Gittin 64: Third Party Witnesses; Betrothed Girls, Minors and the Capacity to Acquire their own Gittin

What is the legal responsibility of the agent, the third party who is authorized to deliver the get from a husband to a wife?  The rabbis discuss a new Mishna where a number of fundamental issues are discussed when it comes to a third party.  These include the need for witnesses to a husband's claim of delivery, the need for witnesses to a wife's claim of receipt, the voracity of the agent's word, and the credibility of both husbands and wives when it comes to statements about gittin.  Who has something to lose; who has something to gain by inventing a truth?  

Interestingly, the rabbis mention that wives would not be so insolent as to lie in the presence of their husbands about the fact that their husbands divorced them.  However, they still require the written document, the get, as proof of their claims.

Amud (b) shares a new Mishna.  We learn that a betrothed girl (one who is twelve years old and has at least two pubic hairs and is engaged to be married) and her father both acquire the get.  Rabbi Yehuda disagrees, saying that two hands cannot acquire together and thus the father must always acquire the get on her behalf.  It also introduces a principal: if she cannot safeguard her get, she is not eligible to be divorced.

The rabbis wonder whether the girl in question is in fact properly protecting more than one item.  Perhaps the girl in question is able to acquire both her get and another item of value.  The rabbis also consider whether she might mistake her get for something else of little value.  They call her an imbecile for doing such a thing, evaluating her capacity in general.  Then they consider the possibility that this girl is able to save more than one item of value. 

Next, the Gemara approaches this question of a minor acquiring.  When is a minor permitted to acquire in other situations?  The then rabbis remind us of Masechet Eruvin, where we learn that even Hebrew maidservants are permitted to acquire food in alleyways in order to connect courtyards for the purpose of extending Shabbat boundaries.  The rabbis also tell us about minor boys who might be given a pebble and a nut.  If they keep the nut and get rid of the pebble, they understand value and they are permitted to acquire on behalf of themselves (but not for others).