In this daf, we continue our sweet and deep learning of the halachos of writing a get. The Gemara first clarifies the nature of the writing on the Tzitz (the Kohen Gadol's frontplate), explaining how its protruding letters were crafted from the outside to be considered true writing. We then move into a beautiful discussion regarding a husband who writes a get on a valuable gold plate (tas) or on a large piece of paper, and wants to use the material itself to pay for his wife's kesubah.
We also delve into the essential halacha that a get must be completely given over to the woman. The Gemara discusses what happens if a husband tries to retain ownership of the paper itself, or even the blank spaces between the lines and words, and whether such a get is still considered a single, kosher "sefer kerisus" (scroll of severance). Finally, we begin a fascinating shaylah from Rami bar Hama regarding a get written on the hand of a slave.
הָא בָּעֵינָא ״מִכְתַּב״, וְלֵיכָּא!
But do we not require that there be "writing" as the Torah says regarding the Tzitz, and here there is none since it is merely pressed out?
כְּדִינְרֵי זָהָב, וְלֹא כְּדִינְרֵי זָהָב.
The Gemara answers: The Tzitz was made like gold dinars, and yet not entirely like gold dinars.
כְּדִינְרֵי זָהָב – דְּבוֹלֵט;
It was like gold dinars in that the letters protruded;
וְלֹא כְּדִינְרֵי זָהָב – דְּאִילּוּ הָתָם, מִגַּוַּאי; וְהָכָא – מֵאַבָּרַאי.
and it was not like gold dinars in that whereas there, on dinars, the stamping is done from the inside by pressing the background, here, on the Tzitz, the letters were pressed from the outside so that they were actually engraved and pushed out, which is considered writing.
בְּעָא מִינֵּיהּ רָבָא מֵרַב נַחְמָן: כָּתַב לָהּ גֵּט עַל טַס שֶׁל זָהָב, וְאָמַר לָהּ: ״הִתְקַבְּלִי גִּיטִּיךְ וְהִתְקַבְּלִי כְּתוּבָּתִךְ״, מַהוּ?
Rava asked of Rav Nachman: If a husband wrote a get for her on a plate of gold, and said to her: "Receive your get and receive your kesubah" through this gold plate, what is the law?
אֲמַר לֵיהּ: נִתְקַבְּלָה גִּיטָּהּ וְנִתְקַבְּלָה כְּתוּבָּתָהּ.
Rav Nachman said to him: Her get is received and her kesubah is received.
אֵיתִיבֵיהּ: ״הִתְקַבְּלִי גִּיטִּיךְ, וְהַשְּׁאָר לִכְתוּבָּתִךָ״ – נִתְקַבְּלָה גִּיטָּהּ, וְהַשְּׁאָר לִכְתוּבָּתָהּ.
Rava challenged him from a braisa: If he said, "Receive your get, and the remainder of the paper shall be for your kesubah," her get is received, and the remainder is for her kesubah.
טַעְמָא דְּאִיכָּא שְׁאָר, הָא לֵיכָּא שְׁאָר – לֹא!
We infer: The reason is that there is a remainder, but if there is no remainder, then no, she does not receive her kesubah because the paper of the get itself must belong to her as a get and cannot pay her kesubah!
הוּא הַדִּין אַף עַל גַּב דְּלֵיכָּא שְׁאָר;
Rav Nachman replied: The same law applies even though there is no remainder, and the entire paper can pay the kesubah;
וְהָא קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן – דְּאַף עַל גַּב דְּאִיכָּא שְׁאָר, אִי אָמַר לַהּ – אִין, אִי לָא – לָא.
and this is what the braisa teaches us: that even though there is a remainder, if he said to her explicitly that it is for her kesubah, yes, it is hers, but if not, then no, it is not.
מַאי טַעְמָא? אַוֵּירָא דִמְגִילְּתָא הוּא.
What is the reason? Because otherwise we say it is the margin of the scroll, which is part of the get itself.
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: ״הֲרֵי זֶה גִּיטִּיךְ וְהַנְּיָיר שֶׁלִּי״ – אֵינָהּ מְגוֹרֶשֶׁת.
The Rabbis taught in a braisa: If he says, "Behold, this is your get, but the paper is mine," she is not divorced.
״עַל מְנָת שֶׁתַּחְזִירִי לִי אֶת הַנְּיָיר״ – הֲרֵי זוֹ מְגוֹרֶשֶׁת.
But if he says, "On condition that you return the paper to me," behold, she is divorced.
בָּעֵי רַב פָּפָּא: בֵּין שִׁיטָה לְשִׁיטָה וּבֵין תֵּיבָה לְתֵיבָה, מַאי?
Rav Pappa asked: If he said the paper between line and line, or between word and word remains his, what is the law?
תֵּיקוּ.
The Gemara answers: The question shall stand unresolved.
וְתִיפּוֹק לֵיהּ ״דְּסֵפֶר״ אֶחָד אָמַר רַחֲמָנָא, וְלֹא שְׁנַיִם וּשְׁלֹשָׁה סְפָרִים!
The Gemara asks: But let him derive it from the fact that the Merciful One said "a scroll" in the singular, meaning one scroll, and not two or three scrolls, and by retaining the spaces he has split the get into separate strips of writing!
לָא צְרִיכָא, דִּמְעוֹרֶה.
The Gemara answers: No, it is necessary to ask this in a case where the letters are intertwined so that the writing remains connected as one unit.
בָּעֵי רָמֵי בַּר חָמָא: הָיוּ מוּחְזָקִים בְּעֶבֶד שֶׁהוּא שֶׁלּוֹ – וְגֵט כָּתוּב עַל יָדוֹ, וַהֲרֵי הוּא יוֹצֵא מִתַּחַת יָדָהּ, מַהוּ?
Rami bar Hama asked: If the court had a presumption regarding a slave that he was his—the husband's—and a get was written on his hand, and behold he emerges from her possession, what is the law?
מי אָמְרִינַן אַקְנוֹיֵי אַקְנִי לַהּ, אוֹ דִלְמָא, הוּא מִנַּפְשֵׁיהּ עָיֵיל?
Do we say that the husband transferred the slave to her so she acquired him and the get, or perhaps he entered on his own accord and was never given to her?
אָמַר רָבָא: וְתִיפּוֹק לֵיהּ דִּכְתָב שֶׁיָּכוֹל לְהִזְדַּיֵּיף הוּא!
Rava said: But let him derive that the get is invalid anyway, because it is writing that can be forged, as writing on skin can be easily erased and altered!
וּלְרָבָא, קַשְׁיָא מַתְנִיתִין ״עַל הַיָּד שֶׁל עֶבֶד״!
The Gemara asks: But according to Rava, our Mishnah is difficult, which says a get may be written "on the hand of a slave"!
בִּשְׁלָמָא מַתְנִיתִין לְרָבָא לָא קַשְׁיָא, בְּעֵדֵי מְסִירָה וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר הִיא.
The Gemara answers: Granted, the Mishnah is not difficult for Rava, as we can say it is a case with witnesses of delivery, and it is according to Rabbi Eleazar who holds that the delivery witnesses make the get effective, so we do not worry about forgery.
אֶלָּא לְרָמֵי בַּר חָמָא קַשְׁיָא!
But according to Rami bar Hama, who did not raise this objection, it is difficult! Why is he not concerned about forgery?
לְרָמֵי בַּר חָמָא נָמֵי לָא קַשְׁיָא – בִּכְתוֹבֶת קַעֲקַע.
The Gemara answers: For Rami bar Hama it is also not difficult, as he is speaking of a get written with a tattoo, which cannot be forged.
הַשְׁתָּא דְּאָתֵית לְהָכִי, מַתְנִיתִין (לְרָבָא) נָמֵי לָא תִּיקְשֵׁי – בִּכְתוֹבֶת קַעֲקַע.
The Gemara notes: Now that you have come to this explanation, the Mishnah also is not difficult even without Rabbi Eleazar, as we can establish it with a tattoo.
מַאי הָוֵי עֲלַהּ?
The Gemara asks: What is the conclusion on this question of Rami bar Hama?
תָּא שְׁמַע, דְּאָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ: הַגּוֹדְרוֹת, אֵין לָהֶן חֲזָקָה.
Come and hear, for Reish Lakish said: Straying animals do not have the law of presumption of ownership just because they are in someone's possession, because they move on their own; so too, the slave entered on his own.
בָּעֵי רָמֵי בַּר חָמָא: הָיוּ מוּחְזָקִין בְּטַבְלָא שֶׁהִיא שֶׁלָּהּ – וְגֵט כָּתוּב עָלֶיהָ; וַהֲרֵי הִיא יוֹצְאָה מִתַּחַת יָדוֹ, מַהוּ?
Rami bar Hama asked: If they had a presumption regarding a writing tablet that it was hers, and a get was written on it, and behold it emerges from his possession, what is the law?
מִי אָמְרִינַן אַקְנוֹיֵי אַקְנִיתַהּ לֵיהּ, אוֹ דִלְמָא (אִשָּׁה) לָא יָדְעָה לְאַקְנוֹיֵי?
Do we say that she transferred it to him so he could write the get on his own material, or perhaps a woman does not know how to transfer ownership of her property in this manner?
אָמַר אַבָּיֵי, תָּא שְׁמַע: אַף הוּא הֵעִיד עַל כְּפָר קָטָן שֶׁהָיָה בְּצַד יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, וְהָיָה בּוֹ זָקֵן אֶחָד, וְהָיָה מַלְוֶה לְכׇל בְּנֵי הַכְּפָר, וְכוֹתֵב בִּכְתַב יָדוֹ וַאֲחֵרִים חוֹתְמִים, וּבָא מַעֲשֶׂה לִפְנֵי חֲכָמִים וְהִכְשִׁירוּהוּ.
Abaye said, Come and hear: He also testified about a small village that was near Yerushalayim, and there was a certain elder in it, and he would lend to all the residents of the village, and he would write the promissory note in his own handwriting and others would sign, and the case came before the Sages and they validated it.
וְאַמַּאי? הָא בָּעֵינָא ״סֵפֶר מִקְנָה״, וְלֵיכָּא!
And why? Do we not require "a scroll of acquisition" belonging to the debtor, and here there is none since the lender wrote it on his own paper?
אֶלָּא לָאו, מִשּׁוּם דְּאָמְרִינַן אַקְנוֹיֵי מַקְנֵה לְהוּ!
Rather, is it not because we say that the borrower transfers the paper to the lender? So too, a woman knows how to transfer her tablet.
אָמַר רָבָא: וּמַאי קוּשְׁיָא? דִּילְמָא
Rava said: But what is the difficulty? Perhaps it is different there...
The daf concludes that the Tzitz's protruding letters are indeed considered writing because they were pressed from the inside out. Halachically, if a husband writes a get on a gold plate or on paper and explicitly designates the material or the blank margins to pay for the kesubah, it is valid; however, if he does not specify, the margins are treated as part of the get itself and cannot count toward the kesubah. Furthermore, a husband cannot retain ownership of the paper of the get, as he must give it to her completely, though he may give it on condition that she returns it. Rav Pappa's inquiry about retaining the paper between the lines remains unresolved, and the Gemara begins analyzing Rami bar Hama's dilemma regarding a get written on a slave's hand when the slave is now in the woman's possession.
The Gemara on our daf teaches a profound halachic reality: if a husband hands his wife a get but says, "Behold this is your bill of divorce, but the paper on which it is written is still mine," she is not divorced. For a get to be valid, the physical vessel, the very paper it is written on, must be given over completely. If he holds onto the paper, even if she holds the words, the transfer is empty.
This contains a deep lesson for our own avodah. In our relationship with the Aibershter, we often want to give Him our "words", our prayers, our good intentions, our spiritual aspirations, while holding onto the "paper," the physical vessel of our daily lives. We might say, "Hashem, my heart is Yours, but my physical time, my business dealings, and my material possessions are mine to keep separate."
True connection with Hashem, just like the delivery of a get, requires the vessel itself to be given over. We cannot separate our spiritual desires from our physical actions. When we sanctify our physical vessels, using our money for tzedakah, our mouths for kind words, and our homes for hachnasas orchim, we are giving the entire "scroll" to Hashem, making our devotion complete and real.
Today, choose one physical area of your life that you usually keep "for yourself", whether it is a specific sum of money, a block of time, or a physical comfort, and consciously dedicate it to a mitzvah, giving both the vessel and the spirit entirely over to Hashem.