Gittin 78: Throwing the Get; One's Personal Space

Before moving on to a new Mishna, the Gemara clarifies whether or not the get is valid if a husband throws it onto a woman's bed within his home, within her home, onto her bed or onto his bed.  Further, they speak about the woman's basket and where it is placed when a husband throws the get.  As part of this examination we learn that a person can claim his or her own domain.  The basket is considered to be part of the woman's domain.  The bed, however, must be hers.  

The rabbis wish to be decidedly clear on whether or not the wife has physically received her get.  They discuss the need to announce the arrival of the get, even though her acquiescence is not legally required for her to be divorced.  To ensure that no other document is given to her - a promissory note, for example - the rabbis insist on the woman understanding that her get is arriving.  We are reminded that a woman who does not have the capacity to consent cannot be divorced and must be provided for for the duration of the marriage.

A new Mishna carries forward this focus.  It teaches us that a woman who is told that her husband is giving her a promissory note must be told that it is actually a get for the get to be valid.  If she reads it and realizes that it is a get, she still must be told that it is her get.  Even if she is sleeping when it is put in her hand, she must be told when she awakens that it is her get for that get to be valid.  My first observation is that women could read their own gittin, which suggests that women were educated in the ancient Jewish world.

The Gemara discusses whether or not the get is valid if the husband places it on the ground instead of in her hand.  They also discuss the validity of the get if the wife pulls it out instead of being given the get.  Pulling is one of the forms of acquisition in other cases of transferring property ownership.  In this case, the Torah is clear and the get must be placed in her hand.  But, the Gemara continues, is the get valid if it is placed in the hand of the wife's sleeping maidservant or slave?  The rabbis conclude that sleep renders a person incapable of consent.  Further, the get must be placed in the wife's hand when she is told, "this is your get" for the get to be valid.

Another new Mishna teaches about gittin that are thrown within the public domain.  If the get is closer to the wife when it lands, she is divorced.  If it falls between the two equally, then it is unclear whether or not she is divorced.  This is compared with similar rituals with a debtor who throws his payment to a creditor, and with a man who betroths a woman within the public domain.

The Gemara spends time on discussing who might be standing where within their four cubits of space; how many witnesses might be present to evaluate the location of the fallen get, and other similar details.  The rabbis also speak about the requirement of guarding the get once it has been delivered.  A woman cannot remarry without that document, and so it must be very carefully guarded from loss - even by a dog trying to take it from her hand.  

We end today's daf with the rabbis extending their earlier conversation regarding a get that is thrown. If the woman cannot 'grab' the get and it falls within her four cubits of space, then she is divorced.  If it bounces off of her hand and lands outside of those four cubits, the get is not valid.  This is compared with a debtor and creditor, who might split the value of the document in half - that cannot be done with a get.  A woman is either divorced or not divorced.  And what if she is standing on a riverbank and her get stands to be destroyed?

We'll have to wait for tomorrow's daf to get the specifics on that question.