Zevachim 3A

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Text Excerpt

יתר על כן, כתב לגרש את אשתו ונמלך, מצאו בן עירו ואמר לו: ״שמי כשמך ושם אשתי כשם אשתך״⁠ – פסול לגרש בו.

Moreover, if a husband wrote a bill of divorce with which to divorce his wife but later reconsidered, and a resident of his town found him and said to him: My name is the same as your name, and my wife’s name is the same as your wife’s name, and we reside in the same town; give me the bill of divorce and I will use it, the bill of divorce is unfit for the second man to divorce his wife with it. Evidently, even if the bill of divorce was written to be used for divorce, if it was not written specifically for the given woman it is not valid.

דילמא שאני התם, דאינתיק ליה לשם גירושין דההוא!

The Talmud responds: Perhaps there it is different, as the bill of divorce was specifically designated for the sake of that man’s divorce, and therefore it is not valid for the second man’s divorce. But a bill of divorce that was written without specification might be valid if written for the sake of divorce.

אלא מהא: יתר על כן, יש לו שתי נשים ששמותיהן שוות ⁠– כתב לגרש את הגדולה, לא יגרש בו את הקטנה.

Rather, derive it from the subsequent clause in that Mishnah: Moreover, if he has two wives whose names are identical, and he wrote a bill of divorce to divorce the older one, and then reconsidered, he may not divorce the younger one with it. Evidently, a bill of divorce must be written specifically to divorce a specific wife.

דילמא שאני התם, דאינתיק ליה לשם גירושין דההיא!

The Talmud responds: Perhaps there it is different, as the bill of divorce was specifically designated for the sake of the divorce of that other wife.

אלא מהא: יתר על כן, אמר ללבלר: כתוב, ולאיזה שארצה אגרש ⁠– פסול לגרש בו.

Rather, derive it from the subsequent clause in that Mishnah: Moreover, if he said to the scribe [lalavlar]: Write a bill of divorce for one of my two wives who have identical names, and I will use it to divorce whichever one of them that I want, this bill of divorce is unfit to divorce either wife with it. Evidently, it must be written for the divorce of a specific woman.

Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.