Yerushalmi Gittin 6:2 ירושלמי גיטין ו׳:ב׳

MISHNAH: A woman who said, accept my bill of divorce for me, needs two groups of witnesses⁴⁸Since a divorce is a public act it must be executed in front of at least two witnesses. The agent certainly needs two witnesses for the delivery since the woman herself must receive the bill in front of two witnesses. It is only natural that the agent needs two witnesses to legitimize his status (or be appointed by a duly witnessed document.); two who say that she appointed in their presence and two who say that in their presence he received it and tore it up⁴⁹It is not necessary that the bill be torn up after delivery; this clause is added only to show that the divorce is valid even if the document never reaches the wife because it was torn up after delivery. (This has nothing to do with current rabbinic practice to cut up the bill of divorce after delivery in order to prevent outsiders from questioning the validity of the document.), even if the first ones are the latter ones, or one of the first together with one of the latter and a third person is associated with them⁵⁰There do not have to be four different people; there may also be two or three.. A preliminarily married adolescent girl⁵¹Between the ages of 12 years and 12 years and six months; cf. Nedarim 10:1, Note 1. Since she is over 12 years of age, she is able to act in law. But since she is not definitively married, she is still under her father’s authority., or her father, can accept her bill of divorce. Rebbi Jehudah says, no two hands can acquire together; only her father alone can accept her bill of divorce. Any female⁵²This statement is independent of the preceding one; it deals with an insane woman or an underage girl who was definitively married and, therefore, is emancipated from her father’s power. If she is too young to understand the meaning of divorce and the need to keep the document until she has collected all the monies due her, she cannot be divorced and the husband cannot escape the obligation to feed and house her. who cannot take care of her bill of divorce cannot be divorced.
If an underage girl said, accept the bill of divorce for me, it is no valid bill until the bill of divorce reaches her hand. Therefore, if the husband wants to retract he can retract since an underage person cannot appoint an agent. But if her father said to [an agent]: Go and receive my daughter’s bill of divorce, if [the husband] wants to retract he cannot retract.⁸⁰This was explained in the preceding Halakhah.

HALAKHAH: “A woman who said, accept my bill of divorce for me,” etc. Two say that she appointed in their presence and two say that in their presence he received and tore it. But if he⁵³The husband. The wife only needs testimony that the bill was delivered in order to be able to remarry. Why does the Mishnah not state that the agent together with another person can testify in her behalf? agrees, the agent should be able to be added. Explain it, it he was a relative⁵⁴A close relative who is inadmissible as witness.. This implies that a relative can act as agent.

⁵⁵A parallel is in Qiddušin 2:1; the readings there are noted ק.“A preliminarily married adolescent girl⁵¹Between the ages of 12 years and 12 years and six months; cf. Nedarim 10:1, Note 1. Since she is over 12 years of age, she is able to act in law. But since she is not definitively married, she is still under her father’s authority., or her father, can accept her bill of divorce.” Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, like the disagreement about divorce is the disagreement about preliminary marriage⁵⁶The rabbis allow the adolescent girl to contract a preliminary marriage; R. Jehudah reserves this right to the father. The same discussion is in the Babli, Qiddušin 43b–44a.. Rebbi Joḥanan said, everybody agrees about preliminary marriage that [her father]⁵⁷Reading from Qiddušin. The text here has “mother”; but the mother has no say during the father’s lifetime. contracts but not she herself. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish agrees about a definitive marriage that she is not empowered to marry herself off and let her father lose her earnings⁵⁸Since the father has the right to his adolescent unmarried daughter’s earnings, Mishnah Ketubot 4:6. One must assume that R. Simeon ben Laqish holds that the girl must deliver to her father any valuables she received for her preliminary marriage.. In the opinion of Rebbi Joḥanan she has no legal standing relative to her father⁵⁹But an orphan girl or a definitively married one becomes able to act in law (and appoint agents) once she reaches the age of 12 years and one day. and cannot appoint an agent. In the opinion of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish she has legal standing relative to her father and can appoint an agent. A Mishnah disagrees with Rebbi Joḥanan: ⁶⁰Qiddušin 2:1.“A man contracts a preliminary marriage by himself and through his agent and a woman contracts a preliminary marriage by herself and through her agent.” He explains it about an adult woman. But did we not state⁶¹Mishnah Giṭṭin 6:3.: “If an underage girl said, accept the bill of divorce for me, it is no valid bill until the bill of divorce reaches her hand.⁶²While the Mishnah confirms that the girl cannot appoint an agent, it seems to contradict the statement that the adolescent has no standing in law since she is able to accept her bill of divorce.” He explains it about an orphan⁶³Including an “orphan during her father’s lifetime”, cf. Note 20.. But did we not state⁶¹Mishnah Giṭṭin 6:3.: “If her father⁶⁴If the Mishnah speaks about an orphan, there could be no father. said to [an agent]: Go and receive my daughter’s bill of divorce, if [the husband] wants to retract he cannot retract.” He explains that the Mishnah deals with cases; the first part about an orphan and the second part if she has a father. A Mishnah disagrees with Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish. ⁶⁰Qiddušin 2:1.“A man may contract a preliminary marriage for his adolescent daughter either by himself or by his agent.⁶⁵Since this is a sentence in the same Mishnah which stated that a woman may agree to a preliminary marriage, the absence of any mention of the power of the girl implies that she cannot enter a preliminary marriage on her own.” He explains that following Rebbi Jehudah⁶⁶The Babli agrees, Qiddušin 44a., since Rebbi Jehudah said, “no two hands can acquire together; only her father alone can accept her bill of divorce.” Rebbi Yose said, a rabbi came out from the assembly and said, a case was decided following Rebbi Joḥanan⁶⁷The court denied the right of an adolescent girl to marry on her own initiative.. Can one rely on that⁶⁸There is no name attached to this information; it is impossible to check the standing of the informant in the legal hierarchy.? It was no question of relying on him since it was as from the sea to the frying pan⁶⁹The statement was made immediately after judgment was rendered. For the expression “from the sea to the frying pan” cf. Berakhot 4:5, Note 233; Babli Qiddušin 44a..

The colleagues said, they⁷⁰R. Joḥanan and R. Simeon ben Laqish disagree about the legal standing of a minor. The corresponding discussion in the Babli is Baba Meṣiʻa 10b. This paragraph really refers to Mishnah 3. disagree about courtyard⁷¹As the Babli, Baba Meṣiʻa 11a, explains in the name of the Galilean R. Yose ben R. Ḥanina, a fenced-in property acquires for a person even if he is not aware of it. For example, if somebody lost an article without distinguishing marks on somebody else’s fenced-in courtyard, that article becomes automatically the courtyard owner’s property since it cannot be reclaimed by the person who lost it. Nobody else is allowed to take it.
In the Babli, the disagreement between R. Joḥanan and R. Simeon ben Laqish is explained to the effect that R. Joḥanan considers the courtyard as an extension of its owner’s hand. Since Mishnah 3 states that a minor legally can receive her bill of divorce, she has a “hand” and, therefore, her courtyard acquires for her. R. Simeon ben Laqish holds that the courtyard is its owner’s agent and since the minor cannot appoint an agent, her courtyard cannot acquire for her. and four cubits⁷²If a person stands still in the public domain and nobody else is within 8 cubits from her, anything found or delivered to her at a distance of at most 4 cubits belongs to her (cf. Mishnaiot 8:2, Yebamot 3:9). The question is whether this rule extends to emancipated underage females (it certainly does not extend to underage males.). Rebbi Joḥanan said, she has both courtyard and four cubits. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, she has neither courtyard nor four cubits. Rebbi Eleazar said, they disagree about the courtyard but she has no four cubits. What⁷³מִי is a Babylonian Aramaic particle used as a general question mark. In Galilean Aramaic, it should be מַה. did Rebbi Joḥanan say about outstretched hands⁷⁴In Halakhah 8:2, R. Joḥanan states that an adult woman standing in the public domain is divorced if the husband throws her the bill (in front of two witnesses) and it lands close enough for her to take it up without moving her feet. According to R. Eleazar, who states that R. Joḥanan agrees that an underage girl has no 4 cubits, it is questionable whether throwing the bill within the reach of the underage wife’s hands is delivery in the meaning of the verse. The question is not answered.? Rebbi Eleazar asked, does an agent’s courtyard act as his hand⁷⁵Following R. Joḥanan, is a woman divorced if the husband throws the bill into her agent’s courtyard in the presence of two witnesses? This question is not answered either.?

⁷⁶This paragraph is explained by R. Nissim Gerondi, Commentary to Alfasi Chapter 6, #510. If she is definitively married, she but not her father⁷⁷The Mishnah which gives the father the right to receive the bill of divorce of his adolescent, preliminarily married daughter, excludes the definitively married daughter over which the father has no power and who can be divorced only by direct delivery of the bill to her.. An underage girl, her father but not she⁷⁸To divorce a preliminarily married underage girl, the bill must be delivered to the father.; if she is definitively married, both she and her father⁷⁹The definitively married underage girl who lacks understanding (as defined in this paragraph by R. Joḥanan) cannot be divorced since her standing is the same as her father’s. Since her father cannot receive her bill of divorce because by definitive marriage she became emancipated from him, so she cannot receive her bill of divorce, as explained in the Mishnah.. If she has understanding, she but not her father. Who is an underage girl who needs to be divorced [by herself]? Rebbi Joḥanan said, any female who is given her bill of divorce together with something else and she produces it after some time.