Laws of Divorce, Chapter 12

1. A woman who comes and says, "I was a married woman, and now I am divorced," is believed, because the mouth that forbade is the mouth that permits. But if she was already established as a married woman, and then comes and says, "My husband divorced me," she is not believed to permit herself; however, she has disqualified herself from marrying a Kohen forever. And if her husband dies, we are concerned for her words; therefore, she performs chalitzah and does not undergo yibum.

2. If she has two witnesses that she is divorced—even if there is no get—she may marry lechatchilah. If she produces a get from her possession and says, "My husband divorced me with this," she is believed, and may marry based on it, even if it has not been validated, as we have explained.

3. If the husband comes and objects—if he says, "I did not give it to her, rather it fell from me and she found it," he is not believed, since he admits that he wrote it for her and it is in her possession. But if the husband says, "It was conditional," or "It was a deposit," or "I never wrote it and it is forged," then it must be validated by its signatures or by the witnesses of delivery, as we have explained. If it is not validated, she is not divorced to be permitted to others; but she is disqualified from marrying a Kohen, as we have explained, since she has disqualified herself by her own admission and has made herself like a piece of forbidden meat.

4. If both she and her husband come—she says, "He divorced me and my get was lost," and he says, "I did not divorce you"—even if she was previously established as his wife, she is believed, for there is a presumption that a woman does not have the audacity to lie in the presence of her husband.

5. If the husband says, "I divorced my wife," he is not believed, but we are concerned for his words and she is considered possibly divorced. Even if she admits to him that he divorced her, he is not believed—perhaps he intends to harm her, or perhaps he divorced her with a void get and she does not know, or perhaps she would have the audacity to contradict him because he believes her, and she does not know the severity of her prohibition. Therefore, we say to him: "If your words are true, you are both present—divorce her now in our presence."

6. If two witnesses say she was divorced, and two others contradict them and say she was not divorced—even if the husband is present and she says to him, "You divorced me"—she retains her status as a fully married woman as before, because the witnesses support her and it is possible she would have the audacity to contradict him. Therefore, if she married, she must leave, and the child is a mamzer.

7. In what case are these words said? When the witnesses say, "She was just now divorced," for then we say to her, "If it is true, produce your get." But if the witnesses say, "She was divorced some days ago," it is possible the get was lost. And since she says, "I am definitely divorced," and two witnesses testify for her—even though two contradict them—if she married one of her witnesses, she does not leave, for she and her husband know with certainty that she is permitted, and there is a presumption that people do not bring harm upon themselves. But if she married someone else, since for him the matter is in doubt, and likewise if she says, "I do not know," even if she married one of her witnesses—she must leave, and the child is of doubtful mamzer status.

8. If two say, "We saw her get divorced," and two say, "We did not see her"—if all of them were residing in the same courtyard, she may not marry; but if she did marry, she does not leave and the child is kosher, for people often divorce in private.

9. A woman who was not established as a married woman, and one witness comes and says, "She was married and is now divorced," and another witness comes and says, "She was not divorced"—both are testifying that she is a married woman, and only one testifies that she is divorced, and the words of one do not stand against two; therefore, she may not marry, and if she did marry, she must leave.

10. A woman and two men come from another country—one says, "This is my wife and this is my slave," and the other says, "This is my wife and this is my slave," and the woman says, "They are both my slaves"—she is permitted to all. Even though both men established her as a married woman, since each one testifies only for himself, they are not believed.

Laws of Divorce, Chapter 12

11. If a shliach kabalah (agent to receive a get) produces a get from his possession, and the husband says, "It is a forgery," it should be validated by its signatures or by the witnesses to its delivery, as we have explained. If the husband says, "I gave it to him as a deposit," and the agent says, "He gave it to me for divorce," the agent is believed. Similarly, if the get comes from the woman's possession, and she says, "This agent gave it to me," and the agent says, "So it was, and he gave it to me for divorce," and the husband says, "I gave it only as a deposit," the agent is believed, and she is divorced.

12. If the get was lost—even if the husband says, "I gave the get to the agent for divorce," and the agent says, "I gave it to her"—she is in a doubtful state of being divorced, because she was presumed to be a married woman, and here there is only one witness and the husband. Even if the woman says, "He gave it to him for divorce in my presence, and the agent gave it to me," since the husband and the agent are testifying about her, it is possible that she would be brazen-faced, and perhaps she was not divorced.

13. If a shliach kabalah received a get for a woman and sent it to her by the hand of two witnesses, and the get reached her and she took it, and the get is now in her possession, and she does not know whether her husband sent it to her, or her own shliach kabalah, or her husband's agent—she is divorced, as we have explained.

14. If the husband comes and protests that he did not write it, or that it is a void get, it should be validated by its signatures, for the witnesses testify that the get given to her came from her agent, whose hand is like hers. And even though she does not know, the witnesses know. If it is not validated, she is not divorced.

15. A woman who was presumed to be married, and she and her husband went away, and there was peace between them and peace in the world, and she comes and says, "My husband died," she is believed, and may remarry or perform yibum. For there is a presumption that a woman will not ruin herself and prohibit herself to both this one and that one, and lose her kesubah from both, and render her children illegitimate, in a matter that is destined to be revealed to all; and it is impossible to contradict or to claim otherwise, for if he is alive, he will eventually come or it will become known that he is alive. Similarly, if a single witness comes and testifies that her husband died, she may remarry based on his word, for the matter is destined to be revealed. Even a slave, or a woman, or a maidservant, or a witness from the mouth of another witness, from the mouth of a slave, from the mouth of a maidservant, from the mouth of relatives—they are all believed to say, "So-and-so died," and his wife may remarry or perform yibum based on their word.

16. All are believed to testify for her in this testimony, except for five women who are presumed to hate one another, and do not testify for each other regarding the death of a husband, lest they intend to prohibit her to her husband while he is still alive. These are: her mother-in-law, her mother-in-law's daughter, her co-wife, her yavam's wife, and her husband's daughter. Even a non-Jew who speaks innocently is believed, and we permit her to remarry based on his word, as will be explained; but if he intended to testify, he is not believed.

17. Likewise, one who is disqualified by Torah law due to transgression—if he comes to testify for a woman that her husband died, he is not believed; but if he speaks innocently, he is believed—he is no less than a non-Jew. But one who is disqualified by rabbinic law is believed for testimony regarding a woman.

18. If a single witness comes and testifies that her husband died, and she was permitted to remarry based on his word, and afterwards another comes and contradicts the first and says, "He did not die," she does not leave her permitted status and may remarry. For a single witness in testimony regarding a woman is like two witnesses in other testimonies, and the words of one do not stand against two.

19. If both come together, one says, "He died," and the other says, "He did not die," or a woman says, "He died," and another woman says, "He did not die," she may not remarry; and if she did remarry, she must leave, because it is a doubt. But if she married the witness who testified for her, and she says, "I am certain that he died," she does not leave. If two come and say, "He did not die," even if she already married, she must leave.

Laws of Divorce, Chapter 12

20. In what case are these words said? When the one upon whose testimony she remarried is equivalent to the two who came and contradicted him—for example, she remarried based on the word of a man, and then two came and said, "He did not die"; or she remarried based on the word of a woman or on her own word, and then two women or two invalid witnesses according to their status came and said, "He did not die." But if a valid witness says, "He died," and many women or invalid witnesses say, "He did not die," this is considered as half against half; and if she remarried based on the testimony of one of her witnesses, and she says with certainty, "He died," she does not go out.

21. If a woman says, "He died," or she herself said, "My husband died," and afterwards a valid witness comes and says, "He did not die," she may not remarry; and if she did remarry, she must leave her new husband.

22. If a woman says, "He did not die," and two women say, "He died," she may remarry. Similarly, if ten women say, "He did not die," and eleven say, "He died," she may remarry. For we do not say that two are like a hundred except with valid witnesses; but with invalid witnesses, we follow the majority, whether to be lenient or to be stringent.

23. If two witnesses say, "He died," and two say, "He did not die," she may not remarry; and if she did remarry, she must leave, because this is a case of doubt. But if she remarried based on the testimony of one of her witnesses, and she says with certainty, "I know that he died," she does not go out.

24. If a man has two wives, and one of them comes and says, "My husband died," she may remarry based on her own word, as we have explained; but her co-wife is forbidden, for a co-wife may not testify for her fellow. Even if this one remarried first, we do not say, "If her husband had not died, she would not have forbidden herself to him"—for perhaps, out of hatred for her co-wife, she wants both of them to become forbidden to him. If one says, "My husband died," and her co-wife contradicts her and says to her, "He did not die," this one may remarry: just as she may not testify to permit her, so too she may not testify to prohibit her. If one says, "He died," and her co-wife says, "He was killed," since both say he is no longer alive, they may both remarry.