Mishneh Torah, Divorce 10-12

Sugya Map: The "Wisp of a Get" (Rei'ach Get)

• Issue: The legal status of a document that mimics divorce without meeting Torah criteria.
• Nafka Mina: Whether the resulting prohibition against the Priesthood (Kehunah) is de-oraita (biblical) or de-rabanan (rabbinic).
• Primary Sources: MT Divorce 10:1-3; Gittin 82a; Yevamot 52a.

Text Snapshot

• MT Divorce 10:2: "...This is the 'wisp of a get' (rei'ach get) that disqualifies [a woman] from [marrying a member of] the priesthood by Rabbinic decree."
• Nuance: Rambam uses midivrei soferim (by the words of the Scribes) to classify the Kehunah prohibition. Contrast this with Maggid Mishneh, who struggles with the Rambam’s departure from the Gemara’s implication that this is a Torah-level disqualification.

Readings

• Nachal Eitan: Argues Rambam is consistent. He reconciles Gittin 80a with Makkot 15a, asserting that if rei'ach get were de-oraita, then a husband who gives such a document would be liable for malkot (lashes) for violating lo yishlach (he may not send her away). Since he is not liable, it must be de-rabanan.
• Tzafnat Pa'neach: Notes the Rogatchover Gaon’s approach: the "wisp" is a conceptual creation. If the get has no validity, the prohibition is purely a preventative decree (gezeirah) to avoid confusion with valid divorces.

Friction

• Kushya: If the document is legally void (bateil), why does it create a prohibition at all?
• Terutz: As Rambam explains in 10:10, the concern is marit ayin (appearance). The Rabbis force a secondary get to prevent the public from assuming that a woman can be liberated from a marriage bond without a formal, valid instrument. The Kehunah prohibition is the "price" the woman pays for the ambiguity she created.

Psak/Practice

The Shulchan Aruch (Even HaEzer 150:3) codifies the Rambam: such a woman is forbidden to a Kohen. While the disqualification is de-rabanan, it is treated with the same stringency as a full divorcee regarding the priesthood.

Takeaway

The "wisp of a get" teaches us that in matters of personal status, halacha regulates not just the reality of the bond, but the narrative of the bond. If you create a public impression of divorce, the law binds you to the consequences of that impression, even when the underlying act lacks full legal force.