Towards the end of the Ritva, what is the meaning of
אלא שאין העדים כותבים ונותנים לו עד שיגרשנה בפניהם.
If we are talking about sending the get to the woman, what does "until he divorces her in their presence" refer to
Thank you
Michael Schwartz, Highland Park, New Jersey, USA
It seems to me that what the Ritva writes
עד שיגרשנה בפניהם
refers to the standard situation where the husband and wife are both present here. Then we say that the witnesses should not write and sign unless he divorces her in their presence.
However the Ritva immediately proceeds to discuss the non-ideal situation where the wife is not here. In such a case the Rabbis had to be lenient because otherwise the lady might become an Agunah.
They therefore said that if the shaliach knows the woman he may go and give her the get.
In this special case we give the agent the same amount of reliability that 2 witnesses usually possess.
Good Shabbos
Dovid Bloom