Bava Metzia - Daf 19
- Why returning a get will not cause a loss to possible buyers of her fields’ produce
A Baraisa implied that if the husband admits he divorced his wife, the found get may be returned to her. The Gemara asks, since it is possible that the get was written in Nissan and not given until Tishrei, returning the get may cause a loss: the husband may have sold produce from the wife’s field in the interim, as is his entitlement while they were married, and when the wife later produces the get, which indicates (inaccurately) she was divorced earlier, she will unlawfully take back the produce from the buyers!? Although this fits well with the opinion that the husband loses his right to her produce when he decides to divorce her, so she would be entitled to her produce from the written date, but what about the opinion that he retains his right until the actual divorce? The Gemara answers that when she comes to collect the produce, we tell her: אייתי ראיה אימת מטא גיטא לידך – bring proof when the get reached your hand. The Gemara explains this is because the buyer’s reason is that the get was returned to her to be able to remarry, and not necessarily because the date was verified. However, regarding a loan document, purchasers of property will not challenge the date, because they assume that if the שטר was returned, the date must have been verified.
- Definition of דייתיקי, and a healthy person’s gift which operates like a דייתיקי
A Baraisa discusses the gift documents mentioned in the Mishnah: איזו היא דייתיקי – what is a daitiki? דא תהא למיקם ולהיות – it is a contraction of “this shall be valid and lasting,” referring to a sickbed will, which is effective without a kinyan, provided he dies of his illness. The Baraisa continues: מתנה כל שכתוב בו מהיום ולאחר מיתה – a gift document is any document in which it is written that the gift should take effect “from today and after the benefactor’s death,” which means that the recipient acquires the physical property immediately, but the benefactor retains the right to the produce until he dies. The Gemara objects that a gift document without such a clause is certainly effective, and Abaye clarifies that the Baraisa means to illustrate where a healthy person’s gift would operate like that of a שכיב מרע – a gravely ill person, in that the recipient does not fully acquire it until after the benefactor’s death.
- Returning a דייתיקי or gift document, where the property may have been given to someone else
The Mishnah implies that if the author of a דייתיקי – sickbed will or gift document said to give it to the written recipient, we would. This contradicts a Baraisa, which said that such documents are not returned to either party, which is because of a concern that the author opted not to give it and gave the property to someone else. Later, he changed his mind and wants to give it (illegitimately) to the first person, by giving this שטר with the earlier date. How does the Mishnah allow returning the שטר?
Rav Zevid ultimately explained that although both discuss the gift of a שכיב מרע, the Mishnah refers to the giver himself saying to return it, whereas the Baraisa’s case is where he died, and his son says to return it. Regarding the benefactor himself, דבר מהדר הוא – who is able to retract his gift while he is alive, the above concern is negated, which the Gemara explains at length. When the son says to return the שטר, it is not returned, because he cannot retract from his late father’s gift, and the concern is relevant.
