Gittin, Daf Bet, Part 1

 

Introduction to Tractate Gittin

 

The laws of divorce are taught in only four verses in Deuteronomy 24:1-4, verses which directly deal with the prohibition of remarriage. Interestingly, the Torah addresses the issue of divorce almost as an aside, something which everyone would know without a description.

The first two verses read, When a man takes a wife and has relations with her, and if she does not find favor in his eyes because he finds something obnoxious about her, and he writes her a bill of divorcement, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house; and she leaves his household and becomes the wife of another man

 

From here the rabbis learn that divorce must be performed with a document, called a get which is Aramaic for document (and not connected to the English word, as in get out of my house!). Divorce without a properly written document is invalid. Most of the laws of this tractate deal with how this document must be written and given. The rules can be quite strict, and to this day, gittin (the plural of get) are written by professional scribes.

 

In Jewish law, the man must give the divorce document to his wife; she may not write a get and give it to him. However, under certain circumstances, many of which were discussed in Ketuboth, the court may force the husband to give his wife a get.

 

The grounds for divorce, while a very important issue in divorce law, are not discussed until the last mishnah of the tractate.

 

We should note that the issue of divorce was an issue of controversy among different groups of Jews in this period. As is well-known, Jesus, according to one of the gospels, took a strong stance against divorce. Less well-known is the fact that the Dead Sea sect also, in all likelihood, opposed divorce. The rabbis were in general quite lenient on divorce. How easy divorce should be, is something about which we can argue. Some may say too-easy divorce will lead to instability in marriage, while others may claim that easily attainable divorce is desirable, since a bad marriage is worse than a broken marriage. I should point out something that is not usually mentioned in these arguments. In the time of the Mishnah (and indeed until recently) marriages were typically arranged by the parents of the couple, while divorce was a decision taken by those married (or at least by the man). Those who allow for divorce provide more autonomy for the feelings of the couple than do those who forbid or put severe restrictions on divorce. Allowing divorce is in a sense saying that staying married is a decision based on the feelings of the couple themselves, be they feelings of love or security. Forbidding divorce causes the parents decision to become permanent, allowing no or little expression for the couple themselves.

 

Finally, we should note an important change in divorce law that was legislated around the year 1000 C.E. Rabbenu Gershom, a leading Ashkenazi rabbi, made a decree that men could not divorce their wives against their consent. This was an important balance to his other famous decree that prohibited bigamy. However, during the mishnaic and talmudic periods polygyny was permitted and men could divorce their wives against their will.

 

Introduction to First Mishnah

This mishnah teaches that messengers who deliver divorce documents from abroad must declare that the document was written and signed in their presence. In the Talmud we will see two explanations for this requirement. The first is that if the husband comes to protest the get, saying that he did not send it, the people who heard the messenger testify that he saw it written and signed will be able to disregard a husband s potential appeal. This is especially important if his wife had already remarried and had children. If her get is invalidated, her subsequent children would become mamzerim. The reason why the testimony of the messenger is only necessary if he comes from abroad is that in such a case it would be more difficult to find the original witnesses. Furthermore, in the ancient world travel was often dangerous, and the original witnesses could not always travel to testify concerning the validity of the get. The testimony of the messenger makes it easier to uphold the validity of the get, in essence a service for the woman. The other opinion in the Talmud, which is really an additional opinion, is that outside of the Land of Israel they were not knowledgeable in writing gittin. Therefore, someone who came from abroad had to testify that it was written properly. Those which were written in the Land of Israel did not need such testimony.

 

הַמֵּבִיא גֵּט מִמְּדִינַת הַיָּם צָרִיךְ שֶׁיֹּאמַר בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב וּבְפָנַי נֶחְתַּם

רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר אַף הַמֵּבִיא מִן הָרְקָם וּמִן הַחֶגֶר

רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר אֲפִילּוּ מִכְּפַר לוּדִּים לְלוֹד

וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים אֵינוֹ צָרִיךְ שֶׁיֹּאמַר בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב וּבְפָנַי נֶחְתַּם אֶלָּא הַמֵּבִיא מִמְּדִינַת הַיָּם

 

1)    One who brings a get from abroad [to the Land of Israel] must declare, In my presence it was written and in my presence it was signed.

2)    Rabban Gamaliel says: even one who brings it from Rekem or from Heger.

a)    Rabbi Eliezer says: even one who brings it from Kefar Ludim to Lud.

b)    The sages, however, say: declaration In my presence it was written and in my presence it was signed is required only from one who brings a get from abroad

 

Section one: This section was explained in the introduction.

Section two: The tannaim in this section, Rabban Gamaliel, Rabbi Eliezer and the other sages disagree with regard to the applicability of the halakhah in section one. According to Rabban Gamaliel, even if a messenger brings a get from towns such as Rekem or Heger which lie on the border, he must recite the formula. This is either because it is hard to bring the witnesses from these towns to testify, or because people who live on the border do not know how to properly write gittin. Rabbi Elazar adds that even if the two cities lie adjacent but one is in the land of Israel and one is not, such as Kefar Ludim, which is outside and Lud which is inside, one must still recite the formula. However, the sages disagree and hold that the formula must be recited only by one who brings a get from abroad. I should note that the Talmud cuts off the mishnah here, before the next line which states or one who brings one back from there. We will discuss this when we learn the Talmud.