Gittin 15a

גיטין ט״ו ע״א

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Topic

Deathbed gifts and money sent through a שליח, then the opening משנה of the second פרק on an agent who saw only part of a גט being written or signed

Overview

The עמוד opens with the end of the רבנן's proof story. A dying mother gave her valuable brooch to her daughter, and the חכמים honored it. רבי אלעזר rejects the proof, saying the sons of רוכל were wicked. The גמרא then lines up every opinion in the ברייתא about money sent through a שליח. Each one depends on two questions: is a real קנין needed, and is it a מצוה to fulfill the words of the dead? A side question about whether רבי שמעון הנשיא was himself a נשיא ends in תיקו. The גמרא then defends רב יוסף's ruling by setting it in the case of a healthy sender who is still alive. After the הדרן, the second פרק opens with a משנה about an agent who saw only part of a גט being written or signed, or whose testimony is split with someone else. The גמרא explains why this משנה is needed, clarifies which half was written in front of him, and brings רב חסדא's ruling that the two ways of proving a גט cannot be mixed. רבא challenges that reasoning and begins his own explanation, which continues on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

The steps (27)

1. ProofThe brooch story: the Sages honored a dying woman's gift
2. Rejectionרבי אלעזר pushes the story aside
3. StatementSorting the first opinions of the ברייתא
4. Statementרבי יהודה הנשיא: a קנין is needed, but there is a מצוה to fulfill the dead's words
5. StatementThe last opinions: divide it, the agent's judgment, and a story
6. QuestionWas רבי שמעון הנשיא himself a נשיא?
7. ProofA try: רב יוסף calls him רבי שמעון הנשיא
8. RejectionThe proof does not settle it
9. ConclusionThe question stays unanswered
10. StatementGoing back to רב יוסף's ruling
11. ChallengeChallenge from the rule about a dying person's words
12. Resolutionרב יוסף is talking about a healthy sender
13. ChallengeChallenge: the sender has died, and we must carry out the words of the dead
14. ResolutionChange the wording: return it to the sender
15. ConclusionHadran — Closing the chapter הַמֵּבִיא קַמָּא
16. StatementNew chapter: an agent who saw only part of the writing or signing
17. StatementThe rest of the משנה: when the writing and the signing are seen by different people
18. ChallengeWhy do we need this משנה at all?
19. ResolutionThe first משנה could be read as only the ideal way
20. QuestionWhich half was written in front of him?
21. ChallengeIt cannot be the first half, because of רבי אלעזר
22. Resolutionרב אשי: it means the latter half
23. Statementרב חסדא: still invalid even if two confirm the second signature
24. QuestionWhat is רב חסדא's reason?
25. ResponseAll one method or all the other
26. ChallengeCan two people be worse than one?
27. Statementרבא begins his own explanation