Gittin 81: Is the Get Valid? Leniencies and the "Bare Get"

A new Mishna tells us about a difference of opinion between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel.  Beit Shammai believe that a woman is disqualified from marrying a priest once the get has been written even if has not been delivered and received.  Beit Hillel is more lenient, believing that a woman is permitted to marry a priest in her second marriage even if the get is written with a condition and the condition has not been fulfilled.

The Gemara tells of a rumour that was brought to Shmuel.  A priest was said to have divorced his wife and yet she still lived with him and attended to him.  Shmuel suggested that the wife leave, but that the matter be investigated.  The rabbis are concerned that rumours of little consequence will hold too much power within the community.   They also debate what it means to "leave" the husband; is the wife barred from marrying into the priesthood in the future, or is she simply divorced from her husband?

And then we are introduced to a truism used today.  Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda bar Elai: Come and see that the later generations are unlike the earlier generations.  The earlier generations, like Beit Shammai, took membership in the priesthood with great seriousness.  The later generations, like Rav Dosa, were comfortable with leniencies around the priesthood.  He was to have said in Masechet Eduyyot that a priest's wife who was taken captive could be assumed to be permitted to her husband for she is not assumed to have been raped. 

A second new Mishna tells of a couple who was divorced but then spent the night together at an inn.  Are they assumed to have had sexual intercourse?  If so, do they need a second divorce?  Or are they assumed to be partaking in licentious sexual intercourse?  The Gemara argues both sides of this question.  Because sexual intercourse is a form of betrothal, the couple could be remarried and thus requiring another divorce.  However, if they were only betrothed to begin with, they might not have had intercourse since the husband was not "accustomed to her".  Beit Shammai say that people would simply engage in licentious sexual intercourse.  Beit Hillel says that divorced people would not do such a thing.  And were there witnesses?  To their seclusion? To their sexual intercourse?

Another Mishna teaches us that a folded and tied get must have signatures under each fold.  Some say that this get is invalid and some say that anyone can add their signature to the get if it is missing a signature.  If the get is invalid, the wife must divorce both her first and second husband.  Such a get is called a bare bill of divorce, a get kereyach.  

The Gemara discusses who might be able to add their signatures to such a get.  They look at the different numbers of people who might have been told to sign the get.  Finally, they ask whether or not relatives would be accepted as signatories - or, perhaps, whether or not relatives would be required as signatories of a bare get when there are fewer signatures than folds on the document.