Gittin 90b
גיטין צ׳ ע״ב
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Topic
The end of מסכת גיטין: when divorce is a מצוה, and why divorcing a first wife is so painful
Overview
This amud closes מסכת גיטין. It first finishes a ברייתא about a husband who ignores his wife's immodest behavior. The גמרא corrects one phrase: she cannot literally bathe 'with men,' so it means she bathes in a place where men bathe. The ברייתא rules that divorcing such a wife is a מצוה מן התורה. It reads 'another man' (איש אחר) as a judgment on the next husband: he brought in the wicked woman the first husband sent away. So the next husband either merits to divorce her or deserves to die. The גמרא then quotes 'כי שנא שלח' from מלאכי. רבי יהודה reads it as 'if you hate her, divorce her,' and רבי יוחנן reads it as 'the one who divorces is hated.' The גמרא says they do not argue: one speaks of a first marriage and the other of a second. רבי אלעזר proves that a first marriage is special: when a man divorces his first wife, even the מזבח sheds tears. The מסכת ends with the הדרן.
Opening lines
וּפְרוּמָה מִשְּׁנֵי צְדָדֶיהָ,
and with her garment open on both sides,
וְרוֹחֶצֶת עִם בְּנֵי אָדָם.
and bathing with men.
״עִם בְּנֵי אָדָם״ סָלְקָא דַּעְתָּךְ?!
'With men'? Could that enter your mind?!
אֶלָּא בִּמְקוֹם שֶׁבְּנֵי אָדָם רוֹחֲצִין.
Rather, in a place where men bathe.
The steps (11)
- StatementThe last details of the immodest wife
- ChallengeCould she really bathe with men?
- ResolutionIt means a place where men bathe
- StatementA Torah מצוה to divorce her
- StatementWhy the next husband is called 'another'
- StatementIf the second husband merits, he divorces her
- StatementIf not, she buries him
- StatementTwo readings of 'For I hate sending away'
- ResolutionNo real dispute: first marriage versus second marriage
- ProofThe altar cries over one who divorces his first wife
- ConclusionHadran — Closing פרק המגרש and מסכת גיטין