Gittin, Daf Gimmel, Part 5

Introduction

This is the mishnah from which we learn that Rabbi Elazar does not actually require witnesses to sign the get. This mishnah is found in the last chapter of Gittin and we will learn it again there. My commentary here is from Mishnah Yomit.

This mishnah teaches that there are three gittin which are invalid, but nevertheless if a woman were to remarry on the strength of one of them, a child from the subsequent marriage is not a mamzer, as he would be were the get to be completely invalid. In other words, lechatchilah ab initio the woman should not remarry based on one of these gittin. However, bediavad ex post facto if she has married using one of these gittin, her subsequent marriage is not considered adulterous. Another way of putting this is that the get is kosher deoraitta according to Torah law, but the rabbis declared it invalid derabanan from rabbinic authority.

דִּתְנַן שְׁלֹשָׁה גִּיטִּין פְּסוּלִין וְאִם נִיסַּת הַוָּלָד כָּשֵׁר כָּתַב בִּכְתַב יָדוֹ וְאֵין עָלָיו עֵדִים יֵשׁ עָלָיו עֵדִים וְאֵין בּוֹ זְמַן יֵשׁ בּוֹ זְמַן וְאֵין בּוֹ אֶלָּא עֵד אֶחָד הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ שְׁלֹשָׁה גִּיטִּין פְּסוּלִין וְאִם נִיסַּת הַוָּלָד כָּשֵׁר

רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אוֹמֵר אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵין עָלָיו עֵדִים אֶלָּא שֶׁנְּתָנוֹ לָהּ בִּפְנֵי עֵדִים כָּשֵׁר וְגוֹבֶה מִנְּכָסִים מְשׁוּעְבָּדִים שֶׁאֵין הָעֵדִים חוֹתְמִים עַל הַגֵּט אֶלָּא מִפְּנֵי תִּיקּוּן הָעוֹלָם

There are three gittin which are invalid but if a woman marries [on the strength of one of them] the child is fit:

1) If the husband wrote it with his own hand but there are no witnesses on it.

2) If there are witnesses on it but no date.

3) If it has a date but only one witness.

These are three gittin which are invalid but if a woman marries [on the strength of one of them] the child is fit.

Rabbi Elazar says even though there are no witnesses on it, as long as he gave it to her in the presence of witnesses it is valid, [and on the strength of it] she may collect her ketubah [even] from mortgaged property, since the witnesses only sign on the get because of tikkun olam.

Get #1: If the husband wrote the get in his own hand, it will be easy to verify that he wrote the get through comparison of his handwriting. Therefore, the get is valid, at least bediavad/deoraita. However, witnesses are always preferable and considered to be more conclusive. Therefore, the rabbis said that the get was invalid and that lechatchilah a woman should not remarry using it.

Get #2: The rabbis declared that a get without a date is invalid. We learned above in mishnah 2:2, that without a date we fear that the woman may improperly collect her ketubah from mortgaged property. However, the get is not completely invalid and if she uses it to remarry, her subsequent child is not a mamzer.

Get #3: In this case, there is only one witness, and not the two that are normally required. Again, the get is invalid, at least derabbanan, but nevertheless if she does use it to remarry the subsequently born child is not a mamzer.

Rabbi Elazar goes even further than does the previous opinion and claims that even if there are no witnesses on the get, the get is completely valid and may even be used to collect the ketubah from the husband s mortgaged property. Certainly, she can remarry, according to Rabbi Elazar, on the strength of this get. Rabbi Elazar holds that the witnesses who are essential in the divorce process are not those who sign on the get, but rather those who witness the husband transfer the get to the wife. The only reason that witnesses sign on the get is for tikkun olam the improvement of the world. It will be easier for the woman to certify the validity of her get using the signatures on the get, and hence they sign for her benefit. If she decides to remarry without such benefit, it is her right.