Gittin, Daf Vav, Part 4

 

שְׁלַח לֵיהּ רַבִּי אֶבְיָתָר לְרַב חִסְדָּא גִּיטִּין הַבָּאִים מִשָּׁם לְכָאן אֵין צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב וּבְפָנַי נֶחְתַּם

לֵימָא קָסָבַר לְפִי שֶׁאֵין בְּקִיאִין לִשְׁמָהּ וְהָנֵי גְּמִירִי

וְתִסְבְּרָא וְהָא רַבָּה אִית לֵיהּ דְּרָבָא אֶלָּא דְּכוּלֵּי עָלְמָא בָּעֵינַן לְקַיְּימוֹ וְכֵיוָן דְּאִיכָּא רַבִּים דְּסָלְקִי וְנָחֲתִי מִישְׁכָּח שְׁכִיחִי

 

Rabbi Evyatar sent to R. Hisda: Gittin that come from there (Israel) to here (Babylonia) one does not need to say, It was written in my presence and signed in my presence.

Shall we say that he holds that the [declaration is made] because they are not experts in for her sake and these ones are learned.

But do you really think this? But does not Rabbah hold like Rava?

Rather, all hold that we need [witnesses] to uphold it. And since there are many that that go up and come down [from here to there] witnesses will be found to uphold the get.

 

Rabbi Evyatar rules that if a get is brought from Israel to Babylonia, the declaration need not be made. At first, the Talmud suggests that this is because the people of Israel are learned and know that a get must be written with the particular woman in mind. But the problem with this is the same problem we ve encountered over and over Rabbah agrees with Rava that the problem of witnesses must be addressed.

Therefore the Talmud resolves that Rabbi Evyatar is lenient because travel between Israel and Babylonia was frequent. Therefore, witnesses would be able to be located who could uphold the get.

 

אָמַר רַב יוֹסֵף מַאן לֵימָא לַן דְּרַבִּי אֶבְיָתָר בַּר סַמְכָא הוּא

וְעוֹד הָא אִיהוּ דִּשְׁלַח לֵיהּ לְרַב יְהוּדָה בְּנֵי אָדָם הָעוֹלִין מִשָּׁם לְכָאן הֵן קִיְּימוּ בְּעַצְמָן וַיִּתְּנוּ (אֶת) הַיֶּלֶד בַּזּוֹנָה וְהַיַּלְדָּה מָכְרוּ בַיַּיִן וַיִּשְׁתּוּ וּכְתַב לֵיהּ בְּלָא שִׂירְטוּט

וְאָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק שְׁתַּיִם כּוֹתְבִין שָׁלֹשׁ אֵין כּוֹתְבִין בְּמַתְנִיתָא תָּנָא שָׁלֹשׁ כּוֹתְבִין אַרְבַּע אֵין כּוֹתְבִין

 

Rav Yosef said: Who can say to us that Rabbi Evyatar is one upon whom we can rely?

And furthermore, he sent to R. Yehudah: People that go up from there to here fulfill about themselves, And they have given a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, and have drunk (Joel 4:3) and he wrote the verse without scoring lines. And R. Yitzchak said: Two [words] may be written without scoring lines, but three not. In a baraita it was taught: Three may be written, four may not.

 

Rav Yosef now questions Rabbi Evyatar s authority to issue this ruling. Do we really know if he is someone upon whom we can rely? Rav Yosef now cites an episode in which R. Evyatar wrote a letter to R. Yehudah without scoring the parchment so that the words would be written evenly. While there is some dispute as to how many words can be made without making these lines, Rabbi Evyatar went beyond this limit and therefore does not seem to be properly observing halakhah.

Interestingly, the topic of this letter is somewhat related to our subject. Jews who leave Babylonia and move to Israel have abandoned their families. He applies to them a verse from the Book of Joel. The topic of the discussion here is Jews bringing gittin from one place to another. Perhaps Rabbi Evyatar was accusing men of moving to Israel without even bothering to divorce their wives, thereby leaving them agunot (women stuck in a marriage with an absent husband).

Tomorrow we will see Abaye mount a defense on behalf of Rabbi Evyatar, so stay tuned!