Gemara Clarity

Gittin 6b

גיטין ו׳ ע״ב

Learn Gittin 6b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The value of 'בפני נכתב ובפני נחתם,' רבי אביתר's ruling and reliability, and the danger of excessive fear at home

Overview

The גמרא explains that even where a שליח does not have to say 'בפני נכתב ובפני נחתם,' saying it helps. If the husband later challenges the גט, nobody listens to him. A ברייתא proves this: רבי ישמעאל told a man from כפר סיסאי to make the declaration, even though רבי אלעאי pointed out that the village counts as ארץ ישראל. Next, רבי אביתר rules that גיטין coming from בבל to ארץ ישראל need no declaration. The גמרא explains that so many people travel between the two lands that witnesses to confirm the גט are easy to find. רב יוסף doubts רבי אביתר's reliability, because he wrote a פסוק without lined parchment. אביי defends him: that rule is a tradition he may not have heard, and הקדוש ברוך הוא Himself quotes him in the story of the פילגש בגבעה. From that story, רב חסדא and רב warn against ruling a home with too much fear. רבה בר בר חנה then begins a comment on the three reminders said at home before שבת, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְאִי עֲבַדְתְּ – אַהְנֵית.

And if you do it, you have helped.

מַאי ״אִי עֲבַדְתְּ אַהְנֵית״?

What does 'if you do it, you have helped' mean?

דְּאִי אָתֵי בַּעַל מְעַרְעַר,

That if the husband comes and challenges it,

לָא מַשְׁגְּחִינַן בֵּיהּ.

we pay no attention to him.

The steps (24)

  1. QuestionWhat does 'if you do it, you help' mean?
  2. ResponseThe husband's challenge is ignored
  3. Proofרבי ישמעאל tells the man from כפר סיסאי to make the declaration
  4. Challengeרבי אלעאי objects that כפר סיסאי counts as ארץ ישראל
  5. ResolutionSince it was done in a permitted way, it stands
  6. ChallengeWhy did רבי אלעאי need to ask?
  7. Resolutionרבי אלעאי did not hear the full statement
  8. Statementרבי אביתר: גיטין from בבל need no declaration
  9. QuestionIs it because Babylonians know the law of לשמה?
  10. Rejectionרבה also accepts רבא's reason
  11. ResolutionWitnesses are easy to find because many people travel
  12. Rejectionרב יוסף doubts רבי אביתר's reliability
  13. Proofרב יוסף's evidence: רבי אביתר's letter to רב יהודה
  14. ChallengeThe rule that shows רבי אביתר made a mistake
  15. RejectionNot knowing a tradition does not make someone less of a scholar
  16. Proofרבי אביתר's opinion on the פילגש בגבעה
  17. Proofאליהו reports that הקדוש ברוך הוא quotes רבי אביתר
  18. ChallengeCan Heaven Be Unsure?
  19. ResolutionBoth Opinions Are True: A Fly, Then a Hair
  20. StatementWhere the Fly and Hair Were Found: רב יהודה
  21. StatementSecond Version: Both Were in the Dish
  22. StatementNever Impose Too Much Fear at Home
  23. StatementToo Much Fear Leads to Three Sins
  24. StatementThree things to say at home before שבת