Mishnah.org Logo

Mishnayos Gittin Perek 8 Mishnah 10

גיטין פרק ח׳ משנה י׳

10

With regard to a bare bill of divorce; anyone, even those who are disqualified from bearing witness, can complete it, i.e., sign it in addition to the primary witnesses, so that it will not remain bare. This is the statement of ben Nannas. Rabbi Akiva says: Not all who are disqualified from bearing witness can complete it. Rather, only relatives who are fit to testify in another case. Rabbi Akiva permits only the inclusion of witnesses who would ordinarily be valid witnesses, but who are invalid here because they are relatives of either the husband and wife or the other witnesses. And what is a bare bill of divorce? It is any bill of divorce where the number of its folds is more than the number of its witnesses. In a folded and tied bill of divorce, the bill of divorce is folded and the folds are then tied. Instead of having two witnesses sign at the bottom of the document, witnesses would sign on each tied fold. A bare bill of divorce has more folds than signatures, i.e., some folds lack signatures.

גֵּט קֵרֵחַ, הַכֹּל מַשְׁלִימִין עָלָיו, דִּבְרֵי בֶן נַנָּס. רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, אֵין מַשְׁלִימִין עָלָיו אֶלָּא קְרוֹבִים הָרְאוּיִין לְהָעִיד בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר. וְאֵיזֶהוּ גֵּט קֵרֵחַ. כֹּל שֶׁקְּשָׁרָיו מְרֻבִּין מֵעֵדָיו:

י׳
Bartenura

הכל משלימין עליו – and even a slave, and even someone who is ineligible to provide testimony on account of sin.

אלא קרוב שהוא ראוי להעיד בעדות אחרת – for he doesn’t have disqualification to give testimony other than for those near. But a slave or a thief cannot. A slave, - perhaps he will come to bring up genealogical connections; and a thief, perhaps he will come to say that he effectuated repentance; but someone related, everyone knows concerning him that he is a relative, and the Halakah is according to Ben Nanas that anyone may complete it. Nevertheless, only one ineligible witness may affix his signature upon it, and all the rest, require that all of them are valid [witnesses].

הכל משלימין עליו. ואפילו עבד, ואפילו פסול לעדות מחמת עבירה:

אלא קרוב שהוא ראוי להעיד בעדות אחרת. שאין עליו פסול עדות אלא קורבה. אבל עבד או גזלן לא. עבד דלמא אתי לאסוקי ליוחסין. וגזלן דלמא אתו למימר עבד תשובה. אבל קרוב, כולי עלמא ידעי ליה דקרוב הוא. והלכה כבן ננס שהכל משלימין עליו. ומ״מ אין חותם עליו אלא ע״א פסול בלבד, והשאר צריך שיהיו כלם כשרים: