Gittin 32 commences the fourth perek of Talmud Gittin. The first mishna contains numerous scenarios wherein the husband decides that he wishes to revoke the get that he has sent with a messenger and what must be done in order to prevent the get from effectively terminating the marriage.
On Gittin 32b there is a discussion comparing the act of designating a messenger to give a get with designating a messenger to deliver a gift. Within this discussion, Abaye says that we can make the comparison as both a get and a gift can be recalled because the messenger does not act to be zocheh for the item on the recipient's behalf. This is odd, as we previously had an extensive discussion as to how we do not say chavin l'adam shelo bifanav (we don't obligate a person without their agreement) but we do accept positives on their behalf (zachin l'adam shelo bifanav). Rashi and Tosafos (d'h L'holech) explain that what Abaye is teaching is -- if the sender tells the messenger "you are designated to deliver the item", he may not accept the gift on the recipient's behalf as his sole job is to deliver.
Another interesting point involves the mechanism that was previously used to revoke a get that had already been sent. The mishna on 32a teaches that originally a sender could walk into a beis din and have them revoke the get before it was given by the messenger to the woman. However, R' Gamliel HaZaken decreed that this could not be done by beis din and must be accomplished through subsequent messenger or direct contact between the husband and wife. Although the mechanism of revocation before beis din was no longer viable because of R' Gamliel's enactment, the gemara on the bottom of 32b (and continuing onto the top of 33a) discusses the number of individuals that were needed to form a beis din. As part of the conversation, R' Nachman says that the beis din can be comprised of 2 members. This is quite odd as with the exception of a discussion of one judge as a mumcheh (expert) the beis din is always an odd number and is usually 3. Anticipating the question, R' Nachman indicates that he learns that there can be two judges from the pruzbul wherein the mishna in shevi'is writes that the pruzbul recites that judge #1 and judge #2 were present. He then extrapolates that since the tanna only recites judge #1 and judge #2, the pruzbul could be written with a beis din of two and the revocation of the delivery of the get could be accomplished with only two judges. R' Sheshes then has a witty response - did the tanna in shevi'is have to spell out each judge the way a merchant has to count out the items in a transaction?
If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
No comments:
Post a Comment