Study Gittin folio 85B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
רבי יהודה אומר: ״ודן, דיהוי ליכי מינאי – ספר תירוכין, ואגרת שבוקין, וגט פטורין; למהך להתנסבא לכל גבר דיתצביין״. גופו של גט שחרור: ״הרי את (בת) [בן] חורין״; ״הרי את לעצמך״.
R' Yehuda says that there is also another essential sentence: And this that you should have from me is a scroll of divorce, and a letter of leave, and a bill of dismissal to go to marry any man that you wish. And the basic element of a bill of manumission for a female slave is: You are hereby a free woman, or: You are hereby your own.
גמ׳ פשיטא, אמר לה לאשתו: ״הרי את בת חורין״ – לא אמר ולא כלום; אמר לה לשפחתו: ״הרי את מותרת לכל אדם״ – לא אמר ולא כלום.
Talmud: It is obvious that if one stated in a bill of divorce for his wife: You are hereby a free woman, he has stated nothing, as that is not a statement of divorce. Similarly, if one stated in a bill of manumission for his female slave: You are hereby permitted to marry any man, he has stated nothing, as that is not a statement of manumission.
אמר לה לאשה: ״הרי את לעצמך״, מהו? לגמרי קאמר לה, או למלאכה קאמר לה?
The Talmud asks: If he stated in a bill of divorce for his wife: You are hereby your own, what is the halakha? Is he saying to her: You are entirely your own, meaning that she has full control over her status and may marry another man? Or is he saying to her: You are your own with regard to work, meaning that she may keep the revenue from her work? If so, this is not a statement of divorce.
אמר ליה רבינא לרב אשי: תא שמע, דתנן: גופו של גט שחרור: ״הרי את (בת) [בן] חורין״; ״הרי את לעצמך״. ומה עבדא, דקני ליה גופיה, כי אמר ליה: ״הרי את לעצמך״ – קני גופיה; אשה, דלא קני גופה – לא כל שכן?!
Ravina said to Rav Ashi: Come and hear a solution that we learned in the Mishnah: The basic element of a bill of manumission is: You are hereby a free woman, or: You are hereby your own. And just as with regard to a slave, whose body is acquired by the master, if the master states in a bill of manumission for the slave: You are hereby your own, the slave acquires his body, all the more so with regard to a wife, whose body is not acquired by her husband, is it not clear that by his writing in a bill of divorce: You are hereby your own, she is completely released from their marriage?