Gemara Clarity

Gittin 73a

גיטין ע״ג ע״א

Learn Gittin 73a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Gittin 73a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

A sick husband's conditional גט, the power of the רבנן to cancel קידושין, and whether accepting 'every accident' covers rare accidents

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a discussion of a sick husband's conditional גט. An אומדנא about which illness killed him is needed only if he got up and walked with his cane. The גמרא then rules, with רבי אלעזר quoting רב, that a שכיב מרע who passed straight from one illness to another still gives a valid gift. Next, רבה and רבא reject רב הונא's rule because of a גזירה, and the גמרא explains how the רבנן can cancel even a Torah-level קידושין. A ברייתא about a husband who dies from a house collapse or a snakebite leads into the question of whether accepting 'every accident' includes rare accidents. Through a land-sale case, a challenge from that ברייתא, and a case of sailors on the נהר מלכא, רבא rules that rare accidents are not included. The amud ends with a new משנה: the wife holding such a גט may be alone with her husband only before witnesses. The משנה then asks what her status is in the waiting days, and רבי יהודה's answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְהָא קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן,

And this is what it teaches us:

דְּהָלַךְ עַל מִשְׁעַנְתּוֹ –

that where he walked with his cane,

הוּא דְּבָעֵינַן אוּמְדָּנָא,

that is when we need an assessment;

אִידַּךְ – אוּמְדָּנָא נָמֵי לָא בָּעֵינַן.

in the other case, we do not even need an assessment.

The steps (25)

  1. ResolutionAssessment is needed only if he walked with his cane
  2. QuestionDoes this also apply to a sick man's gift?
  3. ResponseYes, as רב taught
  4. Statementרבה and רבא reject רב הונא's rule because of a decree
  5. ChallengeCan a decree permit a married woman to remarry?
  6. ResolutionThe רבנן can cancel the marriage because every marriage depends on them
  7. Challengeרבינא asks how this works for marriage through intercourse
  8. ResolutionThe רבנן turned the act into one that does not create marriage
  9. StatementA sick man's conditional divorce when he dies from another cause
  10. ChallengeWhat is the difference between the two cases?
  11. StatementA ruling from ארץ ישראל: if a lion ate him, there is no גט
  12. StatementA seller accepts every accident, and then a river is diverted through the field
  13. Statementרבינא rules that the seller must pay
  14. Challengeרב אחא בר תחליפא: this is a rare accident
  15. StatementThe case reaches רבא, who agrees it is a rare accident
  16. Challengeרבינא challenges רבא from the conditional גט
  17. Rejectionרבא points to the first half of the ברייתא
  18. ChallengeDoes a contradiction cancel the proof?
  19. ResolutionThe ברייתא is unreliable, so follow logic
  20. StatementSailors accept every accident, then the river is blocked
  21. StatementThe buyers demand donkeys from the sailors
  22. Conclusionרבא rules that a dammed river is a rare accident
  23. StatementNew משנה: she may be alone with him only before witnesses
  24. StatementEven a slave counts, except her own maidservant
  25. QuestionWhat is the wife's status in the waiting days