Yerushalmi Gittin 8:2 ירושלמי גיטין ח׳:ב׳

MISHNAH: If he said to her, “take this bond,” or she found it behind his back, she read it and it turned out to be her bill of divorce, it is no bill of divorce until he says to her “this is your bill of divorce”. If he put it into her hand while she was asleep, after she awoke she read it and it turned out to be her bill of divorce, it is no bill of divorce until he says to her “this is your bill of divorce”. If she was standing in the public domain when he threw it to her and it landed close to her it is a bill of divorce, close to him it is no bill of divorce, half and half she is divorced and not divorced.

HALAKHAH: “If he said to her, ‘take this bond,’ ” etc. Rebbi Joḥanan says, this follows Rebbi Eleazar ben Simeon, since Rebbi Eleazar ben Simeon says it never is a bill of divorce unless he says at the moment of delivery: “this is your bill of divorce.²⁷The Babli (78a, Tosephta 6:1), quotes a disagreement between Rebbi, who accepts the husband’s declaration even after delivery of the bill, and R. Eleazar ben Simeon, who requires a repeat delivery if the declaration was not made at the moment of delivery. In Sifry Deut. 269, the opinion of R. Eleazar ben Simeon is quoted anonymously and referred to the verse Deut. 24:1 about the bill of divorce “… hands it over to her and sends her out of his house;” meaning that handing the bill to his wife and making it clear that she is divorced must be simultaneous.”

How close is “near”²⁸This starts the discussion of the last part of the Mishnah.? Rav said, four cubits²⁹A person standing in the public domain acquires anything movable that is within a circle of four cubits (about 2.2 m) of him if (1) it is his intent to acquire and (2) no other person is present in that circle; cf. Yebamot 3:9, Note 120.. Rebbi Ilai the heir said, four cubits. Rebbi Eleazar in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan in the name of Rebbi Yannai: Stretching out hands, and we have stated: “stretching out hands.³⁰The bill of divorce is legally delivered only if the wife can pick it up by stretching out her hands without moving her feet. (It seems that this includes the possibility that she has to kneel down to reach the document.)” Rebbi Abba, Rebbi Jeremiah³¹He is Rav’s colleague who in the Babli is called Rav Jeremiah., in the name of Rav: Stretching out hands. The argument of Rav is inverted; there, he says four cubits and here he says so? There in theory³²The principle explained in Note 29 is generally accepted in money matters. For example, if one finds something in the street, he can claim it for himself and sue anybody who would snatch it away from him if the two conditions of acquisition are met. The Babli, 79a/b, goes to great lengths to uphold the principle; its arguments are irrelevant for the understanding of the Yerushalmi., here in practice³³In practice, a divorce is definitive only if the document was picked up by the wife. The Babli emphatically agrees in the names of Samuel and Rav Ashi, 79b.. “Rebbi Eleazar stated: Even if it was closer to her than to him but a dog came and took it away, she is not divorced.³⁴Tosephta 6:1. The sources are divided on whether to read Eliezer or Eleazar. In the Tosephta, R. Eleazar disagrees with the restriction of the distance to four cubits; this is not mentioned in the Yerushalmi. The corresponding text in the Babli, 79b, is noncommittal in the matter.” Samuel agrees with Rebbi Eleazar and disagrees. The clearest way is that he puts it into her hand. If there was room for stretching out hands between him and her, Simeon bar Abba in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan [states]: If it was closer to her than to him she is divorced³⁵Even if he was standing within 4 cubits of her when he threw the bill to her, which would prevent her from acquiring ownerless property., closer to him than to her she is not divorced, half and half she is divorced and not divorced. Abba bar Rav Jeremiah said: In all cases in which we have stated “divorced and not divorced”, support is on him³⁶Since she cannot remarry unless she receives a new, clean bill of divorce, for all consequences in civil law she remains married..