Gittin 17A

חברא, שקלה לשרגא מקמייהו. אמר: רחמנא! או בטולך, או בטולא דבר עשו.

Persian priest [ḥabbara] and took the lamp [sheragga] from before them. It was a Persian holiday on which the Persians prohibited the public from maintaining light outside their temple. Rabba, who was from Eretz Yisrael, said: Merciful One! Let us live either in Your shadow or in the shadow of the descendants of Esau, the Romans.

למימרא דרומאי מעלו מפרסאי?! והתני רבי חייא, מאי דכתיב: ״אלהים הבין דרכה והוא ידע את מקומה״? יודע הקדוש ברוך הוא בישראל שאין יכולין לקבל גזירת רומיים, עמד והגלה אותם לבבל.

The Talmud asks: Is this to say that the Romans are preferable to the Persians? But didn’t R' Ḥiyya teach: What is the meaning of that which is written: “God understands its way and He knows its place” (Job 28:23)? This means that God knows with regard to the Jewish people that they are unable to accept and live under Roman decrees, and therefore He arose and exiled them to Babylonia. This indicates that living under Babylonian rule is preferable to living under Roman rule.

לא קשיא; הא מקמי דניתו חברי לבבל, הא לבתר דאתו חברי לבבל.

The Talmud explains: This is not difficult, as this interpretation of R' Ḥiyya refers to the period before the Persians reached Babylonia, when life there was very comfortable. That statement of Rabba was issued after the Persians reached Babylonia, when the situation changed and living there became more difficult.

אחד אומר ״בפני נכתב״ ושנים אומרים ״בפנינו נחתם״⁠ – כשר: אמר רבי אמי אמר רבי יוחנן: לא שנו אלא שהגט יוצא מתחת יד עד כתיבה, דנעשו כשנים על זה וכשנים על זה; אבל מתחת ידי עדי חתימה ⁠– פסול.

§ The Mishnah taught that if one person says: It was written in my presence, and two say: It was signed in our presence, it is valid. R' Ami says that R' Yoḥanan says: They taught that the document is valid only when the bill of divorce is produced by the witness to the writing, i.e., the one who observed the writing is the agent of the bill of divorce, as they become as two witnesses for this act, the writing, and two for that act, the signing. The agent for the bill of divorce is considered like two witnesses when he testifies with regard to the writing. However, if the bill of divorce was produced by the signatory witnesses it is invalid. This is because only one witness, who is not an agent for the bill of divorce, testifies with regard to its writing.