Gemara Clarity

Gittin 71b

גיטין ע״א ע״ב

Learn Gittin 71b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A חרש divorcing with a גט and the חכמים' dispute with רבן שמעון בן גמליאל; then a new משנה on whether a husband's spoken instructions for a גט can be passed through an agent (רבי מאיר vs. רבי יוסי).

Overview

The עמוד opens by finishing a discussion about how a חרש יבם can divorce his יבמה. A משנה in יבמות allows deaf-mute brothers to do יבום and later divorce, with no special decree. Because of that משנה, the גמרא drops its second answer and returns to its first. רבי יוחנן then reports that the חכמים disagree with רבן שמעון בן גמליאל and do not accept a deaf-mute's written instructions. אביי tries to prove this from the word 'עולמית' (never) in a משנה. רב פפא shows that the word can be read two other ways. One reading follows רבי יצחק: a שוטה wife can be divorced by Torah law and is blocked only by the חכמים. A new משנה follows: if the husband only said 'Write' and middlemen instructed the סופר and עדים, the גט is void. The גמרא asks whether this משנה follows רבי מאיר or רבי יוסי on passing spoken instructions to an agent. It tests several readings against the משנה's wording. The עמוד ends with רב חסדא asking whose view a related משנה follows, and his answer comes on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

וְהָתְנַן:

But didn't we learn in a mishna:

שְׁנֵי אַחִין חֵרְשִׁין –

Two deaf-mute brothers

נְשׂוּאִין שְׁתֵּי אֲחָיוֹת פִּיקְּחוֹת,

married to two competent sisters,

אוֹ שְׁתֵּי אֲחָיוֹת חֵרְשׁוֹת,

or to two deaf-mute sisters,

The steps (23)

  1. ChallengeQuoting a משנה about brothers married to sisters
  2. ChallengeUnrelated women may be married and later divorced
  3. ConclusionReturning to the first answer
  4. StatementThe חכמים disagree with רבן שמעון בן גמליאל
  5. Proofאביי brings support from a משנה that says 'never'
  6. Rejectionרב פפא: without רבי יוחנן, the משנה could be read differently
  7. RejectionAnother reading: 'never' contrasts the husband with the wife, following רבי יצחק
  8. StatementWhy the חכמים blocked divorcing a שוטה wife
  9. StatementNew משנה: The Husband Only Said 'Write'
  10. QuestionInference: Saying 'Give' Would Work. Whose View Is That?
  11. ResponseThe First Part Follows רבי מאיר
  12. ChallengeBut the End of the משנה Follows רבי יוסי
  13. ChallengeCan One משנה Follow Two Opposite Views?
  14. ResolutionYes, the משנה Is Split
  15. Resolutionאביי: The whole משנה follows רבי מאיר
  16. ChallengeThen the משנה should have said 'until he says Give'
  17. ResolutionThe husband did not speak to three people
  18. ChallengeThen the משנה should have said 'to three'
  19. ResolutionThe whole משנה follows רבי יוסי
  20. ChallengeThen the משנה should have said 'until he says Say'
  21. ChallengeDoes רבי יוסי even accept 'Say'?
  22. ProofA משנה about a scribe and one witness
  23. Questionרב חסדא asks whose view the משנה follows