Gemara Clarity

Gittin 36a

גיטין ל״ו ע״א

Learn Gittin 36a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Gittin 36a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Vows made על דעת רבים, why witnesses sign a גט מפני תיקון העולם, and how הלל's פרוסבול works

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a discussion about making a כהן take a vow that cannot easily be undone. The גמרא settles on a vow made על דעת רבים, which אמימר rules cannot be undone. It then adds a limit: such a vow can be undone for a דבר מצוה, as in the story of the children's teacher whom רבינא brought back. Next, the גמרא asks how the משנה can call witnesses signing a גט a rabbinic fix (תיקון העולם) when signing seems to come from the Torah. רבה answers that the משנה follows רבי אלעזר, for whom the signatures are only a rabbinic backup. רב יוסף answers that the fix was making witnesses write out their full names, as רבן גמליאל taught, and the גמרא explains why great rabbis could still sign with a well-known mark. Finally, the גמרא turns to הלל's פרוסבול and asks how a rabbinic enactment can stop שביעית from cancelling debts. אביי answers that nowadays, according to רבי, cancelling debts is only rabbinic, because it depends on the release of land.

Opening lines

דְּמַדְּרִינַן לֵיהּ בְּרַבִּים.

That we administer the vow to him in public.

הָנִיחָא לְמַאן דְּאָמַר

This works out well according to the one who says

נֶדֶר שֶׁהוּדַּר בְּרַבִּים – אֵין לוֹ הֲפָרָה;

a vow made in public has no undoing;

אֶלָּא לְמַאן דְּאָמַר יֵשׁ לוֹ הֲפָרָה,

but according to the one who says it does have undoing,

The steps (21)

  1. ResolutionThe vow is administered in public
  2. ChallengeBut some say even a public vow can be undone
  3. ResolutionThe vow is made based on the public's consent
  4. Proofאמימר rules a vow on the public's consent cannot be undone
  5. StatementException: such a vow can be undone for a מצוה
  6. ProofThe story of the children's teacher
  7. StatementNew line of the משנה: witnesses sign the גט
  8. ChallengeSigning is already required by the Torah
  9. Resolutionרבה: The משנה follows רבי אלעזר
  10. Resolutionרב יוסף: Even רבי מאיר agrees, because the fix was writing full names
  11. ProofThe old practice: witnesses signed without full names
  12. Proofרבן גמליאל: A great fix that witnesses write full names
  13. ChallengeGreat rabbis signed with only a mark
  14. ResolutionEveryone knew the rabbis' marks
  15. QuestionHow did the marks first become known
  16. ResponseThey first used the marks in letters
  17. StatementWhy הלל made the פרוסבול
  18. StatementThe wording of the פרוסבול
  19. ChallengeHow can הלל undo a Torah law?
  20. Resolutionאביי: it is about שביעית nowadays, following רבי
  21. Proofרבי's source: debts are cancelled only when land is released