Beth Shammai say: A man may divorce his wife with an old get [which he wrote to divorce his wife, continuing to live with her after he wrote the get. Beth Shammai hold that we do not decree against it lest people say: "Her get preceded her son," i.e., lest a year or two pass between the writing and the giving and she have children from him in the interim and then be divorced with that get — so that people, seeing the get as antedating the birth of her son, might come to think that the get were given her at the time of writing and come to cast a blemish upon the child, saying that it was born of an unmarried woman.] Beth Hillel forbid it. Which is "an old get"? A get, after the writing of which he continued living with her. [The halachah: One may not divorce his wife with an old get. And if he divorced her and went to a different country, she may remarry by it ab initio.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
בגט ישן – He [i.e., the husband] wrote to divorce his wife and after the Jewish bill of divorce had been written, he was [found to be] alone with her. The School of Shammai holds that we do not say that there is a decree lest people would say that her Jewish bill of divorce came before her children [arrived] lest the [delivery of the Jewish bill of divorce] is delayed a year or two [years] between the writing and the delivery, and she will have had children from him in the midst of that time and afterwards, will divorce her with it; and when people will see the date of the Jewish bill of divorce which is prior to the birth of her son, people would think that he [i.e., the husband] gave her the Jewish bill of divorce at the time it was written, and there would be a discredit [to her] as [people] would say that the children were born from a “free” (i.e., unmarried) woman, and the Halakhic decision is that a person should not divorce his wife with an “old Jewish bill of divorce.” But if the husband divorced her and then went to another country, she may ab initio, remarry through this.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Introduction
In this mishnah Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel disagree over whether or not a get is valid if after its being written but before its being given the husband was secluded with his wife.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Bet Shammai says: a man may divorce his wife with an old get, But Bet Hillel forbids this. What is meant by an old get? One where he was secluded with her after he wrote it. Bet Hillel forbids a man to use an “old get” to divorce his wife. Bet Hillel is concerned lest while secluded the couple has sexual relations, she becomes pregnant and people think that the child was conceived after she was divorced, assuming that the divorce occurred only on the date written on the get. For instance, let’s say he had the get written in November, continued to live with her and she became pregnant in February, and he gave her the document in March before they knew that she was pregnant. People will think that he divorced her in November, the date written on the get, and that the kid was conceived after she was divorced. Therefore, Bet Hillel prohibits the use of an “old get.” Bet Shammai does not assume that just because they were secluded, they had sex. Therefore, he allows the husband to use the get so long as they were only secluded but did not actually have sex. We shall see at the end of the tractate, that Bet Shammai rules that a husband may divorce his wife only on the grounds of adultery. Since divorce is possible only under such circumstances, it is unlikely, and indeed forbidden, for the couple to have relations after he writes out a get.
