Mishnah
Mishnah

Halakhah for Gittin 1:1

הַמֵּבִיא גֵט מִמְּדִינַת הַיָּם, צָרִיךְ שֶׁיֹּאמַר, בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב וּבְפָנַי נֶחְתָּם. רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, אַף הַמֵּבִיא מִן הָרֶקֶם וּמִן הַחֶגֶר. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, אֲפִלּוּ מִכְּפַר לוּדִים לְלוֹד. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, אֵינוֹ צָרִיךְ שֶׁיֹּאמַר בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב וּבְפָנַי נֶחְתָּם, אֶלָּא הַמֵּבִיא מִמְּדִינַת הַיָּם וְהַמּוֹלִיךְ. וְהַמֵּבִיא מִמְּדִינָה לִמְדִינָה בִמְדִינַת הַיָּם, צָרִיךְ שֶׁיֹּאמַר בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב וּבְפָנַי נֶחְתָּם. רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, אֲפִלּוּ מֵהֶגְמוֹנְיָא לְהֶגְמוֹנְיָא:

If one brings a get from medinath hayam (lit., "the land of the sea," i.e., abroad), he must say: "Before me, it was written, and before me it was signed." [Anything outside of Eretz Yisrael is called "medinath hayam." ("He must say: 'Before me, it was written, etc.'":) Some say, because those living abroad are not learned in Torah, and they do not know that a get must be written lishmah (i.e., for the specific instance). Therefore, the messenger says: "Before me, it was written, and before me it was signed," and, as a matter of course, he is asked if it were written lishmah, and he replies that it was. Others say it is because caravans are infrequent between there and here (Eretz Yisrael) so that if the husband protested that he did not write it, witnesses could not be found to corroborate the signatures of the witnesses, for which reason the rabbis believed the messenger as two, and the protest of the husband no longer availed.] R. Gamliel says: Even one who brings it from Rekem and from Cheger (which are close to Eretz Yisrael, must say: "Before me, etc.") [The Targum for (Genesis 16:14): "between Kadesh and Bared" is "between Rekam and Chagra."] R. Eliezer says: Even from Kfar Ludim [which is outside Eretz Yisrael] to Lud [which is near it, and part of Eretz Yisrael.] And the sages say: Only one who brings a get from abroad and one who takes (a get from Eretz Yisrael abroad) must say: "Before me it was written, and before me, it was signed." And one who brings it from one province to another in medinath hayam must say: "Before me, it was written, and before me, it was signed." R. Shimon b. Gamliel says: Even from one hegemony to another [with distinct jurisdiction].

Gray Matter IV

After the get is written and signed, the first agent appears before a beit din to appoint a person designated by the get administrator in the locale of the wife to serve as his substitute agent. In the context of this appointment, the first agent will perform the required signature confirmation by stating, “This get was written and signed in my presence” (Gittin 1:1). The beit din signs a document corroborating the appointment of the second agent to deliver the get to the wife. The get is then mailed to the second agent, and he delivers the get to the wife in the presence of another beit din. In this manner, an intercity get between almost any two places in the world can be completed from start to finish within a week, something unimaginable in previous generations but often very necessary given contemporary circumstances.
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