22b----------------------------------------22b

1)

IS SHLICHUS REQUIRED FOR WRITING A GET? [Get: writing: Shelichus]

(a)

Gemara

1.

10b (Mishnah): All documents written by Nochri courts, even though Nochrim signed them, are valid, except for Gitei Nashim or freedom;

2.

R. Shimon says, even these are valid when done by the courts.

3.

Question: Divorced does not apply to Nochrim. Their Gitin have no effect!

4.

Answer (R. Zeira): R. Shimon holds like R. Elazar, that Edei Mesirah Karsei.

5.

20a (Rav Chisda): I can show that all Gitin are Pasul.

6.

(Rava): This cannot be because it says "he will write", and normally she pays the scribe. Perhaps Chachamim enacted that it is as if her husband pays!

7.

22b (Mishnah): Anyone can write a Get, even a Cheresh (deaf-mute), lunatic or minor.

8.

Question: Why is this valid? They lack Da'as (understanding)!

9.

Answer #1 (Rav Huna): The case is, an adult supervises them.

10.

Question (Rav Nachman): Would adult supervision enable a Nochri to write a Get?! You cannot say that it does. A Beraisa disqualifies it!

11.

Answer: A Nochri is different. He writes for his own motive. (A Cheresh, lunatic or minor writes according to what the adult tells him.)

12.

Retraction (and Answer #2 to Question 8 - Rav Nachman): I erred. A Mishnah (23a) says that a Nochri cannot be a Shali'ach to bring a Get. This implies that he can write one. The Beraisa that disqualifies it is like R. Elazar, who requires a Get to be written Lishmah (for the sake of the woman being divorced). (The Mishnah is like R. Meir, who allows using a Get written Lo Lishmah.

13.

24b: Had the Torah written only "v'Chosav", one might have thought that Reuven cannot use a Get that Shimon wrote, for Reuven himself did not write it, but if Reuven wrote it to divorce one wife, he could use it to divorce another wife!

14.

63b: A Get was written for a woman named Nafasa; they erred and wrote Tafasa.

15.

(R. Yitzchak bar Shmuel bar Marsa): The witnesses did their Shelichus. (They were appointed to write only one Get.)

16.

71b (Beraisa): A Get is valid only if the scribe and witnesses heard the husband's voice command them.

17.

Zevachim 2b -Question: What is Rava's source that a Get written Stam is Pasul?

18.

3a - Answer (Mishnah): One who writes Tofsei Gitim (the part common to all Gitin) must leave blank the names, room for the witnesses to sign, and the date.

19.

(Rav): He must also leave blank 'you are permitted to any man'.

(b)

Rishonim

1.

Rambam (Hilchos Gerushin 3:15): Anyone can write a Get, except for five: a Nochri, slave, Cheresh, lunatic or minor.

2.

Rambam (16): A Get must be l'Shem the husband and wife. A Nochri writes for his own motive. A Cheresh, lunatic or minor has no Da'as. Divorce and Kidushin do not apply to slaves. If one of these wrote a Get, it is not a Get.

3.

Rosh (2:25): The Gemara asked why a Cheresh, lunatic or minor can write a Get. We assume that the Mishnah is like R. Elazar, who requires it to be written Lishmah, since we established the previous Mishnah to be like him. The adult supervising the Cheresh, lunatic or minor instructs him to write Lishmah. We say (23a) that a Cheresh, lunatic or minor cannot be a Shali'ach to bring a Get because they lack Da'as (and cannot be Sheluchim). Do not say that likewise, Shelichus is needed to write a Get. If so, adult supervision would not help! Here, the reasoning we disqualify a Nochri was not because Kerisus does not apply to him. We say so only about something that requires Shelichus, e.g. receiving a Get (23b). We asked (10b) that R. Shimon should disqualify a Get written by Nochri courts because Nochrim are not Bnei Kerisus. We answered that he holds like R. Elazar, that Edei Mesirah Karsei. This implies that R. Meir disqualifies because divorce does not apply to them. R. Meir does not require Shelichus for signing, just like R. Elazar does not require Shelichus for writing; both of them learn from "v'Chosav." Signing is different. It is testimony, so we require Bnei Kerisus even though we do not need Shelichus. We do not require Bnei Kerisus for writing, since it is not testimony, and it does not need Shelichus. Similarly, we do not disqualify a Nochri for Milah, even though it does not apply to him.

4.

Question: We require that the scribe and witnesses heard the husband's voice command them! Regarding a Get in which they wrote the wrong name, R. Yitzchak said that the witnesses did their Shelichus (and cannot write another)!

5.

Answer (Rosh): These are due to Lishmah. Normally, a woman is not destined to be divorced, so it is not Lishmah without her husband's command. In Zevachim, it seems that before the husband commands, we always disqualify, even if it was written for the woman. It is called Stam. We do not need Shelichus because "v'Chosav" refers to the scribe. Only "v'Nosan" refers to the husband; most men do not know how to write a Get. We suggested (20a) that Gitin are Pasul because the Torah says "he will write", and she pays the scribe. Really, we asked from "v'Nosan". Since we do not need Shelichus, a slave can write a Get, even he is not Ben Kerisus.

6.

Rosh: The Ri says that the Gemara assumed that our Mishnah is like R. Meir, and mid'Rabanan he requires writing Lishmah. Therefore, a Cheresh, lunatic or minor can write with adult supervision. However, R. Elazar requires Lishmah mid'Oraisa and Shelichus. If so, a slave cannot write. The Rambam rules like this.

(c)

Poskim

1.

Shulchan Aruch (EH 120:1): The husband or his Shali'ach must write the Get.

i.

Gra (1): Rava (20a) said that Gitin are Kosher even though it says "he will write", and she pays the scribe, for Chachamim enacted that it is as if her husband pays, and the scribe is his Shali'ach. Also, Reuven cannot use a Get that Shimon wrote, for it says "v'Chosav" (24b). I.e. Reuven or his Shali'ach must write it. Tosfos dispelled the proofs, for "v'Chosav" refers to the scribe. However, Tosfos and the Rosh conclude that Shelichus is needed.

ii.

(Beis Meir 119:6): It seems that we do not need Shelichus. If we did, it would help only for a man who could write, just like an old Kohen can make a Shali'ach only if he could serve with difficulty (Bava Kama 110)!

iii.

Rebuttal (Yehudah Ya'aleh 2:172 DH Emnam): Even one without hands could sit on a printing press arranged to print a Get. This is considered writing.

2.

Shulchan Aruch (123:1): Anyone can write a Get, except for five: a Nochri, slave, Cheresh, lunatic or minor.

i.

Gra (3): The first opinion in Tosfos (22b DH v'Ha) and the Ran (Sof DH ul'Inyan, citing the Ramban) say that a slave can write. We disqualify a Nochri only because he writes for his own motive, but not because divorce and Kidushin do not apply to him!