GITIN 88 (25 Av) -- Dedicated by Rabbi Dr. Eli Turkel of Raanana, l'Iluy Nishmas his mother, Golda bas Chaim Yitzchak Ozer (Mrs. Gisela Turkel) who passed away on 25 Av 5760. Mrs. Turkel was an exceptional woman with an iron will who loved and respected the study of Torah and accepted Hashem's Gezeiros with love. May she be a Melitzas Yosher for all her offspring and all of Klal Yisrael.

[88a - 49 lines; 88b - 39 lines]

1)[line 2]אימלוכי אימליךIMLUCHEI IMLICH- he changed his mind

2)[line 4]דידיעה ביה מתחתא דמגילתאD'YEDI'AH BEI MESACHTA D'MEGILASA- the stretched edges of the parchment [upon which the Get is written] are discernible (and it is evident that the parchment was not cut or manipulated in any way)

3)[line 10]דרמי ליה כעיבראD'RAMI LEI K'IVRA- [signatures] that are placed like a doorbolt (that is, the names signed between the two Gitin are perpendicular to the texts of the Gitin, and thus it is not evident at all which Get they are signed to)

4)[line 14]בדיסקיB'DISKEI- with subpoenas (written summons to appear in court)

5)[line 16]חתם סופר שנינוCHASAM SOFER SHANINU- we learned [in the Mishnah] that it is the signature of the scribe [who wrote the Get, together with the signature of another witness, which are valid signatures to make the Get valid)

6)[line 17]כתובת חתניםKESUVAS CHASANIM- the Kesuvah of bridegrooms (i.e. the normal Kesuvah given to a woman upon marriage)

7)[line 21]חניכת אבותCHANICHAS AVOS- the surname of his ancestors

8)[line 21]"כי תוליד בנים ובני בנים ונושנתם [בארץ והשחתם ועשיתם פסל תמונת כל ועשיתם הרע בעיני ה' אלקיך להכעיסו]""KI SOLID BANIM U'VENEI VANIM V'NOSHANTEM [BA'ARETZ, V'HISHCHATEM VA'ASISEM PESEL TEMUNAS KOL, VA'ASISEM HA'RA B'EINI HASH-M ELOKECHA L'HACH'ISO]"- "When you bear children and grandchildren, and have been long in the land, [and you become destructive and you make a graven statue of some image, and you do evil in the eyes of HaSh-m your G-d, making Him angry.]" (Devarim 4:25)

9)[line 28]ואלו הן...V'ELU HEN... - The kings of the ten tribes and their years of reign (from The History of the Eternal Nation, by Rav Shlomo Rotenberg z"l)

1.Yerav'am's dynasty:

(a)2964 Yerav'am ben Nevat (22 years)

(b)2985 his son Nadav (2 years)

2.Ba'sha's dynasty

(a)2986 Ba'sha ben Achiyah (24 years)

(b)3009 his son Eilah (2 years)

(c)3010 his slave Zimri (7 days)

3.Omri's dynasty

(a)3010 Omri (12 years)

(b)3021 his son Achav (22 years)

(c)3041 his son Achazyahu (2 years)

(d)3043 his brother Yehoram (12 years)

4.Yehu's dynasty

(a)3055 Yehu ben Nimshi (28 years)

(b)3083 his son Yeho'achaz (17 years)

(c)3098 his son Yeho'ash (16 years)

(d)3113 his son Yerav'am (41 years)

(e)3153 his son Zecharyahu (6 months)

5.Last dynasties

(a)3154 Shalum ben Yavesh (1 month)

(b)3154 Menachem ben Gadi (10 years)

(c)3154 his son Pekachyah (2 years)

(d)3166 Pekach ben Remalyahu (20 years)

(3187 Exile of the tribes of Zevulun, Naftali, and Dan)

(e)3187 Hoshe'a ben Eilah (18 years)

(3195 Exile of the tribes of Gad, Reuven, and half of the tribe of Menasheh)

(3205 Exile of the remainder of the Ten Tribes)

10)[line 31]"אומללה יולדת השבעה נפחה נפשה באה שמשה בעוד יומם בושה וחפרה""UMLALAH YOLEDES HA'SHIV'AH, NAFCHAH NAFSHAH, BA'AH SHIMSHAH B'OD YOMAM, BOSHAH VE'CHAFERAH."- "She is desolate - the one who bore seven, her soul has become distressed, her sun has set while it is yet day, she is embarrassed and ashamed." (Yirmeyahu 15:9)

11)[line 33]מאי קראה? כי תוליד בנים ובני בניםMAI KERA'AH? KI SOLID BANIM U'VENEI VANIM - from which verse do we know that Eretz Yisrael (the Shomron) was destroyed after seven royal courts ("Batei Din"; -Rashi) worshipped Avodah Zarah? From the verse, "Ki Solid...," as follows (MAHARSHAL; see, however, MAHARSHA):

Ki Solid (when you will give birth) = 1

Banim (to sons) = 2

u'Venei (and the sons of) = 2

Vanim (sons) = 2

12)[line 33]"ויעש הרע בעיני ה' רק לא כמלכי ישראל אשר היו לפניו. עליו עלה שלמנאסר מלך אשור ויהי לו הושע עבד וישב לו מנחה""VA'YA'AS HA'RA B'EINEI HASH-M RAK LO K'MALCHEI YISRAEL ASHER HAYU LEFANAV. ALAV ALAH SHALMANESER MELECH ASHUR, VA'YEHI LO HOSHE'A EVED VA'YASHEV LO MINCHAH" - "And he (Hoshe'a ben Eilah) did evil in the eyes of HaSh-m, albeit not like the other kings of Yisrael who preceded him. Shalmaneser (alias Sancheriv), king of Assyria, attacked him, and Hoshe'a became his vassal and had to send him a tribute." (Melachim II 17:2-3) (HOSHE'A BEN EILAH, THE LAST KING OF YISRAEL)

(a)Hoshe'a ben Eilah had already been appointed governor by Shalmaneser in the fourth year of the reign of Achaz (father of Chizkiyah), king of Yehudah. However, in the twelfth year of the latter's reign, he rebelled against the king of Assyria, who immediately attacked and subdued him, as described in the verse.

(b)It was after that time that Shalmaneser discovered Hoshe'a's plot to throw off his yoke, when Hoshe'a failed to pay the annual tribute and sent a request to the king of Egypt to come to his aid against the king of Syria. At that point, Hoshe'a happened to be in Shalmaneser's presence. The latter promptly had him seized and thrown into jail. He then attacked Shomron, capitol of Yisrael, and after a siege lasting three years, he sent the ten tribes into exile.

(c)Hoshe'a ben Eilah was somewhat more righteous than his predecessors, inasmuch as he removed the border guards that had been in force since the days of Yerav'am ben Nevat, allowing the ten tribes to go to Yerushalayim. Unfortunately, he did not issue them orders to go. Consequently, not only was he taken to task for failing to do so, but Yisrael, who did not take advantage of the new situation, were no longer able to place the blame for not performing the Mitzvah of Aliyas ha'Regel on their king, and were exiled for their failure to perform the Mitzvah.

13)[line 37]פרדסיאותPARDESI'OS- guards

14)[line 38]ירבעםYERAV'AM

(a)Yerav'am ben Nevat of the tribe of Efrayim was the first king of the ten tribes of Yisrael after their secession from the kingdom of the Davidic dynasty (subsequently known as Yehudah), as recorded in Melachim I 11:26-12:20. Upon the death of Shlomo ha'Melech, Rechav'am, his son, took the counsel of his young advisors to increase the high tax and hard labor that Shlomo had instituted (Melachim I 12:14). As a result, the people rebelled under the leadership of Yerav'am ben Nevat.

(b)In order to prevent the people of the ten tribes from returning to the leadership of the Davidic kings, Yerav'am outlawed the Mitzvah of Aliyah l'Regel, forbidding his people to travel to the Beis ha'Mikdash for Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukos. Instead, he built two other "Temples," one in Beis El and one in Dan, where golden calves were worshipped (ibid. I 12:28). He set up guards on the roads leading to Yerushalayim to prevent anyone from serving HaSh-m by going to the Beis ha'Mikdash.

15)[line 44]"וישקוד ה' על הרעה ויביאה עלינו כי צדיק ה' אלקינו""VA'YISHKOD HASH-M AL HA'RA'AH VA'YE'VI'EHA ALEINU, KI TZADIK HASH-M ELOKEINU."- "And HaSh-m quickened the evil and brought it upon us, because HaSh-m, our G-d, is righteous." (Daniel 9:14)

16)[line 45]"ואת כל אנשי החיל שבעת אלפים והחרש והמסגר אלף הכל גבורים עשי מלחמה ויביאם מלך בבל גולה בבלה""V'ES KOL ANSHEI HA'CHAYIL SHIV'AS ALAFIM VEHE'CHARASH VEHA'MASGER ELEF, HA'KOL GIBORIM OSEI MILCHAMAH, V'YEVI'EM HA'MELECH BAVEL GOLAH BAVELAH" - "And all the warriors, seven thousand, and the artisans and the gatekeepers, one thousand, all of them mighty men of war, and the king of Bavel took them down to exile, to Bavel." (Melachim II 24:16) (GALUS YECHANYAH)

(a)The eighteen-year-old Yehoyachin (or Yechanyah), son of Yehoyakim, ruled for only three months, when Nevuchadnetzar attacked Yerushalayim and demanded his surrender (see Background to Yoma 53:60).

(b)Of the 10,000 exiles recorded two verses earlier, 3,000 were from the tribe of Yehudah, and 7,000 from Binyamin and the other tribes.

(c)This episode took place in the seventh year of Nevuchdnetzar's reign, eleven years before the destruction of the Beis ha'Mikdash, which took place during the reign of Tzidkiyahu, Yehoyachin's uncle and successor.

(d)Of particular significance were the 1,000 Talmidei Chachamim who went with Yechanyah to Bavel. They would open Yeshivos and disseminate Torah on a large scale, paving the way for the arrival of the exiles eleven years later, who found a solid Torah community waiting for them. The Babylonian Yeshivos were so successful that they were destined to last for a thousand years, until several generations after Rav Ashi redacted the Talmud there.

17)[line 46, 47]גלות צדקיהו/גלות יכניהGALUS TZIDKIYAHU / GALUS YECHANYAH - The Judean kings from Chizkiyahu until Tzidkiyahu and their years of reign

(a)3199 Chizkiyahu (29 years)

(b)3228 Menashe (55 years)

(c)3283 Amon (2 years)

(d)3285 Yoshiyahu (31 years)

(e)3316 Yeho'achaz ben Yoshiyahu (3 months)

(f)3316 Yehoyakim (Elyakim) ben Yoshiyahu (11 years)

(g)3320 The first Exile of Yehudah

Nevuchadnetzar took part of the vessels of the Beis ha'Mikdash and youths of the Royal Family and brought them to Bavel

(h)3327 Nevuchadnetzar returned and banished Yehoyakim to Bavel, but he died during the journey

(i)3327 Yehoyachin (Yechanyah) ben Yehoyakim (3 months)

(j)3327 The second Exile of Yehudah

After 3 months Nevuchadnetzar exiled Yehoyachin to Bavel. There were ten thousand men with him, among them the Charash and the Masger

(k)3327 Tzidkiyahu (Matanyah) ben Yoshiyahu (11 years)

(l)3338 Churban of the First Beis ha'Mikdash and the Third Exile of Yehudah

18)[line 47]"החרש והמסגר אלף""HE'CHARASH VEHA'MASGER ELEF..."- "the Charash (craftsman) and the Masger (those who guard and close the gates), one thousand [of them]..." (Melachim II 24:16) - The Gemara interprets "Charash" and Masger" to be referring to the Torah scholars who were brought to Bavel to teach Torah when the Jews were exiled to there; see above, entry #16

19)[last line]ש הקדים שתי שנים ל'ונושנתם'SHE'HIKDIM SHTEI SHANIM L'V'NOSHANTEM- HaSh-m brought the evil upon Yisrael [850 years after they entered the land, which was] two years before the intended time of "v'Noshantem" (the Gematriya of which is 852, so that the verse "Ki Avod Toveidun" would not be fulfilled)

88b----------------------------------------88b

20)[line 3]גט מעושהGET ME'USEH- a forced Get, where the man was forced to give his wife a Get

21)[line 4]חובטין אותוCHOVTIN OSO- they beat him

22)[line 14]תולה עצמה בעובד כוכביםTOLAH ATZMAH V'OVED KOCHAVIM- she will hire (lit. make herself depend on) a [tough and violent] Nochri [to beat up her husband in order to get a Get from him]

23)[line 15]ומפקעתU'MAFKA'AS- and remove herself/leave

24)[line 18]בדותא היאBEDUSA HI- it is fiction, i.e. a mistake

25)[line 21]הדיוטותHEDYOTOS- rabbinical judges who are not ordained with Semichah (since Semichah is given only in Eretz Yisrael)

26)[line 22]אגוריאותAGURIYA'OS- gatherings (of Nochrim)

27)[line 24]להיזקק להםL'HIZAKEK LAHEM- to submit yourselves to them (for a judicial ruling)

28)[line 27]שליחותייהו קא עבדינןSHELICHUSAIHU KA AVDINAN- we are [acting as the agents of the courts in Eretz Yisrael by] performing their mission on their behalf

29a)[line 28]אהודאותA'HODA'OS- on admissions

b)[line 28]והלואותV'HALVA'OS- and loans (it is not necessary for judges to be ordained to rule in cases of monetary admissions and loans, Sanhedrin 2b)

30a)[line 29]גזילותGEZEILOS- cases of compensation for robbery

b)[line 29]וחבלותV'CHABALOS- and cases of compensation for personal injury (such cases, of robbery and injury, require ordained judges, Sanhedrin 3a)

31)[line 34]אמתלאAMASLA- a reasonable explanation to show how the report may have arisen by mistake ("Amasla" may come from the words "Emes Lo," or it may be an Aramaic form of "Mashal")