Commentary for Gittin 9:1

הַמְגָרֵשׁ אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאָמַר לָהּ, הֲרֵי אַתְּ מֻתֶּרֶת לְכָל אָדָם אֶלָּא לִפְלוֹנִי, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר מַתִּיר, וַחֲכָמִים אוֹסְרִין. כֵּיצַד יַעֲשֶׂה. יִטְּלֶנּוּ הֵימֶנָּה וְיַחֲזֹר וְיִתְּנֶנּוּ לָהּ וְיֹאמַר לָהּ הֲרֵי אַתְּ מֻתֶּרֶת לְכָל אָדָם. וְאִם כְּתָבוֹ בְתוֹכוֹ, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁחָזַר וּמְחָקוֹ, פָּסוּל:

If one divorced his wife, saying to her: "You are permitted to all men except this one" — R. Eliezer permits it, and the sages forbid it. [The rationale of R. Eliezer (Leviticus 21:7): "And a woman divorced from her husband they (Cohanim) shall not take" — Even if she were divorced only from her husband, as when he told her: "You are divorced from me, but not permitted to other men," she is forbidden to (marry into) the priesthood. We see, then, that it is a get; so that here, where he permits her to all men except this one, she is permitted to others. The rationale of the sages: They say that what is forbidden to the priesthood is different, Scripture having prescribed additional mitzvoth for Cohanim. So that even though it is a get to forbid her to the priesthood, it is not a get to permit her to others. The halachah is in accordance with the sages.] What does he do? He takes it from her and gives it to her again, telling her: "You are permitted to all men." But if he had written it ("…except this one") in the get, even though he later erased it, it is void. [And the sages forbid it only when he tells her: "You are permitted to all men except this one," but if he says to her: "This is your get on condition that you not wed that man," the rabbis concede that it is a get. For he permitted her to all men in giving her the get. It is just that he stipulated that she not wed a particular man, which is like any other condition. And the rabbis forbade him to say: "This is your get on condition that you marry that man," so that their wives not be regarded as gifts to be given to one another. And any condition that one attaches to the get before he writes it, though it not be written in the get, invalidates it. But after he places the get in her hand, he may make any condition he desires.]

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