Gittin 18b (יח:) — the Talmud in English

And what is the reason? Because

we are concerned that perhaps he appeased her.

Perhaps the husband regretted divorcing her, had relations with her, and the get is invalid under the law of an “old get,” [that is, a get that was written and afterward the husband had relations with her, or secluded himself with her, and it is an invalid get].

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

Rabbi Shimon deemed it valid

even from now until ten days hence,

despite the fact that ten days elapsed between the writing and the signing, the get is valid. And Rabbi Yoḥanan is not concerned about Reish Lakish’s concern that perhaps he appeased her, because

if it is so that he appeased her, the matter would have acquired publicity,

and it would have become known. Therefore, as long as we do not know that he appeased her and secluded himself with her, the get is valid, even though ten days elapsed between the time of the writing and the time of the signing.

It was stated: If he said to ten

men:

“Write a get for my wife!”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Two

sign

as witnesses, and all of them

—the rest—sign the get only

as a condition,

as it is considered as though the husband stipulated that he would divorce her only on condition that these men sign the get, but he did not require them to be witnesses to the get.

And Reish Lakish said: All of them

must sign

as witnesses,

as this is what the husband intended.

And we raise an objection:

What are the circumstances?

If we say that he did not say to them

—the husband—“

all of you

sign,”

but didn’t we learn

that a husband who

said to ten men, “Write a get for my wife”—

Write a bill of divorce for my wife”—

one writes, and two sign,

and the rest need not sign at all?

This presents a difficulty for Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, who maintain that the rest must also sign, either as a condition or as witnesses.

And we answer:

Rather,

Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish were speaking of a case in which he said to them, “

all of you

write a get for my wife,” and therefore all of them must sign. And Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish disagree here as to why they must sign. Rabbi Yoḥanan holds that, apart from the two witnesses, all the others sign as a condition. And Reish Lakish holds that all of them sign as witnesses.

And we examine this matter:

What difference is there between them?

Since according to both Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish all of them must sign, what practical difference is there?

And we say: There are two practical differences between whether the rest sign as a condition or as witnesses.

a.

There is a difference between them when two of them sign

—the first two witnesses—

on that day, while the others

—the other eight—signed

from then until ten days hence.

The one who says

that the rest sign

as a condition,

the get is

valid.

Because the get was written and signed on the same day. And it is valid [even according to the Rabbis, who hold that when it was written today and signed the next day it is invalid; here, it is valid]. And as for the witnesses who signed several days later, they are not witnesses at all; they merely fulfill the condition.

And the one who says

that the rest sign

as witnesses,

the get is

invalid,

because it is an early get. The get was written on one day, while its witnesses signed several days later. And even if two witnesses signed on the day it was written, the get is invalid, since the other witnesses signed several days later, and the get has no publicity; this is an early get and is invalid.

b.

Alternatively

there is another practical difference between Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish,

for example, if one of them

—of the ten men—

is a relative or is disqualified.

According to the one who says

that the eight remaining men sign

as a condition,

the get is

valid,

because his entire intention was that eight additional men sign, but not in the capacity of witnesses. Therefore, even if one of them was a relative or was disqualified, the get is valid, since it contains two valid witnesses.

But according to the one who says

that the other eight men also sign

as witnesses,

the get is

invalid

because a relative or a disqualified person is unfit to testify, and if they testified together with all the others, the testimony of all of them is nullified, in accordance with the principle that if one of the witnesses is found to be a relative or disqualified, the testimony of all of them is nullified.

And now the Gemara explains the second practical difference:

This applies when the relative or disqualified person signed in the middle or at the end of all the witnesses. But

if he signed at the beginning,

the

relative or disqualified person

—it is not clear to us that according to Rabbi Yoḥanan the get would be valid; rather, there is a dispute concerning this.

Some say: It is valid

because there are two valid witnesses here. It does not matter that the first is disqualified, since he signed by virtue of the condition, and the two witnesses signed after him by virtue of their status as witnesses.

And some say: It is invalid.

The Gemara explains the dispute:

Some say it is valid,

because

it is a condition.

It does not matter where the valid witness signs and where the disqualified person signs, since among all those who signed there are two valid witnesses; therefore, the get is valid.

Some say it is invalid,

because here it is necessary to decree that it be invalid, lest

it lead to confusion with ordinary documents.

And people will say that a relative or disqualified witness is fit to sign ordinary documents.

However, if the disqualified persons signed in the middle of the get or at its end, they did not decree that it be invalid, because only when they signed at the beginning would people say that the first witnesses signed in their capacity as witnesses, and would not say that they were among those who signed by virtue of the condition. And they would learn from this to validate a relative or disqualified person in ordinary documents. Therefore, even according to Rabbi Yoḥanan, the get is invalid in that case.

A certain

man

said to ten

men:

“Write a get for my wife!”

Two of them signed on that day,

two of the ten signed that very day,

while the others

—the eight remaining men—signed

from then until ten days hence.

He came before Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi,

to ask what the status of this get was.