The Comprehensive Book

You should know that a divorce can be established in one of five ways [only four of which are included in this excerpt—Ed.]. The first of these ways is when a bill of divorce is in the possession of the woman who is getting divorced, and two witnesses testify that it was handed over to her at the command of her husband. The same law applies whether or not the document is signed by the witnesses, as we rely on the witnesses to the delivery rather than the signatory witnesses. A proof for our claim is the following teaching:

Three bills of divorce are invalid, but if she marries, the offspring is fit [i.e., not a mamzer]: If he wrote in his handwriting but it has no witnesses on it; if there are witnesses on it but it does not include the date; and if it does include the date but contains only one witness. These are the three bills of divorce which are invalid, but if she marries, the offspring is fit. R. Eliezer says: Even though it has no witnesses, if he handed it to her in the presence of witnesses it is valid and she can collect from liened property, as the witnesses sign on the bill of divorce only for the good order of the world. [b. Gittin 86a]

And the Gemara there states that R. Judah said in the name of Rav: The law is in accordance with R. Eliezer regarding bills of divorce [b. Gittin 86b].

The second way a divorce is established is when the witnesses to the delivery testify that the bill of divorce was handed over to the woman. In such a case, the divorce is valid, despite the fact that the document itself cannot be found. This is well known, as we wrote regarding the first way that the law is in accordance with R. Eliezer, who maintains that the witnesses to the delivery effect the divorce [see, e.g., b. Gittin 10b]. The third way is when a bill of divorce is found in the possession of the woman who is getting divorced, together with a report of a divorce, i.e., that she had received her bill of divorce from witnesses to the delivery, as we will explain. The divorce is established by means of these two factors, and we do not require her to bring forth the witnesses to the delivery. The meaning of this report of a divorce is as stated in the Gemara of tractate Gittin on this mishnah: If there was a report in the city that an unmarried woman is betrothed, she is betrothed; that she is divorced, she is divorced [m. Gittin 9:4]. [ . . . ]

Regarding the establishment of a divorce in this manner and the previous way, the author of ha-Halakhot [Halakhot gedolot; i.e., Simon Qayyāra] said: In the case of a woman who received her bill of divorce by means of witnesses to the delivery, and then the witnesses went overseas or died, and a report subsequently circulated in the city that she was divorced and had recently lost her bill of divorce, we do not rely on this report about her in the city. Rather, since she had the status of a married woman, if there are witnesses to the delivery—or if she has the bill of divorce in her possession—she is permitted to remarry, but if not, then she is forbidden. Two of the ways cited by R. Yehuday—may he be remembered for life—in his laws are already established here, as he relied on the principle that the witnesses to the delivery effect a divorce when the document cannot be found. The main idea expressed by the author of ha-Halakhot in this ruling is taken from the Talmud, which asks the following question on the teaching of the Mishnah that “the witnesses sign on the bill of divorce only for the good order of the world”:

For the good order of the world?! Doesn’t this apply by biblical law, as it is written: And subscribe the deeds, and sign them, and call witnesses (Jeremiah 32:44)? Raba said: It is only necessary for the opinion of R. Eliezar, who says that the witnesses to the delivery effect a divorce, as the sages instituted signatory witnesses in case the witnesses die or go overseas. [b. Gittin 36a]

It can be inferred that in this situation the divorce is established by presenting the bill of divorce signed by witnesses, together with a report of a divorce, as stated by the author of ha-Halakhot, and this is the meaning of “for the good order of the world” in this context.

The fourth way is when the messenger acknowledges that he handed over the bill of divorce to the wife in the presence of two witnesses, and the document is in the woman’s possession. Consequently, the divorce is established without the need for additional ratification. Furthermore, there is a proof that the law is in accordance with R. Eliezer regarding witnesses to the delivery: When a messenger brings a bill of divorce, even though it is signed by witnesses and he must recite the formula: “It was written in my presence and it was signed in my presence” [see m. Gittin 1:1], all this is still not enough without the witnesses to the delivery, as the messenger is a stand-in for the husband, in accordance with the basic rule that “a person’s messenger is like himself” [see, e.g., b. Kiddushin 41b].