Deuteronomy 24

Sugya Map: The Mechanics of Get (Deuteronomy 24:1-4)

• Core Issue: Defining "ערוות דבר" (an unseemly thing) as the threshold for get (divorce).
• Nafka Mina: Does a get require objective moral failure (Beit Shammai) or merely subjective incompatibility (Beit Hillel)?
• Primary Sources: Deut. 24:1; Gittin 90a-b; Rambam, Hilkhot Gerushin 1:1.

Text Snapshot

• Verse: "וּמָצָא בָהּ עֶרְוַת דָּבָר" (Deut. 24:1).
• Nuance: The Ba’al HaTurim (ad loc.) reads the acronym Ra"T (Roshei Teivot) of Be-ad (ב-ע-ד): Be'edim (with witnesses). The text oscillates between the husband’s subjective discovery (ki matza) and the evidentiary requirement (be'edim).

Readings

• Ibn Ezra (ad loc.): Rejects the moralistic reading of Beit Shammai. He views the woman as kesherah (fit/kosher), arguing the divorce stems from a mismatch of "nature" (teva). The divorce is a functional necessity for peace, not a judgment of character.
• Rashi (Gittin 90b s.v. Ki Matza): Cites the mandate to divorce if she "finds no favor," grounding the get in the husband's subjective perception rather than a formal legal transgression.

Friction

• Kushya: If the Torah requires a "scandalous thing" (ervat davar), how can the Halacha permit divorce for burning the soup?
• Terutz: The Acharonim (notably Netziv, Ha'amek Davar) suggest that ervat davar is not a specific sin, but a state of "brokenness" (davar = thing/matter, ervah = exposure/shame). When the relationship ceases to provide mutual sanctity, the "thing" (the marriage) becomes an ervah—a source of public shame or private decay.

Intertext

• Parallels: Exodus 21:15 (the use of vav as "or"). Ibn Ezra leverages this to argue that the requirements for get are disjunctive, not cumulative.
• SA: Even HaEzer 119:1; the get must be li-shmah (for her sake/for this specific woman), echoing the Ba'al HaTurim on "v'khatav lah" (write to her).

Psak/Practice

The psak follows the view that divorce is a private dissolution of a contract rather than a judicial sentencing. However, the Ba'al HaTurim reminds us: dibur im ha-ketav—the document is insufficient without the verbal intent. The get is not merely an administrative procedure; it is a profound rupture requiring formal, intentional speech.

Takeaway

Divorce in the Torah is not a punishment for moral failure, but a recognition of incompatibility; the Halacha safeguards this through strict proceduralism (li-shmah) to prevent the casual erosion of the marital bond.