We jump right into Masechet Gittin that discusses the get, the Jewish bill of divorce. Our first Mishna advises us regarding gittin, bills of divorce, that are delivered by agents. When a husband is living overseas -- beyond Akko to the north, Rekem to the east, and Heger to the south -- he is permitted to deliver a get to his wife via an agent. The agent is required to say that "the get was written in my presence and signed in my presence". He must assert his witnessing of the get even when moving from one hegemonya,* district, to another. The rabbis argue about the boundaries that define what is inside and outside of Israel. They also note that signatories can be used to answer a husband who claims that the get has been forged.
The Gemara wonders why the agent must declare that he both saw the get being written and that he saw the get being signed. The rabbis consider whether or not the get has been written for the wife's sake. The rabbis discuss how many witnesses are required to verify the validity of a get. Perhaps a get was not written by a scribe who understood that it must be written for the wife's sake? Perhaps the husband found a get that magically had his and his wife's names on it and he was using that false get to save money.
The vast majority of "ordinary judicial scribes", even outside of Israel, would understand the halachot of gittin compared with those of other contracts. That assumption of validity affect the ways that witnesses might be used and/or discredited. We learn that cases of gittin are special because witnesses might be testifying for forbidden sexual relations - that means that at least two witnesses are required. A note teaches us that if a witness tells a man that his wife was adulterous, the husband can ignore him for he is only one witness. However, if that husband believes the man and his wife does not deny the claim that she has been adulterous, the husband should divorce her and pay the value of her ketuba. There are two witnesses in this circumstance.
A number of questions have arisen from this very first daf of Masechet Gittin: What is the alternative of writing a get for the wife's sake? Is there a malicious or selfish way of writing a get? Wouldn't a wife receiving her get be divorced regardless of the intention of the writer? And what are the witnesses witnessing - the wife's behaviour? the husband's signature? the delivery of the get by an agent? Are two witnesses required in all of these cases, or can the agent serve as one very reliable witness?
Those are just some of the questions that jump to mind... it looks like Gittin will offer some enticing learning.
* is this related to the word hegemony, which acknowledges the power of a state?
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