Gittin 41

זקן שאני דידע לאקנויי

an old man is different, because he knows how to make over things. But no, said Raba; [we decide] from the following: 'If the signature of the security [for another] appears below the signatures to the bond, the lender may recover from his [the security's] unmortgaged property.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. B. B. (Sonc. ed.) p. 773, n. 12. In this case the lender gives the bond to the security who is the transferor to sign, and then takes it back from him. ');">¹</span>

אלא אמר רבא מהכא ערב היוצא לאחר חיתום שטרות גובה מנכסים בני חורין

Said R. Ashi: What is the difficulty? Perhaps a man is different, because he knows how to make over things. No, said R. Ashi; we decide from the following: A woman may write her own Get<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And then give it to the husband, who gives it back to her. ');">²</span>

אמר רב אשי מאי קושיא דלמא גברא שאני דידע לאקנויי אלא אמר רב אשי מהכא אשה כותבת את גיטה והאיש כותב את שוברו שאין קיום הגט אלא בחותמיו

and a man may write his own receipt,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the kethubah, and give it to the wife, who then signs it and returns it to him. ');">³</span>

אמר רבא כתב לה גט ונתנו ביד עבדו וכתב לה שטר מתנה עליו קנאתהו ומתגרשת בו

because a document is only rendered valid by its signatures.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. infra 22b. ');">⁴</span>

ואמאי חצר מהלכת היא וחצר מהלכת לא קנה וכי תימא בעומד והאמר רבא כל שאילו מהלך לא קנה עומד ויושב לא קנה והלכתא בכפות

Raba said: If a man writes a Get for his wife and entrusts it to his slave, and also writes a deed assigning the slave to her, she becomes the legal owner of the slave and she is divorced by the Get. Why should this be? The slave is a moving courtyard,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Giving it to the slave is like putting it in a courtyard and telling her to take it from there, only the slave is moving from place to place; on the transfer of ownership by means of a court, v. B.M. 9b. ');">⁵</span>

ואמר רבא כתב לה גט ונתנו בחצרו וכתב לה שטר מתנה עליו קנאתהו ומתגרשת בו

and a moving courtyard cannot transfer ownership. And should you reply that we speak of a slave who stands still, has not Raba laid down that things which do not transfer ownership when moving do not transfer it when standing or sitting? The law, however, is [that the Get is valid if the slave] is bound.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For then he is indeed on a par with the courtyard. ');">⁶</span>

וצריכא דאי אשמעינן עבד הוה אמינא דוקא עבד אבל חצר ליגזר משום חצרה הבאה לאחר מכאן

Raba also said: If a man wrote a Get for his wife and put it in his courtyard and then wrote a deed assigning her the courtyard, she becomes owner of the courtyard and is divorced by the Get. Both of these statements of Raba are necessary. For if he had confined himself to the first statement, about the slave, I should have said that this applies strictly to a slave, but in the case of a courtyard [I should declare the Get invalid], so as not to set a precedent for a courtyard which comes into her possession subsequently.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If the husband places the Get in the courtyard of a third party which subsequently comes into possession of the wife, the Get is not effective, v. infra 24a and 63b. ');">⁷</span>

ואי אשמעינן חצר ה"א דוקא חצר אבל עבד ליגזר כפות אטו שאינו כפות קמ"ל

And again, if he had stated only the rule about a courtyard, I should have said that this applies strictly to a courtyard, but in the case of a slave I should debar one who is bound so as not to set a precedent for one who is not bound. Now I know [that this is not so].

אמר אביי מכדי חצר מהיכא איתרבי מידה

Said Abaye: Let us see. From what expression in the Scripture do we infer the rule about a courtyard? From the words 'her hand'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The term 'her hand' in Deut. XXIV. 1, is taken to include courtyard, v. B.M. 9b. ');">⁸</span>

מה ידה דאיתא בין מדעתה ובין בעל כורחה אף חצרה דאיתא בין מדעתה ובין בעל כורחה והא מתנה מדעתה איתא בעל כורחה ליתא

Therefore, just as, if he gives the Get into her hand, the husband can divorce her with her consent or without her consent, so if he places it in the courtyard he should be able to divorce her with her consent or without her consent. But the gift [of the courtyard] can be made only with her consent and not against her will.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And therefore the dictum of Raba falls to the ground, does it not? ');">⁹</span>

מתקיף לה רב שימי בר אשי והא שליחות לקבלה דמדעתה איתא בעל כורחה ליתא וקא הוי שליח לקבלה

R. Shimi b. Ashi demurred to this objection. There is, [he said,] the case of her appointing an agent to receive the Get from the husband,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H]. In which case the woman is divorced from the very moment the agent receives the Get. ');">¹⁰</span>

ואביי אטו שליחו' מידה איתרבי מושלח (דברים כד, א) ושלחה איתרבי

which appointment can be made only with her will but not against her will, and yet the agent is duly authorised?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'he becomes an agent for receiving'. ');">¹¹</span>

ואב"א שליחות לקבלה נמי אשכחן בעל כורחה שכן אב מקבל גט לבתו קטנה בעל כורחה:

And Abaye? — He rejoins: The rule of agency is not derived from the term 'her hand'; the rule regarding agency is derived from the superfluous letter in the word we-shilhah<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., '(instead of) and he send (it is written) and he send her'. V. Kid. 410. ');">¹²</span>

על העלה של זית וכו'. בשלמא יד דעבד

['and he send her'].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXIV, 1, (v. infra, 62b), and consequently there is no warrant for insisting on drawing an analogy between 'hand' and 'agency'. ');">¹³</span> Or if you prefer, I can reply that we find cases where an agent for receiving [the Get is also appointed] without the consent [of the wife], since a father can accept a Get for his daughter who is still a child<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., under twelve years of age, v. Keth. 47a. ');">¹⁴</span> without her consent. ON AN OLIVE LEAF etc. We understand the ruling (in the case of a Get written] on the hand of a slave<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That the slave is then given to her. ');">¹⁵</span>