Gittin 24: Stringencies and Leniencies Regarding Delivery and Receiving of the Get

Before beginning Perek III, we learn more about the agent who delivers the get from overseas and the agent who hands this get to the wife.  When are they not the same person?  When the wife herself is the agent.  The rabbis argue about whether or not a woman can act as an agent on her husband's authority.  Is it enough to deliver the get and state that she has witnessed the writing and the signing of this document?  One piece is missing:  a woman cannot act as the agent who hands her the get.  Even if she places the get on the floor, she cannot simply pick it up to be granted a divorce.  The get must be handed to her.  Thus a woman is permitted to act as her husband's agent and deliver her own get to an agent at the court. At that point she states that she witnessed the get being written and signed.  The agent the hands the get back to her - she is divorced.

And so at the end of Perek II, we confirm that a woman - in fact, any halachically competent Jew - is able to act as an agent for the get.  Why did the rabbis decide upon this leniency?  Was it to make the process of divorce easier?  Was it to avoid issues that might arise (forbidden sexual relationships) if one is waiting too long to be officially divorced?

Perek II ends with a Mishna that carries over into Perek III.  It teaches that a get must be used for the woman intended.  If one has the same names and details as those in a get, that get is forbidden unless it was written for the intended couple.  If one has two wives, he cannot change his mind before the get is delivered and assign it to a different wife that the wife intended from the start of the process.

Why do the rabbis create these stringencies?  We just watched them decide to permit almost anyone to deliver the get.  Why is it so important that the get is written in accordance with the specific intentions of the husband?  

The Gemara notes a number of cases where there are very specific requirements regarding the dissolution of a contract.  The rabbis also consider the implications of an invalid get: a woman could participate in sexual relationships that are forbidden unless she holds a valid get.

It seems that our rabbis are attempting to minimize conflict when it comes to marriage and divorce.  Once the get is written, it should be enacted.  According to strict halacha, of course, but efficiently.  However men should not be able to divorce on a whim; changing his mind about whom he wants to divorce or whether or not he wishes to divorce.  The safeguards that our rabbis put into place might have helped to maintain an ordered and structured society.