Halakhah su Gittin 1:13

One reason is that we avoid calling into question the gittin of earlier generations (Gittin 5b s.v. Motzi La’Az Al Gittin HaRishonim,). The situation resembles that of the change from writing gittin on parchment to writing gittin on paper. The Rama (E.H. 124:2) writes that a get should be written on parchment (custom dictates that a get should resemble a Torah scroll to a certain extent, see Rosh Gittin 1:2) but is acceptable if written on paper. The Taz (E.H. 124:7) notes that during the time of riots (he seems to be referring to the Chmielnicki pogroms of 1648-1649), gittin were written on paper, as parchment was unavailable at that time. After the riots subsided, writes the Taz, the gittin continued to be written on paper so as not to call into question the Gittin written during the riots.

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.

Rav Schachter explained to me that a testator merely needs to sign the shtar chatzi zachar - no further action is required. It takes effect even though the beneficiary of the debt is unaware of it because of the halachic principle “Zachin l’adam shelo b’fanav” (one may acquire something beneficial on behalf of another individual even if the latter is unaware of the acquisition; Gittin 1:6). The heirs, both halachic and non-halachic, also need not be aware of this document, Rav Schachter explained, as all of the transfers happen automatically. Whether they know it or not, the non-halachic heirs receive the money as a result of the need to relieve the halachic heirs of the conditional debt, not as a proper inheritance. The document attesting to the conditional debt is needed only to uphold the halachic validity of the secular will if the halachic heirs challenge it in beit din; the will can be executed even without the heirs’ awareness of the document’s existence. The document itself, though, must be deposited with someone other than the testator in order for the acquisition of the debt to take effect, since the process of zachin l’adam shelo b’fanav involves one person handing something to another person to acquire on behalf of a third party.