Sukkah, Daf Kaf Daled, Part 3

 

Introduction

Today’s section deals with R. Yose the Galilean’s opinion that one cannot write a valid divorce document, a get, on something that is alive.

אמר מר, משום רבי יוסי הגלילי אמרו: אף אין כותבין עליו גיטי נשים. מאי טעמא דרבי יוסי הגלילי? דתניא +דברים כד+ ספר אין לי אלא ספר, מנין לרבות כל דבר – תלמוד לומר וכתב לה – מכל מקום. אם כן מה תלמוד לומר ספר – לומר לך: מה ספר דבר שאין בו רוח חיים, ואינו אוכל, אף כל דבר שאין בו רוח חיים ואינו אוכל!

 

 

The Master said: In the name of R. Yose the Galilean they said: Nor may a get be written upon it .

What is the reason for R. Yose the Galilean? As it has been taught: [Scripture says], A scroll. I know only [that] a scroll [is valid], how do I know to include any other material? Scripture says, "And he wrote to her" implying, on whatever material it may be. If so, why does Scripture state, "scroll"? To teach you that just as a scroll is a thing which has no breath of life, and does not eat, so is everything valid which does not have the breath of life and does not eat.

 

This baraita contains the midrash whereby R. Yose the Galilean explains why one cannot use something that has the "breath of life" in it as a get. The Torah calls a get "a sefer" or "scroll." A scroll in rabbinic times was always made of parchment animal skin. But the rabbis allow one to write on other materials as well, including paper (as we do today), earthenware and a variety of other materials. The midrash says that these materials are included from the word "and he wrote to her" which are read to imply that he can write on anything. However, if this is true, why would the Torah call the divorce document a "scroll"? The answer is that a get must be written on something that has some similarities to a scroll. It cannot be alive, nor can it be written on something that eats. This is how R. Yose the Galilean derives his exclusion of animals from being material upon which a get may be written.

 

ורבנן: אי כתב בספר – כדקאמרת, השתא דכתיב ספר – לספירת דברים בעלמא הוא דאתא.

 

And the Rabbis?

If Scripture had written "In a scroll", [it would be] as you say, but now that it is written "a scroll" it refers to the recital of the words.

 

The other rabbis allow one to write a get on an animal. So how then do they interpret the word "sefer" from the Torah? The answer is that had the Torah written "And he wrote for her in a scroll" then R. Yose the Galilean would have been correct. But the Torah just says, "a scroll" which they creatively read as if it says "sippur" which means "story." He doesn’t write "in a scroll" rather he "writes a story."