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Yevamos, 109

1) A FATHER'S ACCEPTANCE OF A "GET" ON BEHALF OF HIS "KETANAH" DAUGHTER

QUESTION: The Mishnah discusses a Ketanah who was married off by her father and then she received a Get while she was still a Ketanah. RASHI (DH Ketanah and DH ba'Meh Devarim Amurim) writes that her *father* received the Get on her behalf. Rashi writes the same in Sanhedrin (69b). Even though we find that after Nisu'in, she is no longer in the Reshus of her father, she does remain in his Reshus with regard to receiving a Get.

However, Rashi in Kesuvos (46b, DH u'Mekabel) and in Kidushin (43b, DH Hi v'Aviha) writes that the father may *not* receive a Get for his daughter after Nisu'in; he may only receive a Get for her after Erusin was done, before Nisu'in, because she leaves the Reshus of her father after Nisu'in.

This question -- whether the father may be receive a Get on behalf of his daughter after Nisu'in -- is discussed by TOSFOS in Kidushin (10a DH u'Mekabel), who remains in doubt as to the actual Halachah. However, Rashi seems to be taking both sides, sometimes saying that the father may receive the Get for her after Nisu'in, and sometimes saying that the father may not receive the Get for her after Nisu'in! How can the apparently contradictory views of Rashi be reconciled?

ANSWER: REBBI AKIVA EIGER (Teshuvos 2:100) suggests that Rashi's words can be reconciled as follows. When Rashi says that the father can receive the Get on behalf of his daughter, Rashi is referring to an actual Ketanah. In Kesuvos and Kidushin (loc. cit.), though, when Rashi says that she must receive her own Get, Rashi is discussing a Na'arah (see Rashi there). A Na'arah can receive her own Get, and her father cannot receive it for her, after Nisu'in. (Tosfos in Kidushin 10a hints to the possibility of making such a distinction.)

The reasoning behind this is that a Ketanah cannot receive her own Get since she cannot make a Kinyan. Therefore, the Torah gave the father the authority to accept the Get on her behalf so that she could become divorced. The Na'arah, though, must accept her own Get.

109b

AGADAH: The Gemara cites the verse in Shir ha'Shirim (3:7-8) that states, "Behold, it is the bed of Shlomo, surrounded by sixty Giborim (mighty men) of the mighty men of Israel. They all grasp the sword and are trained in warfare; each man with his sword upon his thigh, [protecting] against the dread of the nights." The Chachamim derive from this verse that a Dayan, when issuing a ruling, should be as fearful as though a sword is placed beneath him between his legs and Gehinom is below him.

According to the Gemara's Derashah, who are the "sixty" men mentioned in the verse?

(a) RASHI explains that the mighty men are the Talmidei Chachamim who comprise the Sanhedrin, who are fearful as though a sword is placed beneath them etc. However, we know that the Sanhedrin was comprised of *seventy* Dayanim, and not just sixty. Where are the other ten?

Rashi in Sanhedrin (7b) says that according to this Derashah, the number sixty in the verse is indeed not an exact figure. The point of the verse is to emphasize that Talmidei Chachamim should be adequately prepared when they issue rulings.

The MAHARSHA (in Sanhedrin) brings support for Rashi's interpretation of who the mighty men of the verse are from a Midrash Rabah (Bamidbar 11:7) which explains that the sixty men are Dayanim.

(b) TOSFOS argues and says that "Giborim" refers to the sixty myriads (600,000) of the Jewish people. (This also has its source in the Midrash, ibid. and Yalkut Shimoni 2:986.) It seems that according to Tosfos, the verse is saying that Shlomo ha'Melech, the Dayan, is surrounded by the Jewish people who come to him to judge their cases, and he and his associates must be afraid of Gehinom.

The ROKE'ACH (on Shir ha'Shirim) brings support for this from a Gematria: "Shishim Giborim" is equal in numerical value to "Eleh Shishim Rivo."

(c) THE VILNA GA'ON (ibid.) supports Rashi's interpretation. He explains that when Sanhedrin sat, ten (of the most important members) sat in the middle of the group, and they were surrounded by the other sixty. These are the "sixty mighty men *around* the bed of Shlomo. (The ten in the middle correspond to the seven "Ro'ei Pnei ha'Melech" and three "Shomrei ha'Saf," who are closest to the king, in a king's court -- and in the king of king's court -- see Megilah 23a. The verse in II Melachem 25:19, which associates these authoritative members of the king's court with sixty other men, is discussing the members of the Sanhedrin.

The source for his explanation is the Shir ha'Shirim Raba (3:13) and Yerushalmi Sanhedrin (1:2), which associates the verse about Shlomo's bed with the verses about the Ro'ei Pnei ha'Melech and the sixty others, just as the Vilna Gaon explains.

(d) The ARUCH LA'NER explains based on the Yalkut Shimoni (2:986) that says, similar to Tosfos, that the number sixty refers to the nation of Israel, which are comprised of 24 Mishmaros of Kohanim, 24 Mishmaros of Levi'im, and 12 Shevatim, which frequented the Beis ha'Mikdash. (It was these people, he suggests, who comprised the Sanhedrin in the Lishkas ha'Gazis.)