Gittin 29: When an Agent Becomes Ill

We learn two Mishnaot in today's daf.  The first tells us that if a husband appoints an agent to deliver a get overseas and then that agent becomes ill, the agent can appoint another agent to deliver the get.  The second agent cannot be sent if the husband requested that the agent receive an item from his wife.  This is because he might not want that item to be in the possession of a person other than his chosen agent.

The Gemara asks questions about the circumstances of an illness.  How do we determine whether or not the husband would be alright with a secondary agent?   What about other unforeseen circumstances that are not illnesses?    The Gemara compares the get to other documents, like a deed which is presented as a gift, and rules of borrowing/lending.  For example, a person who is renting a home cannot sublet that home unless that sublet is the desire of the owner.

The second Mishna shares another guideline regarding a get that is delivered from out of town by an agent of the husband.  If he became sick, he appoints another agent in court, saying that the get was written in his presence and signed in his presence.  The final agent does not need to repeat those words when he delivers the get.  Instead, he can say, "I am an agent of the court."

The Gemara first questions the meaning of the first agent saying the required words at court and then the second agent saying the newly required words upon delivery of the get.

The conversation then turns to agents who are appointed in HaAretz.  The halachot may be slightly different.  A agent in Eretz Yisrael was allowed to give his responsibility to other agents.  However, it is possible that if one died, they were all cancelled.  Based on the challenge of Marbar Rab Ashi, who spoke about his father's statement,  if the husband were to die, all other agents were 'cancelled'. 

The Gemara then considers cases where women were presented with gittin.  The rabbis wonder about how long it might take for the agent to deliver the get, whether husbands might have been mollified and changed their minds about the get, and whether or not the wives are deemed credible to say that the agent never arrived with the get in hand.  Rava made a decision that was disputed by the rabbis.  At the very end of our daf, Rava wonders whether or not the rabbis might have ruled differently if the situation regarded a betrothed woman rather than a married woman who was awaiting her get.  The rabbis note that he says this due to embarrassment.