Three unique qualities with regard to gittin TB Gittin 79

We have learned previously that the husband doesn’t have to place the get directly into her hand. The wife acquires the get if it lands in her courtyard with one proviso. It has to be secure (מִּשְׁתַּמֶּרֶת).

Today’s daf TB Gittin 79 discusses different permutations when the woman and the man are standing in two different domains. Because domains are vital in the understanding of the laws of carrying on Shabbat, Rava cites three cases where the understanding of the consequences of the domains is different concerning bills of divorce and the laws of Shabbat. By contrasting Shabbat and Gittin we have the opportunity to review some basic information we learned when we studied massekhet Shabbat and massehket Eruvin.

“Rava says: There are three unique qualities with regard to bills of divorce, as compared to the halakhot of Shabbat. The first is that which Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: An object in airspace is considered at rest; and the Rabbis disagree with him. This matter about which they disagree applies only with regard to Shabbat. But here, in the case of divorce, it is because the bill of divorce is secured that she is divorced; and once the bill of divorce is within the airspace of the partitions, it is secured and the Rabbis agree that she is divorced.

“And the second matter is that which Rav Ḥisda says concerning the halakhot of Shabbat: In the case of one who embedded a reed in the ground of a private domain, and on its top was a basket [teraskal], and he threw an object from the public domain and it rested on top of it, even if the reed was a hundred cubits high, he is liable because the private domain extends upward until the sky. Therefore, the object landed in a private domain. This matter applies only with regard to Shabbat, as with regard to Shabbat domains are defined based on their partitions and the way in which they are used, which differs from the way domains are defined in other halakhic areas. But here, in the case of divorce, it is because the bill of divorce is secured that she is divorced, and when it is on the reed it is not secured.

“And the third matter relates to that which Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: On Shabbat a person should not stand on this roof and collect rainwater from the roof of another if there is no joining of courtyards (i.e. There is no eruv joining the two courtyards). As just as the residences are separated below, so too, the residences are separated above. Each residence has a separate domain, and it is forbidden by rabbinic law to transfer an item from a private domain to another private domain if they are not joined. Similarly, despite the fact that the roofs are not totally separated from one another and nobody lives there, each roof is considered to be its own domain.

“Rava explains: This matter applies only with regard to Shabbat. But with regard to a bill of divorce, if it fell onto another roof that is adjacent to the roof that he lent her for the purpose of acquiring the bill of divorce, she is divorced. The reason that a woman is usually not divorced when a bill of divorce falls into a different place, even though that place also belongs to her husband, is due to the fact that a husband is particular and does not want to lend her more than one place; but people are not particular to that extent, i.e., in this case the husband would not be particular about allowing her to temporarily use an adjacent rooftop that also belongs to him.” (Sefaria.org translation)