Si ritiene che anche le donne che non credono che suo marito sia morto la portino in salvo: sua suocera, la figlia di sua suocera, sua co-moglie, il suo yevamah e la figlia di suo marito. [Non si crede che affermino che suo marito sia morto, perché la odiano e la desiderano disfare.] Qual è la differenza tra ottenere e morire (nel caso precedente)? (In get) la scrittura è l'indicatore. Alla donna stessa è permesso di portarla a condizione che dica: "Prima di me, è stata scritta e prima di me è stata firmata". [Questo, solo se il marito stipulava con lei quando le dava il permesso di divorziare solo in un certo momento e che diceva: "Prima di me, era scritto e prima di me era firmato." Beth-din glielo prende dopo averlo detto, e nominano un messaggero per restituirglielo. Ma una donna che porta un get ovunque si trovi è divorziata, anche se il get non è validato attraverso i suoi firmatari, e non ha bisogno di dire: "Prima di me, è stato scritto e prima di me è stato firmato."]
Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
וחמותה ובת חמותה כו' – [they] are not believed to say that her husband died, because they hate her and intend to disgrace her.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Introduction
This mishnah makes reference to Yevamoth 15:4. That mishnah teaches that some women may not testify that another woman’s husband has died. The fear is that these women will intentionally lie in order to trick the woman into remarrying while her husband is still alive, thereby causing an irreparable rupture in their marriage. In our mishnah we learn that although these women are not trusted to testify regarding the death of the husband, they are trusted to deliver a get.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
ובלבד שהיא צריכה לומר בפני נכתב ובפני נחתם – and especially when the husband made a condition with her at the time that he delivered the Jewish bill of divorce to her hand and said to her: You will not be divorced other than in the court of so-and-so, and you will say, “it was written in my presence and signed in my presence.” And the court takes it [i.e., the Jewish bill of divorce] from her hand after she said, “it was written in my presence and signed in my presence,” and appoint an agent who will go back and give it [i.e., the Jewish bill of divorce] to her, but the wife whose Jewish bill of divorce leaves her hand in whatever place she happens to be, is [considered to be] divorced. And even if the Jewish bill of divorce’s signatories are not verified, and she does not have to say, “it was written in my presence and signed in my presence.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Even the women who are not trusted to say “Her husband died,” are trusted to bring her get: her mother-in-law, the daughter of her mother-in-law, her rival wife, her sister-in-law (husband’s brother’s and the daughter of her husband. These five women may dislike or even hate a wife and therefore cannot testify that her husband died (see Yevamoth 15:4). As stated in the introduction, these women may nevertheless deliver a get to a wife, thereby showing to her that she is divorced and allowed to remarry.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
What is the difference between the get and death? The writing [on the get] proves [that she is divorced.] In this section the mishnah questions why these women can deliver a get but not testify regarding a husband’s death. The answer is that the get’s validity is ultimately proved by those who wrote and signed the get, and not by the person who delivered it. Although an agent delivering a get is under certain circumstances required to declare “In my presence it was signed and in my presence it was delivered”, this is not truly testimony, but rather a means of allowing the get to be accepted without checking its validity. This is why those who are not allowed to testify can still deliver a get and make the above declaration. In contrast, testifying that a husband has died is truly testimony. Therefore, since we fear that these women may lie, they are not trusted. [Note that women in general are allowed to testify regarding a husband’s death in order to lessen the problem of wives not knowing if their husbands have died.]
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
A woman may bring her own get but she must say, “In my presence it was signed and in my presence it was delivered.” Theoretically speaking a woman could even bring her own get and this would not be considered testifying about herself, since the writing on the get proves its validity. However, she is still required to state, “In my presence it was signed and in my presence it was delivered”, the statement that is always required when a get is brought from abroad to the land of Israel. This situation could happen if the husband gave her the get outside of Israel but told her that he didn’t want the divorce to be enacted until she reached Israel. A truly Zionist husband!
