Gittin Chapter 8, Mishnah 10. At the end of the previous mishnah we encountered the concept of a get kere'ach, a "bald get," which is part of a broader concept known as a get mekushar, a "tied get." In this section we will learn what a get kere'ach is, how it can be completed, and what the dispute between Ben Nanas and Rabbi Akiva is about.
What is a get mekushar:
The Sages wanted to slow down the process of giving a get among kohanim, since a kohen cannot remarry his wife after the divorce, and they wanted to make certain that the husband knew exactly what he was doing. They therefore established a more complicated procedure for writing the get: one writes a line or two, folds the document, a witness signs on the back of the fold, and the process is repeated several times, at least three.
The concern with a get kere'ach:
If in such a tied get one of the folds is found without a witness's signature on it, there is a concern that the husband appointed someone to sign and in the end that person did not sign, and this is a flaw that invalidates the get. Such a get is called a get kere'ach.
Completing the signatures:
The mishnah teaches that there are certain leniencies in the way a get kere'ach is repaired. When the get has not yet been given and one of the signatures on the ties is missing, "get kere'ach hakol mashlimin alav" - anyone may serve as a witness for this purpose, even someone who is ordinarily disqualified from testifying, since the very requirement that there be a witness on each and every tie is only rabbinic.
However, this leniency was stated specifically in a case where we know that the husband did not appoint witnesses for each and every fold. Even so, a witness is required to be assigned to every fold, while by strict law the get is valid even without him; and since in this case it is only an enactment, it was permitted to complete the signatures with a person who is not ordinarily a valid witness.
The position of Ben Nanas: Once there are three witnesses signed on a tied get, any additional witness is required only because of the concern that in a different situation the husband might ask for more, or might appoint additional witnesses. In the case before us, where we know that he did not do so, we may complete the signatures with anyone we wish.
Rabbi Akiva disagrees: "ein mashlimin alav ela kerovim hare'uyin lechiyuv bemakom acher" - the only people who may be used, even though they are ordinarily disqualified, are relatives, who are disqualified in this specific case alone but are valid witnesses elsewhere. The concern is that if we use someone who is not a valid witness in general, people will come to consider him valid.
The definition of a get kere'ach: "kol shekesharav merubin me'edav" - kesharav literally means its ties, and the reference is to the folds. In other words, there is one fold that has no witness's signature on it.
There are two qualifications to this:
As stated, there must be at least three valid witnesses in order to add a person who is ordinarily disqualified.
Only one disqualified witness may be used in a tied get. Even if there are many signatures, for example seven signatures with two of them missing, only one disqualified witness may be used to complete them, and the second witness added must be one who is ordinarily valid.
In summary: in this section we learned the nature of the tied get that was instituted for kohanim, the concern with a get kere'ach - a fold with no witness's signature on it - and the leniency in completing the signatures. According to Ben Nanas anyone may complete them, while Rabbi Akiva limits this to relatives alone, who are valid witnesses elsewhere. We also examined the mishnah's definition, "kol shekesharav merubin me'edav," and the two qualifications: at least three valid witnesses, and only one disqualified witness for the completion.