearer to the creditor, the borrower is credited [with paying back his debt]; if it lands nearer to the borrower, the borrower is still obligated [to repay the money]; if it lands midway, they divide. The laws concerning throwing a get are the same when it comes to throwing betrothal money or documents or repaying monetary debts. The remainder of the mishnah illustrates the principle with regard to repaying debts. Note that the one difference between debts and divorce/betrothal is that in the latter case, if the document lands halfway, the woman is doubtfully divorced or doubtfully betrothed. There is no possibility of a woman being half divorced or betrothed. In contrast, when it comes to debts, people can split money. Therefore, if the money lands halfway between the two parties they split it and the borrower owes half the debt.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
מרשות הגג – if it left the divided off space of the roof and entered into the partition of the space where it is standing (serving as a legal fiction – as if one of its broadside were prolonged to form a partition).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
If she was standing on a roof and he threw it up to her, as soon as it reaches the airspace of the roof, she is divorced. If he was above and she below and he threw it to her, once it has left the space of the roof, [even were it to be immediately] erased or burnt, she is divorced. When the husband is standing below and she is standing on the roof, the get must reach the level of the roof for she to be divorced. In other words, her domain only begins at roof-level. Similarly, if he is standing on the roof, her domain begins at the level of the roof. If he drops the get, she is divorced as soon as the get enters her domain, which is below the level of the roof. Even if it briefly enters her domain and then is somehow erased (severe case of bird droppings?) or burnt (by a lightning bolt) she was divorced as soon as the get entered her domain.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
או נשרף הרי זו מגורשת – the throwing of the Jewish bill of divorce into the courtyard preceded its being burned in the airspace of the courtyard, for if it had been burned in the courtyard first, in principle, from the beginning, it was being tossed into the fire, and she is not divorced.
