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6 ‎[1] With regard to **one who says** to another: **Receive this bill of divorce for my wife, or: Deliver this bill of divorce to my wife** as my agent, **if** the husband **seeks to retract** his designation and cancel the agency, **he can retract** it until the document reaches his wife’s possession. However, in the case of **a woman who said** to an agent: **Receive my bill of divorce for me,** and the husband handed the bill of divorce to her agent, **if** the husband **seeks to retract** his decision to divorce his wife upon receipt of the bill of divorce by the agent, **he cannot retract** it. Once the bill of divorce is transferred to her agent, its legal status is like that of a bill of divorce that was handed directly to her, and the divorce takes effect immediately. **Therefore,** if the husband **said to** the agent whom the woman designated to receive the bill of divorce: **I do not want [*ee ifshi*] for you to receive** the bill of divorce **for her; rather, deliver** it **and give** it **to her,** then **if** the husband **seeks to retract** his designation and cancel the agency, **he can retract** it until it reaches his wife’s possession. Since the husband does not agree to have the divorce take effect upon receipt by his wife’s agent, he changes the designation of the agent and designates him as his own agent for delivery. Therefore, the divorce takes effect only when the bill of divorce reaches his wife’s possession. **Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Even** a woman **who** did not instruct the agent: Receive my bill of divorce for me but **says: Take my bill of divorce for me,** thereby designates the agent as an agent of receipt on her behalf. Therefore, **if** after handing the bill of divorce to the agent the husband **seeks to retract** his decision and cancel the agency, **he cannot retract** it.
‎[2] **A woman who said** to an agent: **Receive my bill of divorce for me, requires two sets of witnesses** to confirm that she was divorced when the agent received the bill of divorce. She requires **two** witnesses **who say: In our presence she said** to the agent: Receive my bill of divorce on my behalf, **and two who say: In our presence** the agent **received** the bill of divorce **and tore** it. This testimony is effective **even** if two people **are the first** pair of witnesses **and** the same two **are the latter** pair of witnesses, **or** if there is **one** witness **from the first** pair of witnesses **and one** witness **from the latter** pair, **and one** additional witness **joins with them** as the second witness in both testimonies. With regard to **a betrothed young woman, she and her father** are each eligible to **receive her bill of divorce,** and the divorce takes effect at the moment that either of them receives the bill of divorce. **Rabbi Yehuda said: Two hands do not** have the right to **acquire** an item on behalf of one person **as one. Rather, her father alone receives her bill of divorce** on her behalf. **And** there is another principle: **Any** female **who is unable to safeguard her bill of divorce is unable to be divorced.**
‎[3] In the case of **a minor girl who said** to an agent: **Receive my bill of divorce for me, it is not** a valid **bill of divorce until the bill of divorce reaches her possession. Therefore, if the husband seeks to retract** his decision before his wife receives the bill of divorce, **he can retract** it, **as a minor does not designate an agent.** Consequently, the agent is not an agent for receipt, and the divorce does not take effect when the husband hands the document to the agent. The agent is an agent for delivery, and the divorce takes effect when the bill of divorce enters the wife’s possession. **And** if **her father said to** the agent: **Go out and receive my daughter’s bill of divorce on** her behalf, then **if** the husband **seeks to retract** his decision, **he cannot retract** it. As a father can receive the bill of divorce on behalf of his minor daughter, he can designate an agent for receipt, and the divorce takes effect when the husband hands the document to the agent. With regard to **one who says** to an agent: **Give this bill of divorce to my wife in such and such a place,** if the agent deviated **and gave it to her in another place** the divorce is **invalid.** However, if he said to the agent: Give this bill of divorce to my wife, **she is in such and such a place,** without explicitly instructing the agent to give her the document there, **and he gave it to her in another place** the divorce is **valid.** With regard to **the woman who** when designating her agent for receipt **said** to her agent: **Receive my bill of divorce for me in such and such a place, and he received it for her in another place,** the divorce is **invalid;** and **Rabbi Elazar deems** it **valid.** If she said to him: **Bring me my bill of divorce from such and such a place, and he brought it for her from another place,** it is **valid.** Because he is an agent for delivery, the woman is not particular where he receives the bill of divorce, as the divorce takes effect only when the bill of divorce reaches her possession.
‎[4] An Israelite woman married to a priest partakes of *teruma*. If she says to an agent: **Bring me my bill of divorce,** designating him as an agent for delivery, **she** continues to **partake of *teruma* until the bill of divorce reaches her possession.** However, if she says: **Receive my bill of divorce for me,** thereby designating him as an agent for receipt, it is **immediately prohibited** for her **to partake of *teruma*.** Since the divorce takes effect when the husband hands the bill of divorce to the agent, the concern is that the agent encountered the husband nearby. If the woman said to the agent: **Receive my bill of divorce for me in such and such a place,** then even if he received it elsewhere, **she** continues to **partake of *teruma* until the bill of divorce reaches that place. Rabbi Elazar prohibits** her from partaking of *teruma* **immediately.**
‎[5] With regard to a husband **who says** to two people: **Write a bill of divorce and give** it **to my wife,** or: **Divorce her,** or: **Write a letter and give** it **to her, they should write** the document **and give** it to her. In each of those cases his intent is clear. He is instructing them to effect her divorce. However, one who said: **Release her,** or: **Sustain her, or: Treat her according to the law [*nimus*],** or: **Treat her appropriately, said nothing,** as none of these expressions clearly expresses his desire to divorce his wife. **At first** the Sages **would say:** In the case of **one who is taken out in a neck chain [*kolar*]** to be executed **and** who **said: Write a bill of divorce for my wife, these** people **should write** the document **and give** it to his wife even though there was no explicit instruction to give it to her. **They then said: Even** with regard **to one who sets sail and one who departs in a caravan** to a far-off place and says: Write a bill of divorce to my wife, his intention is to write the bill of divorce and give it to his wife. **Rabbi Shimon Shezuri says: Even** if **one who is dangerously ill** gives that instruction, they write the bill of divorce and give it to his wife.
‎[6] With regard to **one who was thrown into a pit** and thought that he would die there, **and he said** that **anyone who hears his voice should write a bill of divorce for his wife,** and he specified his name, her name, and all relevant details, **those** who hear him **should write** this bill of divorce **and give** it to his wife, even though they do not see the man and do not know him. **A healthy man who said: Write a bill of divorce for my wife,** but did not say to give it to her, presumably **sought to mock her.** Since he told them to write the bill of divorce and not to give it, it is not a valid bill of divorce. The mishna relates: There was **an incident involving a healthy man who said: Write a bill of divorce for my wife, and** then **ascended to the roof and fell, and died. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: If he fell at his own** initiative, taking his own life, **it is** a valid **bill of divorce,** as it is clear that he anticipated his death and instructed those listening to write the bill of divorce with the intent of giving it to her. However, **if the wind forced him** to fall, **it is not** a valid **bill of divorce,** as there was no clear intent to give her the bill of divorce.
‎[7] If a man **said to two** people: **Give a bill of divorce to my wife,** **or** if a man said **to three** people: **Write a bill of divorce and give** it **to my wife, these** people **should write** the document themselves **and give** it to her. If **he said to three** people: **Give a bill of divorce to my wife, these** people **should tell others, and** those others **will write** the document, **because he designated** the three people as **a court.** This is **the statement of Rabbi Meir.** **And** it is **that *halakha*** that **Rabbi Ḥanina of Ono brought up from prison** in the name of Rabbi Akiva, who was incarcerated there: **I received** a tradition from my teachers that **in** a case where a man **says to three** people: **Give a bill of divorce to my wife, that these** people **should tell others and** those others **will write** the document, **because he designated** the three people as **a court.** **Rabbi Yosei said: We said [*nomeinu*] to the agent,** Rabbi Ḥanina of Ono: **We too received** a tradition. However, it is a different one, **that even** if a man **said to the High Court [Sanhedrin] in Jerusalem: Give a bill of divorce to my wife, that** the members of the court **should learn** to write, **and should write** the document themselves, **and give** it to his wife. If a man **said to ten** people: **Write and give a bill of divorce to my wife, one** of the ten **writes** the bill of divorce **and two sign** it. If he said: **All of you write** the document, **one of them writes** the bill of divorce **and all of them sign** it. **Therefore, if one of them died,** then **this is a bill of divorce** that is **null and void,** as he directed all of them to participate in the process.
Version: William Davidson Edition - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-noe-edition-koren-talmud-bavli-1
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