Gittin 140

למטה למטה מן הביצים למעלה למעלה מן הביצים

: 'Below' means below the middle,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g., the legs and thighs. ');">¹</span>

וכשות שלא בזמנה תנא כשם שקשה שלא בזמנה כך יפה בזמנה אמר רב פפא זמנה תמוז שלא בזמנה טבת יומי ניסן ויומי תשרי לא מעלו ולא קשו:

and 'above' means above the middle. In regard to cucumbers out of season a gloss was added: As they are bad out of season, so they are good in season. R. Papa said: 'In season' means Tammuz; 'out of season' means Tebeth; round about Nisan and Tishri they are neither good nor bad.

אמר כתבו גט לאשתי ואחזו קורדייקוס וחזר ואמר אל תכתבו אין דבריו האחרונים כלום: אר"ש בן לקיש כותבין ונותנין גט לאלתר ור' יוחנן אמר אין כותבין אלא לכשישתפה

IF HE SAYS, WRITE A GET FOR MY WIFE, AND IS THEN SEIZED WITH A KORDIAKOS AND THEN SAYS, DO NOT WRITE, HIS LAST WORDS ARE OF NO EFFECT. R. Simeon b. Lakish said: The Get may be written immediately;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' After the last words are uttered. ');">²</span>

מ"ט דר"ל דקתני אין בדבריו האחרונים כלום ור' יוחנן אמר לך אין בדבריו האחרונים כלום דלכי מתציל לא צריך למיהדר אימלוכי ביה ולעולם אין כותבין אלא לכשישתפה

R. Johanan, however, said that it is not to be written till he comes to himself again. What is the reason of Resh Lakish? — Because it is stated, HIS LAST WORDS ARE OF NO EFFECT. To this R. Johanan replies that the words HIS LAST WORDS ARE OF NO EFFECT' mean that when he recovers the scribe need not consult him again, but all the same the Get is not written until he comes round. In what do they differ in principle? — Resh Lakish puts the man on a par with one who is asleep and R. Johanan with a madman. Why should not R. Johanan put him on the same footing as a sleeper? — A sleeper needs no treatment, this man does. Why does not Resh Lakish put him on the same footing as a madman? — For a madman we have no cure, for this man we have, namely red flesh broiled on the coals and wine much diluted.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As supra p. 415. ');">³</span>

במאי קמיפלגי ר"ל מדמי ליה לישן ור' יוחנן מדמי ליה לשוטה

But can R. Johanan have said this, seeing that Rab Judah has said in the name of Samuel, If a man had two passages<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The windpipe and the oesophagus. ');">⁴</span>

ור' יוחנן נמי לידמיה לישן ישן לא מחוסר מעשה האי מחוסר מעשה

or the greater part of two passages cut and he indicated by a gesture<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., he nodded assent when they asked him. ');">⁵</span>

ור"ל נמי נידמייה לשוטה שוטה לא סמיה בידן האי סמיה בידן בישרא סומקא אגומרי וחמרא מרקא

that they should write a Get for his wife, the Get should be written and given,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Apparently the questioner puts such a man on the same footing as one suffering from kordiakos. But in this case it is not easy to see why the question was not raised against the Mishnah itself and not against R. Johanan (v. Tosaf.). ');">⁶</span>

ומי אמר ר' יוחנן הכי והאמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל שחט בו שנים או רוב שנים ורמז ואמר כתבו גט לאשתי הרי אלו יכתבו ויתנו

and it has also been taught, 'If people saw him hacked or nailed to a cross and he indicated by a gesture, Write a Get for my wife, they should write and deliver it'? — Are the two cases comparable? In that case his mind was clear, and only physical weakness had set in,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'had begun with him'. ');">⁷</span>

ותניא ראוהו מגויד או צלוב על הצליבה ורמז ואמר כתבו גט לאשתי הרי אלו יכתבו ויתנו

but here his mind is clouded.

הכי השתא התם דעתא צילותא היא וכחישותא הוא דאתחילה ביה הכא דעתא שגישתא היא

But did Samuel really say this? Did not Rab Judah say in the name of Samuel: If he had two passages or the greater part of two passages cut and ran away, those who saw him can testify that he is dead.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So that his wife can marry again. ');">⁸</span>

ומי אמר שמואל הכי והאמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל שחט בו שנים או רוב שנים וברח מעידין עליו ואי ס"ד חי הוא אמאי מעידין עליו

Now if we presume that he is alive [after the passages have been cut],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So that his Get is valid. ');">⁹</span>

אמרי חי הוא וסופו למות

why can they testify that he is dead? — We say that he is alive, but he is bound to die. But if that is the case, [the man who cut his throat] [accidentally] should be exiled [to a city of refuge] on account of him; why then has it been taught, 'If one cut [accidentally] two passages or the greater part of two passages of [the throat of] another, he is not exiled'? — It has been explained in regard to this that R. Oshaia said: We consider it possible that the wind troubled him or that he hastened his own death.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And therefore we do not hold the man who cut his throat guilty even of accidental homicide. ');">¹⁰</span>

אלא מעתה יהא גולה על ידו אלמה תניא שחט בו שנים או רוב שנים ה"ז אינו גולה

What difference does it make which reason we adopt? — There is a difference where he killed him in a marble room and he struggled,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In which case his death could not have been due to the wind, and therefore if we adopt the first reason the other man would be guilty of homicide. ');">¹¹</span>

הא איתמר עלה א"ר הושעיא חיישינן שמא הרוח בלבלתו אי נמי הוא קירב את מיתתו

or where he killed him outside and he did not struggle.

מאי בינייהו איכא בינייהו דשחטיה בביתא דשישא ופירכס אי נמי דשחטיה בברא ולא פירכס:

IF HE IS STRUCK DUMB AND THEY SAY TO HIM, SHALL WE WRITE A GET FOR YOUR WIFE etc. But is there not a possibility that he was seized [just then] with an involuntary nodding of the head in a negative or a positive sense?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'a bending of no, no" !="" or="" "yes,="" yes"!="" i.e.,="" sideways="" forwards,="" so="" that="" he="" was="" not="" giving="" any="" answer="" to="" the="" question.="" ');"="">¹²</span>

נשתתק ואמרו לו נכתוב גט לאשתך כו': וליחוש דלמא שיחיא דלאו לאו נקטיה אי נמי שיחיא דהן הן נקטיה

— R. Joseph b. Manyumi said, in the name of R. Nahman: [We suppose that] we question him at intervals. But perhaps the involuntary nodding seized him at the same intervals? — We suppose that we ask him two [questions requiring a] negative [answer] and one [requiring an] affirmative [answer], or two [requiring an] affirmative and one a negative [answer]. In the school of R. Ishmael it was taught: They talk to him about the requirements of the summer season in the rainy season and of the rainy season in the summer season. What is referred to here? Shall we say winter coat and summer coat? Perhaps just then he was seized with a shiver or a perspiration?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And even if he asked for a summer coat in winter or vice-versa, his answer might still be rational. ');">¹³</span>

א"ר יוסף בר מניומי אמר רב נחמן דאמרינן ליה בסירוגין

וליחוש דלמא שיחיא דסירוגין נקטיה דאמרינן ליה חד לאו ותרין הן ותרין לאו וחד הן

דבי רבי ישמעאל תנא אומרים לו דברים של ימות החמה בימות הגשמים ושל ימות הגשמים בימות החמה

מאי ניהו אילימא גלופקרי וסדיני ליחוש דלמא קורא אחדיה א"נ חמה אחדיה