Gittin 66a

גיטין ס״ו ע״א

Learn Gittin 66a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A dying man's gift by spoken instruction, a גט ordered from a pit, a healthy man who says 'write a גט,' and choosing agents for a גט

Overview

The amud opens by ruling that רבי אבינא may collect a gift left to him by a dying man, גניבא. The source is רב הונא's comparison: a dying man's גט is like his gift, so just as saying 'write' is enough for a גט, saying 'give' is enough for a gift without a קנין. רבי אבא objects, and the גמרא tries several explanations of what bothered him. In the end his problem is the odd wording 'from wine,' which the sages of ארץ ישראל explain was meant to strengthen the receiver's claim. A new משנה rules that people who hear a man in a pit ask for a גט for his wife may write it and give it. The גמרא answers the worry that the voice is a demon (a 'shadow of a shadow' was seen) and the worry that it is a rival wife (in a time of danger we write and give anyway). Another משנה says a healthy man who only says 'write a גט' is assumed to be teasing, unless his later actions prove he meant it, as in the story of the man who jumped from a roof. The amud ends with רבא ruling that a son can be appointed as an agent even when his father is present, and with the start of a new משנה about a husband who tells two people to give a גט.

Opening lines

The steps (32)

1. Statementרבי אבינא can rely on his teacher רב הונא
2. StatementA spoken 'give' works for a gift just as a spoken 'write' works for a divorce
3. Challengeרבי אבא asks whether the comparison means a גט works after death
4. RejectionThat objection makes no sense
5. ChallengeA second try at רבי אבא's objection: a partial gift needs a קנין
6. ChallengeDoes רב הונא really hold no קנין is needed?
7. ResolutionDifferent here: an instruction given because of death
8. ChallengeCould רבי אבא really think this gift needs a קנין?
9. Challengeרבי אבא's real problem: the wording 'from wine'
10. Resolutionרבי זירא: 'from wine' strengthens the gift
11. Proofארץ ישראל confirms רבי זירא's reading
12. Statementמשנה: a man in a pit orders a גט
13. ChallengeMaybe the voice is a demon
14. Resolutionרב יהודה: they saw a human form
15. ChallengeDemons can look human too
16. ResolutionThey saw that he casts a shadow
17. ChallengeDemons have shadows too
18. ResolutionThey saw a shadow of a shadow
19. ChallengeMaybe demons have that too
20. ResolutionDemons have no shadow of a shadow
21. ChallengeMaybe the voice is a rival wife
22. ResolutionIn a time of danger we write and give anyway
23. StatementA healthy man who only says 'write a גט'
24. StatementThe man who fell from the roof
25. ChallengeWhy bring a story that contradicts the rule?
26. ResolutionThe משנה is missing a line
27. StatementThe man in the synagogue and the teacher who died
28. QuestionWould people choose the son when the father is there?
29. Responseרב נחמן: people don't choose the son
30. Responseרב פפי: people do choose the son
31. Conclusionרבא rules like רב פפי
32. StatementNew משנה: A husband tells two people to give a divorce document to his wife