Bava Basra - Daf 167
- One should not write his signature at the bottom of a blank scroll
Abaye said: האי מאן דבעי למחוי חתימות ידיה בבי דינא – one who needs to show his signature in Beis Din to authenticate his signature in a document לא לחוי בסוף מגילתא – should not show it by signing at the end of a blank scroll, דלמא משכח לה אחר – for perhaps someone else will find it, וכתיב דמסיק ביה זוזי – and write above his signature that he is owed money by [the signer]. Such a document would be accepted, because a Mishnah states: הוציא עליו כתב ידו שהוא חייב לו – if [a claimant] produces a שטר written in his hand that he owes him money, the holder of the document can collect from his property.
A Jewish toll collector once suggested to Abaye to show him his signature, so that when Abaye’s talmidim would present notes signed by Abaye, he would let them cross without paying the toll. As Abaye was signing the scroll, the toll collector attempted to pull it so Abaye would sign lower down. Abaye said: כבר קדמוך רבנן – “The Rabbis preempted you, and taught how to avoid such fraud!”
- Which party must authorize various type of שטרות
The next Mishnah states: כותבין גט לאיש אף על פי שאין אשתו עמו – we may write a get for a man even if his wife is not with him, because she can be divorced against her will. A receipt (for the kesubah payment) may be written for the wife even if her husband is not present, since the document is only to his benefit and her detriment. The husband pays for both of these documents. Similarly, כותבין שטר ללוה אף על פי שאין מלוה עמו – we may write a [loan] document for a borrower, even if the lender is not there, since the שטר is to the lender’s benefit and the borrower’s detriment. But we can only write a שטר for the lender if the borrower is there. The borrower pays for the שטר. A שטר of sale may be written for a seller without the buyer present, and the buyer pays for the שטר.
The Mishnah proceeds to list various שטרות which require consent of both parties to be written, since they record the obligations of both parties, such as שטרי אירוסין (which records financial commitments from both sides), sharecropping documents, or court documents.
- Assuming someone’s identity based on his given name
Although a get may be written without the wife’s consent, the scribe must know his name. Abaye said that Rav required that the scribe know the names of both the husband and wife, because otherwise someone can fraudulently obtain a get for the wife of another man with the same name, enabling her to remarry unlawfully. Furthermore, Rav said that two men with identical names, married to wives with identical names, can only divorce in each other’s presence. The Gemara asks that perhaps someone will establish a false name in another town (e.g., “Yosef ben Shimon”), have a get written there, and bring it to another town to enable the true Yosef ben Shimon’s wife to remarry unlawfully!? It answers that Rav said: כל שהוחזק שמו בעיר שלשים יום – anyone whose name was established for thirty days, אין חוששין לו – we are not concerned about him that it is not his true name, because no one would maintain such a deception for so long. If it was not established for thirty days, Abaye suggested a test: דקרו ליה ועני – they call him by his given name, and he answers. However, Rav Zevid said: רמאה ברמאותיה זהיר – a trickster is careful with his trickery, and this test is unreliable.
