daf bit: Gittin 20

[cellio]

The mishna teaches that a get (bill of divorce) can be written on almost anything, including an olive leaf, the horn of an ox, or the hand of a slave. (Rabbi Yosi says not on living creatures or foodstuffs, which the rabbis confirm in the g'mara.) The man must give his wife the item on which the get is written; the rabbis teach that if he says "here is your get, but the sheet belongs to me" she is not divorced. However, he still has an out: if he says "here is your get on the condition that you return the sheet to me" then she is divorced; this was a conditional gift, which is still a gift. (19a (mishna), 20b (g'mara))

Comments

[cellio]

That's a good point. It's one thing to recall his "gift", but if the evidence of the get goes with it, what recourse does she have? I guess just the witnesses (the document had to be witnessed), which doesn't seem enough protection.