Gemara Clarity

Gittin 24a

גיטין כ״ד ע״א

Learn Gittin 24a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Gittin 24a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Why a woman bringing her own גט must declare 'בפני נכתב', how her agency is set up, and the opening משנה on writing a גט לשמה

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a ברייתא that supports אביי. A woman who brings her own גט must say 'בפני נכתב ובפני נחתם', just like the other women who may bring it, and that declaration is only needed outside ארץ ישראל. רב אשי adds that the wording of the משנה points the same way. The גמרא then explains that רב יוסף really does split the משנה: the first and last clauses are outside ארץ ישראל and the middle clause is inside it, because the middle clause says only 'the writing proves'. Next the גמרא asks why a woman bringing her own גט needs to declare anything, since a גט divorces her the moment it reaches her hand. Several setups are tried and rejected: a condition about a specific court, putting the גט on the ground and picking it up, and having her switch from delivery agent to receiving agent. The answers that survive keep her as the husband's delivery agent until she arrives. Then she either appoints a new agent or has the בית דין appoint one, and she receives the גט from that agent. The chapter הַמֵּבִיא גֵּט then ends. The next chapter opens with a משנה teaching that a גט must be written for the specific woman being divorced, even when the names match exactly.

Opening lines

וּמִמָּקוֹם שֶׁבָּאתָ,

And from the place that you came,

מָה לְהַלָּן צְרִיכוֹת שֶׁיֹּאמְרוּ:

just as there, they must say:

״בְּפָנֵינוּ נִכְתַּב וּבְפָנֵינוּ נֶחְתַּם״,

'It was written in our presence and it was signed in our presence,'

אַף הִיא צְרִיכָה שֶׁתֹּאמַר:

so too she must say:

The steps (21)

  1. ProofThe ברייתא ends: the woman must also say 'written and signed in my presence'
  2. Proofרב אשי: the wording of the משנה also supports this
  3. ChallengeHow can רב יוסף split the משנה between two places?
  4. ResolutionYes, רב יוסף really reads it that way
  5. Proofרב יוסף's source: 'the writing proves', not 'writing and speech'
  6. ChallengeWhy does she need to declare anything if she is already divorced?
  7. Resolutionרב הונא: the husband made the divorce depend on a specific court
  8. RejectionRejected: she would be divorced as soon as she arrives
  9. ResolutionSecond answer: put the גט on the ground and pick it up
  10. ChallengeRejected by רבא: picking a גט up from the ground is not a valid giving
  11. ResolutionThird answer: delivery agent on the way, receiving agent on arrival
  12. ChallengeHer delivery agency never goes back to the husband
  13. ResolutionShe appoints a separate agent to receive
  14. ChallengeWhat about the view that she cannot appoint a receiving agent from the husband's agent?
  15. ResolutionThe rule is about the husband's honor, and here he doesn't mind
  16. ChallengeWhat about the view that bases the rule on the חצר worry?
  17. ResolutionShe appoints a new delivery agent and receives the גט from him
  18. ResolutionShe declares before the בית דין, and the court sends the גט to her
  19. Conclusionהדרן: closing the chapter הַמֵּבִיא גֵּט
  20. StatementA גט must be written for a specific woman: the marketplace example
  21. StatementA real גט written for one couple cannot be used by another couple with the same names