Study Gittin folio 79A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
מתני׳ היתה עומדת על ראש הגג וזרקו לה, כיון שהגיע לאויר הגג – הרי זו מגורשת. הוא מלמעלה והיא מלמטה, וזרקו לה, כיון שיצא מרשות הגג, נמחק או נשרף – הרי זו מגורשת.
Mishnah: If a woman was standing on top of the roof and her husband was standing below, and he threw a bill of divorce to her, once the bill of divorce reaches the airspace of the roof, she is divorced. If he was above on the roof and she was below, and he threw it to her, once it leaves the area of the roof, even if the wording was erased or the document was burned before it fell to the ground, she is divorced.
גמ׳ והא לא מינטר! אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל: בגג שיש לו מעקה עסקינן.
Talmud: The Talmud asks: But isn’t the airspace of the roof unsecured? Since the bill of divorce can be blown away from the roof by the wind, it should be considered an unsecured courtyard, which does not acquire items. If so, why is she divorced once the bill of divorce reaches the airspace of the roof? Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: We are dealing with a roof that has a parapet. Therefore, it is like a secured courtyard, since the bill of divorce cannot be blown away.
עולא בר מנשיא משמיה דאבימי אמר: הכא בפחות משלשה סמוך לגג עסקינן, דכל פחות משלשה סמוך לגג – כגג דמי.
Ulla bar Menashya said in the name of Avimi that there is another answer: Here we are dealing with a case in which the bill of divorce is within 3 handbreadths of the roof, as anything within 3 handbreadths of the roof is considered to be like the roof itself, based on the principle that views two solid surfaces as connected if the gap between them is less than 3 handbreadths wide.
הוא מלמעלה: והא לא מינטר! אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל: כגון שהיו מחיצות התחתונות עודפות על העליונות.
§ It was taught in the Mishnah: If he was above and she was below, and he threw the bill of divorce to her, once it leaves the area of the roof, she is divorced. The Talmud asks: But isn’t the airspace of the courtyard not secured, since the bill of divorce can be blown out of the courtyard by the wind? Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: We are discussing a case where the lower partitions in the courtyard extend beyond the upper partitions on the roof, so that the bill of divorce will certainly fall in the courtyard.