Talking Talmud

When one renounces ownership of a slave, the slave goes free, but still needs a get shichrur, bill of manumission - and then he can marry a Jewish woman. Plus, what happens when a death leaves slaves without clear owners. Also, why there is a "get" for divorce and also a "get" to free a slave.

An uncomfortable daf, given our modern sensibilities regarding slavery. Note that the Amoraim themselves owned slaves; it wasn't just a biblical practice. Note also, these are "avadim Canaanim," non-Jews who come to live among Jews, and are required to keep some Jewish practices (or perhaps shouldn't be kept as a slave). Some stories, and the halakhic positions that emerge from them. Plus, what if...

The daf continues to discuss Prozbul and how it relates to a plant in a pot. Then we have a new Mishnah which continues with the topic of loans and Shmeitah.

The daf discusses everything and anything you want to know about the Prozbul.

A disagreement between Shmuel and Rav widow’s taking an oath or a vow to collect her Ketubah followed by a series of stories illustrating this Halacha. The daf ends with a clarification of the Mishnah.

The daf shares a series of stories when the rabbis needed to help make sure a Get was given and received. Amud has 2 mishnayot. The first Mishnah discussed the importance of names in the Get. The second Mishnah takes us back to Nedarim and Ketubot

The daf describes why Rabban Gamliel need to make a takana for Tikkun Olam. What does Tikkun Olam mean in the world of the Talmud.

Once the Get is with a Shaliach can the Get be voided by the husband and how must the husband express that wish to void the Get? The daf also discusses if that same Get can be used again once the husband voided the Get.

What information can we trust as not changing? For example, that the husband stays alive, after he's sent a get. So too one who separates tithes. Plus, there's a time frame on that kind of given - often only the first 24 hours. Note the brevity of the mishnah. Also, a discussion of the east wind. And winds coming from other directions, and how strong they can be, as well as how much impact they ca...

A new mishnah! On the concept of "chazakah" - including trusting that people are still alive. But what if the person dies? There are questions of inheritance... including questions of borrowing and lending in the context of the kehunah. Also, getting permission from a debtors heirs to continue the terms of a loan. Plus kindness to the orphaned heirs to help them pay back the debt.

2 mishnayot: first, a shaliach who gets sick. What's he supposed to do to make sure the get reaches the wife? He can appoint another shaliach in his place - depending on the husband's designation of him as a shaliach. Also, establishing the power of the shaliach.

When a shaliach brings a get from the husband to the wife, the assumption is that status quo ante - the husband is presumed to remain alive, and other similar conditions (eg, one's right to eat terumah). Plus, a key dispute that reflects personal approach, within the debate. Plus, why only men did semicha (laying on if hands) for the sin-offering, and women did not. [Who's Who: R. Yehudah ben Prat...

What happens if the shaliach for a get loses the get? It depends how much time passes before he finds it, assuming he does. Could the get have been replaced in the interim, for example? What happens if the players in the get have the same names as others who are getting divorced. Also, Rabbi Zeira finds a contradiction to our mishnah in a baraita. Which turns out to be a bit lesser as compared to...

A new mishnah! And a template for a divorce, as well as other transactions, and the question of what blanks would need to filled with the right names and the date and so on. But templates don't really work for gittin. Plus, how the get is actually written. Also, what does it mean that the sages decreed... They wanted to prevent quarreling. They wanted to prevent conflicts over the same name. Or pu...

When a man wants to divorce a wife, and he has at least two, and he doesn't want to specify which one, and devises a plan for, let's say, whichever one comes to greet him first - the Gemara says, no. The get needs to be written in her name - they can't discover after the fact which wife was, lo and behold, the divorced one. But there many other circumstances where retroactive clarification does wo...

What happens when the woman is her own shaliach for her get? She needs to show up to a stipulated court, and when does the divorce kick in? Also, what if the get is written in the name of the woman, but someone else has the same name - can it be used for the person with the same name? Plus, every time a get is invalidated, she still can't marry a kohen.

Three mishnayot: Who can write a get? Basically, everyone, even the unexpected categories of people - including a woman writing her own get. The implication of that is that the writing matters less than the signing of the document. Note, of course, that the get must be written for her sake. Also, everyone can deliver a get, except for 5 categories of people including one who is blind and one who i...

A discussion about ma'aser in the context of perforated pots - where the perforation is in the land of Israel, but the pot is outside the land. What gives plants their primary nourishment - ground or air? We might have resolved the science of this by today, but they were figuring it all out, still. It becomes a real puzzle when to tithe, but the focus is definitely on the land of Israel. Also, the...

A note on the viability of a courtyard "accepting" a bill of divorce on behalf of the woman being divorced. Also, the opinion against writing a get on living things, and the biblical support for this approach. Plus, the counter-use of the same verses for the opposite view. Also, a new mishnah on the get itself - can't be attached to the ground - and when it can be detached from the ground itself....

Chiseling or embossing the letters of a get - with the example of the kohen gadol's front piece. Can a get be written on gold, and let that count also as the ketubah? Also, figuring out Rava's position, his argument on himself, and the way a woman might give up the value of her ketubah for a get (not written on gold). Also, what about writing a get on a Canaanite slave's hand - now what?

A get can be written with any substance that lasts - and the mishnah provides a list of them. A get can be written on any substance too - with a dispute over whether that includes living creatures and (lehavdil) slaves. Plus, R. Yehudah, who took great pains to read and sign his own documents, even when he could have managed otherwise. Also, when confusion creeps in to the delivery of a get - depe...

When does the counting period begin for a woman fromJ the time of her divorce until she can remarry... What about travel time? ie when the get is given or when it's written? Plus, a discussion of partial payment... of the ketubah. Also, when does the get need to be signed? Right when it was written? Or in the next day? 10 days later? Plus, what about group signing?

When two shlichim are used for a get. Plus metaphorical treatment of Persia, Rome, and Babylonia, and comparison of them insofar as who was good for the Jews. Also, a new mishnah and the requirement that a date must be included on documents, at writing and signing, which means the timing matters on a Jewish calendar in terms of the date switch at sundown. Also, Abaye and R. Yosef on issues of date...

More on needing two combining elements - in divorce, writing and signing - but other combinations in other arenas of halakhah. For example, two people dunking in a mikveh of exactly 40 se'ah. Also, the case of 2 people bringing the divorce from overseas - with more factors to potentially invalidate the divorce. Plus, when the rabbis jump in to protect all documents.

One who brings a bill of divorce from overseas, as a shaliach - various ways the get will end up invalid. With the attendant disputes and resolutions, including protecting other documents from a leniency that applies only in the case of divorce. Also, borrowing from other halakhic areas: how arenas combine or divide with legal partitions, as per eruvin. To what extent can the different arenas allo...