וְיָצְאָ֖ה מִבֵּית֑וֹ וְהָלְכָ֖ה וְהָיְתָ֥ה לְאִישׁ־אַחֵֽר׃
(2) and she departeth out of his house, and goeth and becometh another man’s wife,
מתני׳ בית שמאי אומרים לא יגרש אדם את אשתו אלא אם כן מצא בה דבר ערוה שנאמר (דברים כד, א) כי מצא בה ערות דבר ובית הלל אומרים אפילו הקדיחה תבשילו שנאמר כי מצא בה ערות דבר ר' עקיבא אומר אפי' מצא אחרת נאה הימנה שנאמר (דברים כד, א) והיה אם לא תמצא חן בעיניו:
MISHNA: Beit Shammai say: A man may not divorce his wife unless he finds out about her having engaged in a matter of forbidden sexual intercourse [devar erva], i.e., she committed adultery or is suspected of doing so, as it is stated: “Because he has found some unseemly matter [ervat davar] in her, and he writes her a scroll of severance” (Deuteronomy 24:1). And Beit Hillel say: He may divorce her even due to a minor issue, e.g., because she burned or over-salted his dish, as it is stated: “Because he has found some unseemly matter in her,” meaning that he found any type of shortcoming in her. Rabbi Akiva says: He may divorce her even if he found another woman who is better looking than her and wishes to marry her, as it is stated in that verse: “And it comes to pass, if she finds no favor in his eyes” (Deuteronomy 24:1).
(א) אֵין הָאִשָּׁה מִתְגָּרֶשֶׁת אֶלָּא בִּכְתָב שֶׁיַּגִּיעַ לָהּ וּכְתָב זֶה הוּא הַנִּקְרָא גֵּט. וַעֲשָׂרָה דְּבָרִים הֵן עִקַּר הַגֵּרוּשִׁין מִן הַתּוֹרָה וְאֵלּוּ הֵן. א) שֶׁלֹּא יְגָרֵשׁ הָאִישׁ אֶלָּא בִּרְצוֹנוֹ. ב) וְשֶׁיְּגָרֵשׁ בִּכְתָב וְלֹא בְּדָבָר אַחֵר. ג) וְשֶׁיִּהְיֶה עִנְיַן הַכְּתָב שֶׁגֵּרְשָׁהּ וֶהֱסִירָהּ מִקִּנְיָנוֹ. ד) וְשֶׁיִּהְיֶה עִנְיָנוֹ דָּבָר הַכּוֹרֵת בֵּינוֹ לְבֵינָהּ. ה) וְשֶׁיִּהְיֶה נִכְתָּב לִשְׁמָהּ. ו) וְשֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה מְחֻסַּר מַעֲשֶׂה אַחַר כְּתִיבָתוֹ אֶלָּא נְתִינָתוֹ לָהּ [בִּלְבַד]. ז) וְשֶׁיִּתְּנֵהוּ לָהּ. ח) וְשֶׁיִּתְּנֵהוּ לָהּ בִּפְנֵי עֵדִים. ט) וְשֶׁיִּתְּנֵהוּ לָהּ בְּתוֹרַת גֵּרוּשִׁין. י) וְשֶׁיִּהְיֶה הַבַּעַל אוֹ שְׁלוּחוֹ הוּא שֶׁנּוֹתְנוֹ לָהּ. וּשְׁאָר הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁבַּגֵּט כְּגוֹן הַזְּמַן וַחֲתִימַת הָעֵדִים וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶן הַכּל מִדִּבְרֵי סוֹפְרִים: (ב) וּמִנַּיִן שֶׁעֲשָׂרָה דְּבָרִים אֵלּוּ מִן הַתּוֹרָה. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כד-א) "וְהָיָה אִם לֹא תִמְצָא חֵן בְּעֵינָיו" (דברים כד-א) "וְכָתַב לָהּ סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻת וְנָתַן בְּיָדָהּ וְשִׁלְּחָהּ מִבֵּיתוֹ". אִם לֹא תִמְצָא חֵן בְּעֵינָיו. מְלַמֵּד שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְגָרֵשׁ אֶלָּא בִּרְצוֹנוֹ. וְאִם נִתְגָּרְשָׁה שֶׁלֹּא בִּרְצוֹנוֹ אֵינָהּ מְגֹרֶשֶׁת. אֲבָל הָאִשָּׁה מִתְגָּרֶשֶׁת בִּרְצוֹנָהּ וְשֶׁלֹּא בִּרְצוֹנָהּ: (ג) (דברים כד-א) "וְכָתַב". מְלַמֵּד שֶׁאֵינָהּ מִתְגָּרֶשֶׁת אֶלָּא בִּכְתָב. (דברים כד-א) "לָהּ". לִשְׁמָהּ. (דברים כד-א) "סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻת". דָּבָר הַכּוֹרֵת בֵּינוֹ לְבֵינָהּ שֶׁלֹּא יִשָּׁאֵר לוֹ עָלֶיהָ רְשׁוּת. וְאִם עֲדַיִן לֹא נִכְרַת בֵּינוֹ לְבֵינָהּ אֵינָהּ מְגֹרֶשֶׁת כְּמוֹ שֶׁיִּתְבָּאֵר. (דברים כד-א) "וְנָתַן בְּיָדָהּ". מְלַמֵּד שֶׁאֵינָהּ מִתְגָּרֶשֶׁת עַד שֶׁיִּנָּתֵן הַגֵּט בְּיָדָהּ אוֹ בְּיַד שְׁלוּחָה שֶׁהוּא כְּיָדָהּ אוֹ לַחֲצֵרָהּ שֶׁהַכּל כְּיָדָהּ כְּמוֹ שֶׁיִּתְבָּאֵר. (דברים כד-א) "וְשִׁלְּחָהּ". שֶׁיִּהְיֶה עִנְיַן הַגֵּט שֶׁהוּא הַמְשַׁלֵּחַ אוֹתָהּ. לֹא שֶׁיִּשְׁלַח עַצְמוֹ מִמֶּנָּה:
(1) [1] A woman may be divorced only by means of a writ that reaches her, and this writ is called a get. According to the Torah, there are ten rules that are basic to divorce, and they are as follows: that the man may not divorce his wife except of his own free will; that he must give a divorce by means of a writ, and not by means of anything else... that it must be written specifically for her... that he must deliver it to her; that he must deliver it to her in the presence of witnesses; that he must give it to her as an instrument of divorce; that it must be the husband, or his agent, who gives it to her...
(2) • [2] And from where to we know that these ten rules are derived from the Torah? From this verse (Deuteronomy 24:1) "[If] she fails to please him, because he finds something unseemly about her, he writes her a bill of divorcement, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house."
(3) • "[If] she fails to please him" implies that he may not give a divorce except of his own free will. If she is divorced against his will, she is not divorced. However a woman may be divorced with her consent as well as without it.
גט:
ב_______ בשבת, ב_______ ימים לירח _______, שנת_______
לבריאת עולם למנין שאנו מנין כאן ב_______ מתא דיתבא על נהר _______ ועל מי מעינות, אנא _______ בן _______, העומד היום ב_______ מתא, דיתבא על נהר _______ ועל מי מעינות, צביתי ברעות נפשי בדלא אניסנא, ושבקית ופטרית ותרוכית יתיכי ליכי אנת אנתתי _______ בת _______ העומדת היום ב_______ מתא, דיתבא
על נהר _______ועל מי מעינות, דהוית אנתתי מן קדמת דנא וכדו פטרית ושבקית ותרוכית יתיכי ליכי דיתיהוייין רשאה ושלטאה בנפשיכי למהך להתנסבא לכל גבר דיתיצבייין, ואנש לא ימחא בידיכי מן יומא דנן ולעלם, והרי את מותרת לכל אדם, ודן די יהוי ליכי מנאי ספר תרוכין ואגרת שבוקין וגט פטורין כדת משה וישראל. פלוני בן פלוני עד פלוני בן פלוני עד
Get (Divorce Document):
On the __________ day of the week, the __________ day of the month of __________ in the year __________ after creation of the world, according to the calendaric calculations that we count here, in the city __________, which is situated on the__________ river, and situated near springs of water, I, __________ the son of __________, who today am present in the city __________, which is situated on the__________ river, and situated near springs of water, willingly consent, being under no duress, to release, discharge, and divorce you [to be] on your own, you, my wife __________, daughter of __________, who are today in the city of __________, which is situated on the__________ river, and situated near springs of water, who has hitherto been my wife. And now I do release, discharge, and divorce you [to be] on your own, so that you are permitted and have authority over yourself to go and marry any man you desire. No person may object against you from this day onward, and you are permitted to every man. This shall be for you from me a bill of dismissal, a letter of release, and a document of absolution, in accordance with the law of Moses and Israel.
_________ the son of _________ -- witness
_________ the son of _________ -- witness.
(י) ואלו שכופין אותו להוציא, מכה שחין, ובעל פוליפוס, והמקמץ, והמצרף נחשת, והברסי, בין שהיו בם עד שלא נשאו ובין משנשאו נולדו. ועל כלן אמר רבי מאיר: אף על פי שהתנה עמה, יכולה היא שתאמר סבורה הייתי שאני יכולה לקבל, ועכשיו איני יכולה לקבל. וחכמים אומרים: מקבלת היא על כרחה, חוץ ממכה שחין, מפני שממקתו. מעשה בצידון בברסי אחד שמת והיה לו אח ברסי, אמרו חכמים: יכולה היא שתאמר לאחיך הייתי יכולה לקבל ולך איני יכולה לקבל.
(10) And these [are the cases in which] they compel him to divorce [his wife]: one stricken with leprosy; or one afflicted with polypus; or one who gathers dogs’ dung; or a copper-smelter; or a tanner. Whether [these circumstances] existed before they were married or after they were married. And with regard to them all, Rabbi Meir said, "Even though he stipulated with her [in advance], she may say, 'I thought I could accept it, but now [I realize that] I cannot.'" But the Sages say, "She must accept it against her will, except for one smitten with leprosy, because [intercourse will] enervate him. It happened at Sidon, that a certain tanner died, and he had a brother who [also] was a tanner. The Sages said, "[The wife] may say, 'For your brother I could accept it, but for you I cannot accept it.'"
מתני׳ ואלו יוצאות שלא בכתובה העוברת על דת משה ויהודית ואיזו היא דת משה מאכילתו שאינו מעושר ומשמשתו נדה ולא קוצה לה חלה ונודרת ואינה מקיימת ואיזוהי דת יהודית יוצאה וראשה פרוע וטווה בשוק ומדברת עם כל אדם אבא שאול אומר אף המקללת יולדיו בפניו רבי טרפון אומר אף הקולנית ואיזוהי קולנית לכשהיא מדברת בתוך ביתה ושכיניה שומעין קולה
THESE ARE TO BE DIVORCED WITHOUT RECEIVING THEIR KETHUBAH: A WIFE WHO TRANSGRESSES THE LAW OF MOSES OR [ONE WHO TRANSGRESSES] JEWISH PRACTICE. AND WHAT IS [REGARDED AS A WIFE'S TRANSGRESSION AGAINST] THE LAW OF MOSES? FEEDING HER HUSBAND WITH UNTITHED FOOD, HAVING INTERCOURSE WITH HIM DURING THE PERIOD OF HER MENSTRUATION, NOT SETTING APART HER DOUGH OFFERING, OR MAKING VOWS AND NOT FULFILLING THEM. AND WHAT [IS DEEMED TO BE A WIFE'S TRANSGRESSION AGAINST] JEWISH PRACTICE? GOING OUT WITH UNCOVERED HEAD, SPINNING IN THE STREET OR CONVERSING WITH EVERY MAN. ABBA SAUL SAID: [SUCH TRANSGRESSIONS INCLUDE] ALSO THAT OF A WIFE WHO CURSES HER HUSBAND'S PARENTS IN HIS PRESENCE. R. TARFON SAID: ALSO ONE WHO SCREAMS. AND WHO IS REGARDED A SCREAMER? A WOMAN WHOSE VOICE CAN BE HEARD BY HER NEIGHBOURS WHEN SHE SPEAKS INSIDE HER HOUSE.
מתוך הדברים נזכר רבן גמליאל שנהרגו הרוגים בתל ארזא והשיא רבן גמליאל [הזקן] נשותיהם על פי עד אחד, [והחזקו להיות משיאין על פי עד אחד]. והחזקו להיות משיאין עד מפי עד, מפי עבד, מפי אשה, מפי שפחה. רבי אליעזר ורבי יהושע אומרים: אין משאין את האשה על פי עד אחד. רבי עקיבא אומר: לא על פי אשה [ולא על פי עבד ולא על פי שפחה] ולא על פי קרובים. אמרו לו: מעשה בבני לוי שהלכו לצער עיר התמרים, וחלה אחד מהם בדרך, והביאוהו בפנדק, ובחזרתם אמרו לפנדקית איה חברנו, אמרה להם מת וקברתיו, והשיאו את אשתו. אמרו לו ולא תהא כהנת כפנדקית. אמר להם לכשתהא פנדקית נאמנת, הפנדקית הוציאה להם מקלו ותרמילו וספר תורה שהיה בידו.
Through the conversation Rabban Gamliel recalled that people were killed at Tel Arza and Rabban Gamliel allowed their wives to marry based on a single witness, and they established a rule to allow women to marry based on a single witness, and they established a rule to allow women to marry based on [what] a witness [heard] from a witness, and based on [the testimony of] a slave, [or] based on [the testimony of] a woman, [or] based on [the testimony of] a maidservant. Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua say: We do not allow a woman to marry based on [the testimony] of a single witness. Rabbi Akiva says: [We do] not [allow a woman to marry] based on [the testimony] of a woman, and not based on [the testimony] of a slave, and not based on [the testimony] of a maidservant, and not based on [the testimony] of relatives. They [the Sages] said to him: It once happened that some Levites went to Tzo'ar, the city of palm trees, and one of them fell ill on the journey, and he was brought to an inn [and left there]. And on their return they said to the woman innkeeper, "Where is our friend?" She said to them, "He died and I buried him", and they allowed his wife to marry. They said to him [Rabbi Akiva]: And shall the daughter of a priest not be as [trusted] as the woman innkeeper? He said to them: When the woman innkeeper is trusted [in this case that is because] the woman innkeeper brought out to them his staff, and his bag, and his Torah scroll that he had had with him.
(כ) מי שהדין נותן שכופין אותו לגרש את אשתו ולא רצה לגרש. בית דין של ישראל בכל מקום ובכל זמן מכין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני ויכתוב הגט והוא גט כשר. וכן אם הכוהו עכו"ם ואמרו לו עשה מה שישראל אומרין לך ולחצו אותו ישראל ביד העכו"ם עד שיגרש הרי זה כשר. ואם העכו"ם מעצמן אנסוהו עד שכתב הואיל והדין נותן שיכתוב הרי זה גט פסול. ולמה לא בטל גט זה שהרי הוא אנוס בין ביד עכו"ם בין ביד ישראל. שאין אומרין אנוס אלא למי שנלחץ ונדחק לעשות דבר שאינו מחוייב בו מן התורה כגון מי שהוכה עד שמכר או עד שנתן. אבל מי שתקפו יצרו הרע לבטל מצוה או לעשות עבירה והוכה עד שעשה דבר שחייב לעשותו או עד שנתרחק מדבר האסור לעשותו אין זה אנוס ממנו אלא הוא אנס עצמו בדעתו הרעה. לפיכך זה שאינו רוצה לגרש מאחר שהוא רוצה להיות מישראל ורוצה הוא לעשות כל המצות ולהתרחק מן העבירות ויצרו הוא שתקפו וכיון שהוכה עד שתשש יצרו ואמר רוצה אני כבר גרש לרצונו.
If a man may be compelled by law to divorce his wife, yet he refuses to do so, an Israelite court of law of any time and place has the authority to lash him until he says "I want to [divorce her]". He may then write a writ of divorce and it is valid. If Gentiles flog him and say "do what the Israelite [authorities] command you" and he was pressured by Israelites through the Gentiles until he gives a divorce, it is valid. If the Gentiles themselves forced him until he wrote it, although there is good legal ground for it, it is [nevertheless] invalid. Why is this get not annulled, since it has been forced, whether by Gentiles or by Israelites? We do not say that someone was forced unless he was pressured and coerced to do something that he was not under any obligation to do according to the Torah; i.e. if someone was lashed until he sold or gave something away. However, if someone was overwhelmed by his evil inclination so that he did not observe a commandment or transgressed the law, and is lashed until he does what he is obligated to do or distances himself from what he is forbidden to do, he is not being forced: rather he forces himself on the basis of his evil inclination. Therefore, a man who does not want to grant divorce, inasmuch as he wants to be part of the people of Israel and wants to observe all of the commandments and to keep away from transgressions – and it is only his evil inclination which has overwhelmed him – once he has been lashed until his evil inclination has been weakened, and he said "I want to [divorce her]", it is as if he had divorced his wife voluntarily.
13. Responsum by Rabbeinu Tam, Sefer Hayashar, Responsa section, chapter 77 (Rabbi Jacob ben Meir Tam, France, 110-1171):
Hence I teach that divorce should not be demanded in cases in which one is not allowed to compel divorce. I am of the opinion that if a divorce is obtained [in such cases] by [threat of] excommunication [of the husband], or is ordered by a rabbinic court, it is based on insufficient legal grounds, is invalid and disqualifies [her from marrying a priest].
14. Responsa of the Rosh 51:2 (Rabbi Asher ben Yehiel (Germany 1250 - Spain, 1327):
I have seen how our rabbis, the Sages of Germany and France, keep as far away as possible from any form of compelling a man to divorce his wife in cases of rebellion. They agree with the position of Rabbeinu Tam, may he rest in peace, since he states the main proofs and deserves to be relied upon. And even if these issues were clearly determined, every one must avoid any semblance of adultery and the possibility of mamzerim [bastards according to Jewish law] in Israel... and furthermore I say... that nowadays it seems quite the opposite; Jewish women in this generation are haughty. If a woman can free herself from her husband by saying: "I do not want him", not one daughter of Abraham will stay with her husband. They will look at other men and rebel against their husbands. Hence, the correct thing is to avoid compelling divorce.
15. Responsa Iggerot Moshe, Even Ha'Ezer 1, chapter 79 (Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, 1895, Russia – 1986, United States):
[1] Regarding the wife who marries her husband and right after the wedding she discovers that he is impotent. He could not consummate the marriage nor penetrate all, since he could not approach that place. This was obviously so before the betrothal, as the very night that he married her he couldn't perform. This is so according to medical science. And specialists treated him with different medicines which didn't help him at all, and in their opinion he cannot be cured. And the woman is young, and needs to get married, and the husband didn't want to divorce her and fled town, and it is impossible to get a bill of divorce from him. Can she be set free by annulling the kiddushin,5 since had she known that he cannot be intimate, she surely would not have married him! She married with that intention and there isn't even a minority of women who would agree to such a marriage, since all women are meticulous about this. Maybe a very small minority exists, for example, women who want to be supported, if it is a woman who cannot earn money for her support and can find no other husband, and such very rare cases. Therefore it is necessary to rule in this case that it was a mistaken transaction and the kiddushin must be annulled.
[2] There are many women who would not agree to marry a man even with a small bodily defect, and the vast majority would not agree if he had a big defect... even though Reish Lakish's opinion that "it is a better [for a woman] to dwell as two" is clear-cut, the possibility should be taken into account that maybe they [the women] would agree.
..."When the Rabbinical body is powerless to force the husband because the civil government does not permit such enforcement, then the annulment becomes operational. No woman, with the exception of very few, would agree to get into a marriage which is impossible for them. Otherwise they never would have consented to marry."
16. Rabbi Eli'ezer Berkowitz (Germany, The United States, Israel, 1900- 1992), "Conditional Marriage and Divorce" (in Hebrew), Jerusalem, 1967, pp. 163-164:
It would seem that the miserable situation [of agunot] in the present leads us to seek for a cure by resorting to an enactment annulling kiddushin. This includes the possibility of establishing community approved enactments, with their rabbis' approval, as proposed by Rabbi Moses Al Ashkar. We have Orthodox rabbinic and community organizations today, thank God, in almost every country. There are even contacts between rabbinic and communal organizations in the different countries. Our world has shrunk, and thanks to modern means of transportation people can consult with each other and plan at the national and international levels. Modern technology conquers distances and allows us to plan together for the Jewish people as a whole and establish the necessary enactments for the entire people. This is an aspiration we could not have expected to fulfill ever since the Jewish people left its land; we did not have this ability during all the years of our terrible exile. The time has come to act for the sake of God and for the sake of the sanctity of His people, Israel.
17. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin "Yad La'Ishah – The Woman and Divorce according to Jewish Law" (in Hebrew), Efrat, 2004, p. 131:
The Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem should establish an enactment that determines that if the Rabbinic Court orders the husband to divorce his wife and he refuses to do so, and the sanctions imposed by the civil court are not efficient, a special Rabbinic Court will be convened, and it will have the authority to annul the kiddushin and thus allow the woman to remarry.
18. Example, from "The Agreement for Mutual Respect":
This agreement establishes the husband's monetary obligation towards the wife and the wife's similar obligation towards the husband, when one of them sends a notice to the other one regarding his/her desire to separate and 6 to 9 months have elapsed, according to the agreement's stipulations. The language of the section regarding the man's obligation follows:
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The Man hereby now (me'achshav) obligates himself, to make monthly maintenance payments to the Woman in the greater of the following two sums:
A. The shekel equivalent of $1,500 (one thousand five hundred U.S. dollars) according to the representative rate of the dollar published at the time of actual payment.B. A sum constituting 50% (fifty percent) of his mean monthly (net) income of the year preceding the Notification Date.