daf bit: Gittin 62

The mishna teaches: if a husband instructs another man to take a get (bill of divorce) to [the first man's] wife or to receive a get on her behalf, and the husband wishes to retract it before his wife receives it, he may do so. However, if a woman instructs a man to receive a get on her behalf, then once he does so the husband may not retract. The issue is not when the wife receives it but, rather, when she or her appointed agent does so. (Receipt by the husband's agent is not relevant regardless of how the husband instructs him.) The mishna grants the husband an out, however: when the wife's agent collects the get the husband may say he does not agree to his agency; in that case the man carries the get to the wife but she is not divorced until she receives it. (62b)

This does raise the question of why the husbnad would go to all that trouble, particularly in the last case. Under what circumstances would he want to initiate a get but delay or prevent completion of the divorce? Remember, no cell phones -- intercepting the agent once he's on his way isn't necessarily easy.

short takes

goldsquare's post on 9/11 is short and to the point. I wrote and deleted more words before seeing this, so I'll just point you there.

Tonight I got one of the most polite political-solicitation phone calls I can remember receiving, from the local Obama campaign. With all the dirt, both real and manufactured, in the political arena, it was nice to have a pleasant and non-pushy conversation. Had I not been on my way out the door, I would have accepted her offer to answer my questions. But I am welcome to stop in at their local office three blocks from my home any time I like, she said. (I assume she doesn't really have anything that isn't on the campaign web site, but sometimes the human interaction is nice.)

This was more timely yesterday, but: http://www.hasthelhcdestroyedtheearth.com/ is worth a look. Do look closely. :-) Thanks to browngirl for the link.

From a recent conversation about workplace diversity: "We have a very diverse department. We have emacs and vi users." :-)

A pet butterfly? Link from mabfan.

A light-hearted comment on the economy relayed by thnidu.