Gittin 2

הַמֵּבִיא גֵט מִמְּדִינַת הַיָּם וְאָמַר, בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב אֲבָל לֹא בְּפָנַי נֶחְתָּם, בְּפָנַי נֶחְתָּם אֲבָל לֹא בְּפָנַי נִכְתָּב, בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב כֻּלּוֹ וּבְפָנַי נֶחְתַּם חֶצְיוֹ, בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב חֶצְיוֹ וּבְפָנַי נֶחְתַּם כֻּלּוֹ, פָּסוּל. אֶחָד אוֹמֵר בְּפָנַי נִכְתָּב, וְאֶחָד אוֹמֵר בְּפָנַי נֶחְתָּם, פָּסוּל. שְׁנַיִם אוֹמְרִים בְּפָנֵינוּ נִכְתָּב, וְאֶחָד אוֹמֵר בְּפָנַי נֶחְתָּם, פָּסוּל. וְרַבִּי יְהוּדָה מַכְשִׁיר. אֶחָד אוֹמֵר בְּפָנַי נִכְתָּב, וּשְׁנַיִם אוֹמְרִים בְּפָנֵינוּ נֶחְתָּם, כָּשֵׁר:

If one brings a get from abroad and says: "Before me, it was written, but it was not signed before me"; "Before me, it was signed, but it was not written before me"; "Before me, all of it was written, and before me, half of it was signed" [i.e., one of the witnesses signed]; "Before me, half of it was written, and before me, all of it was signed" — it is invalid. [This, if only the last half (were written); but (if he said:) "Before me, the first half (containing the names of the man and the woman and the date) was written," it is valid. And for the first half, too, it is not necessary that he witness the writing itself; but if he heard the sound of the pen upon the paper at the time of writing, it is sufficient.] If one says: "Before me, it was written," and the other: "Before me, it was signed," it is invalid. [This, when the get is brought by one of them. For the rabbis required the messenger bringing the get to say both. But if the get were brought by both, it is valid, two who bring a get not being required to say: "Before me, it was written and before me it was signed." If two say: "Before us, it was written," and one says: "Before me, it was signed," it is invalid. [This, when the get is brought by one of them; but if it is brought by both, it is valid.] And R. Yehudah rules it valid [even if it is brought by one of them. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Yehudah.]

נִכְתַּב בַּיּוֹם וְנֶחְתַּם בַּיּוֹם, בַּלַּיְלָה וְנֶחְתַּם בַּלַּיְלָה, בַּלַּיְלָה וְנֶחְתַּם בַּיּוֹם, כָּשֵׁר. בַּיּוֹם וְנֶחְתַּם בַּלַּיְלָה, פָּסוּל. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן מַכְשִׁיר, שֶׁהָיָה רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, כָּל הַגִּטִּין שֶׁנִּכְתְּבוּ בַיּוֹם וְנֶחְתְּמוּ בַלַּיְלָה, פְּסוּלִין, חוּץ מִגִּטֵּי נָשִׁים:

If it were written in the daytime and signed in the daytime; in the night, and signed at night; at night, and signed in the daytime — it is valid. [For the day appertains to the night (preceding it), so that it (the date on the get) is not mukdam (prior, to the date of the signing)]. (If it were written) in the daytime, and signed at night, it is invalid. [For it is mukdam. The rabbis instituted a date in gittin as a decree, lest one be married to his sister's daughter, and she be adulterous, and he, pitying her, that she not be put to death by strangulation, give her an undated get, so that when they testify against her in beth-din, she could produce her get and say: "I was divorced and single at that time."] R. Shimon rules it valid, R. Shimon saying that all gittin written in the daytime and signed at night are invalid, except for the gittin of women. [For R. Shimon holds that the sages instituted a date in gittin because of fruits. For if there were no date on the get, the husband could continue selling the nichsei melog fruits of his wife after divorcing her, and when a claim were brought against him, he could say: "I sold them before the divorce." And, accordingly, R. Shimon rules that a get written in the daytime and signed at night is valid, even though it is mukdam; for he holds that once her husband determined to divorce her, even though he did not yet do so, he no longer has title to the fruits. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Shimon.]

בַּכֹּל כּוֹתְבִין, בִּדְיוֹ, בְּסַם, בְּסִקְרָא, וּבְקוֹמוֹס, וּבְקַנְקַנְתּוֹם, וּבְכָל דָּבָר שֶׁהוּא שֶׁל קְיָמָא. אֵין כּוֹתְבִין לֹא בְמַשְׁקִים, וְלֹא בְמֵי פֵרוֹת, וְלֹא בְכָל דָּבָר שֶׁאֵינוֹ מִתְקַיֵּם. עַל הַכֹּל כּוֹתְבִין, עַל הֶעָלֶה שֶׁל זַיִת, וְעַל הַקֶּרֶן שֶׁל פָּרָה, וְנוֹתֵן לָהּ אֶת הַפָּרָה, עַל יָד שֶׁל עֶבֶד, וְנוֹתֵן לָהּ אֶת הָעָבֶד. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַגְּלִילִי אוֹמֵר, אֵין כּוֹתְבִין לֹא עַל דָּבָר שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ רוּחַ חַיִּים, וְלֹא עַל הָאֳכָלִין:

Gittin can be written with all things: with ink, with paint, with sikra [a red dye], with gum resin, with vitriol, and with all (other) things whose impression remains. They are not written with juices or with fruit-liquid, or with any (other) thing whose impression does not remain. Gittin are written on all things: on a [torn-off] olive leaf, on the horn of a cow (and he gives her the cow) [for he cannot cut the horn off after he writes it, it being written (Deuteronomy 24:1): "And he shall write her a scroll of divorce, and he shall place it in her hand" — that which lacks only writing and giving; to exclude that which lacks writing, cutting and giving]; on the hand of a bondsman, and he gives her the bondsman. R. Yossi Haglili says: Gittin are not written on things which have a spirit of life, and not on foods. [For the Torah called a get "sefer" (a scroll). Just as a scroll is characterized by not having a spirit of life and not being edible, so, all that does not have a spirit of life and is not edible. And the rabbis say: if it were written: "in a sefer," it would be as you say. But now that it is written "sefer," sefirath devarim ("relating details" of the get) is the intent. The halachah is in accordance with the sages.]

אֵין כּוֹתְבִין בִּמְחֻבָּר לַקַּרְקַע. כְּתָבוֹ בִמְחֻבָּר, תְּלָשׁוֹ וַחֲתָמוֹ וּנְתָנוֹ לָהּ, כָּשֵׁר. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה פוֹסֵל, עַד שֶׁתְּהֵא כְתִיבָתוֹ וַחֲתִימָתוֹ בְּתָלוּשׁ. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה בֶּן בְּתֵירָא אוֹמֵר, אֵין כּוֹתְבִין לֹא עַל הַנְּיָר הַמָּחוּק וְלֹא עַל הַדִּפְתְּרָא, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא יָכוֹל לְהִזְדַּיֵּף. וַחֲכָמִים מַכְשִׁירִין:

Gittin are not written on what is attached to the ground, ["cutting" lacking]. If it were written on what was attached, torn off, signed, and given to her, it is valid. [This is what is meant: If he wrote the tofess (the entire get excluding the place of the man, the place of the woman, and the date) on something attached to the ground, and it were torn off and signed — that is, if he wrote the toref (the place of the man and the woman and the date) after it were torn off, it is valid. For since the toref was written on what was torn off, even though the tofess was written on what was attached, it is valid.] R. Yehudah rules it to be invalid, until it be both written and signed on what is detached. R. Yehudah b. Betheira says: Gittin are written neither on erased paper nor on diftera, for it lends itself to forging. And the sages permit it. [("neither on erased paper":) For he can erase what he wishes up to the (signatures of the) witnesses, and write above it what he wishes, without anything being noticed, the witnesses, too, being signed on what is erased. ("diftera":) Its erasure is not noticeable. Diftera is a skin prepared with salt and flour, but not with gall-nut. ("And the sages permit it":) with gittin only, the sages holding that the witnesses of delivery (of the get to the woman) effect the divorce, and not the witnesses of the signing. But with other writs, where the witnesses of the signing are relied upon, the sages agree that they are written neither on erased paper nor on diftera. The halachah is in accordance with the sages.]

הַכֹּל כְּשֵׁרִין לִכְתֹּב אֶת הַגֵּט, אֲפִלּוּ חֵרֵשׁ, שׁוֹטֶה וְקָטָן. הָאִשָּׁה כוֹתֶבֶת אֶת גִּטָּהּ, וְהָאִישׁ כּוֹתֵב אֶת שׁוֹבְרוֹ, שֶׁאֵין קִיּוּם הַגֵּט אֶלָּא בְחוֹתְמָיו. הַכֹּל כְּשֵׁרִין לְהָבִיא אֶת הַגֵּט, חוּץ מֵחֵרֵשׁ, שׁוֹטֶה וְקָטָן וְסוּמָא וְנָכְרִי:

All are fit to write a get, even a deaf-mute, an imbecile, and a minor. [This, on condition that an adult stands over him and tells him: "Write it on behalf of that man." But a gentile or a bondsman, even if an adult stands over him, should not write the get ab initio, for they are of independent intellect, and act on their own behalf; so that even if an adult tells them to write it for someone else, they write it on their own. And if a gentile or a bondsman writes the tofess of the get, and a knowing Israelite writes the toref — the name of the man and the woman and the date, all of these requiring lishmah (specific intent) — the get is valid. Likewise, a deaf-mute, an imbecile, and a minor, who, according to our Mishnah, are fit to write a get, are fit only with respect to the tofess, but, with respect to the toref, it is not valid unless written by a knowing, adult Israelite.] The woman may write her get, and the man may write his receipt (of payment of the kethubah). For the get takes effect only through its signatories. All are fit to bring the get, except a deaf-mute, an imbecile, and a minor, [who lack independent intellect], one who is blind [He is not qualified to bring the get from abroad, not being able to say: "Before me, it was written, and before me it was signed." But to bring a get in Eretz Yisrael, where he need not say: "Before me, it was written, and before me it was signed" — or even abroad, if the get is validated through its signatories, or to be the woman's messenger to receive her get — for all of these, a blind man is fit], and a gentile. [For he is not included in the Law of gittin and kiddushin (marriage). And in an area where he himself is not included, he cannot serve as a messenger for another.]

קִבֵּל הַקָּטָן וְהִגְדִּיל, חֵרֵשׁ וְנִתְפַּקֵּחַ, סוּמָא וְנִתְפַּתֵּחַ, שׁוֹטֶה וְנִשְׁתַּפָּה, נָכְרִי וְנִתְגַּיֵּר, פָּסוּל. אֲבָל פִּקֵּחַ וְנִתְחָרֵשׁ וְחָזַר וְנִתְפַּקֵּחַ, פָּתוּחַ וְנִסְתַּמֵּא וְחָזַר וְנִתְפַּתֵּחַ, שָׁפוּי וְנִשְׁתַּטָּה וְחָזַר וְנִשְׁתַּפָּה, כָּשֵׁר. זֶה הַכְּלָל, כָּל שֶׁתְּחִלָּתוֹ וְסוֹפוֹ בְדַעַת, כָּשֵׁר:

If the minor received [the get from the husband's hand], and [before he gave it to her] came of age; if he were a deaf-mute, and regained his faculties; if he were blind, and regained his sight; if he were an imbecile and regained his intellect; if he were a gentile, and became a proselyte, it is invalid. But if he possesses his faculties, and then became a deaf-mute, and then regained his faculties; if he possessed sight, and then became blind, and then regained his sight [(it is valid) even if he did not regain his sight. For since he possessed sight when he received the get, he is qualified to be a messenger, being able to say: "Before me, it was written, and before me it was signed." But since we must learn later: "and then he regained his intellect," that he must be of independent intellect at the time of giving, we also learn in the beginning: "and then he regained his sight." And all who are unfit to testify by reason of transgression are not fit to bring the get, not being believed to say: "Before me, it was written, and before me it was signed." And if the get were validated through its signatories, they are fit to bring it.]; if he possessed intellect, and then became an imbecile, and then regained his intellect, it is valid. This is the rule: Wherever there is da'ath (independent intellect) in the beginning and in the end, it (the get) is valid.

אַף הַנָּשִׁים שֶׁאֵינָן נֶאֱמָנוֹת לוֹמַר מֵת בַּעְלָהּ, נֶאֱמָנוֹת לְהָבִיא אֶת גִּטָּהּ, חֲמוֹתָהּ וּבַת חֲמוֹתָהּ וְצָרָתָהּ וִיבִמְתָּהּ וּבַת בַּעְלָהּ. מַה בֵּין גֵּט לְמִיתָה, שֶׁהַכְּתָב מוֹכִיחַ. הָאִשָּׁה עַצְמָהּ מְבִיאָה אֶת גִּטָּהּ, וּבִלְבַד שֶׁהִיא צְרִיכָה לוֹמַר, בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב וּבְפָנַי נֶחְתָּם:

Even the women who are not believed to say that her husband died are believed to bring her get: her mother-in-law, the daughter of her mother-in-law, her co-wife, her yevamah, and her husband's daughter. [They are not believed to say that her husband died, for they hate her and desire her undoing.] What is the difference between a get and death (in the above instance)? (In the get) the writing is the indicator. The woman herself is permitted to bring her get, so long as she says: "Before me, it was written and before me it was signed." [This, only if the husband stipulated with her when he gave her the get that she be divorced only in a certain beth-din and that she say: "Before me, it was written, and before me it was signed." Beth-din take it from her after she says this, and they appoint a messenger to return it to her. But a woman who brings a get wherever she may be is divorced, even if the get is not validated through its signatories, and she need not say: "Before me, it was written, and before me it was signed."]