One who writes tofsim of gittin must leave [blank] the space for [the name of] the man, and the space for [the name of] the woman, and the space for the date; [on] documents of loans, he must leave [blank] the space for [the name of] the lender, the space for [the name of] the borrower, the space for the [amount of] money, [and] the space for the date; [on] bills of sale, he must leave [blank] the space for [the name of] the buyer, the space for [the name of] the seller, the space for the [amount of] money, the space for the field, and the space for the date, for the sake of the benefit involved. R' Yehudah invalidates all of them. R' Elazar validates all of them, except for gittin, for it is written (Deut. 24:1): He shall write for her —- with specific intent for her.

[If] one was bringing a get and lost it —- [if] he found it immediately, it is valid; if not, it is void. [If] he found it in a pouch or in a case, [and] he recognizes it, it is valid.  One who brings a get and had left him old or ill may give it to her on the assumption that he is alive. The daughter of a non-Kohen who was married to a Kohen —- and her husband went overseas —- may eat terumah on the assumption that he is alive. [If] one sends his sin-offering from overseas, it may be offered on the assumption that he is alive.

R' Elazar ben Parta said three things before the Sages, and they confirmed his words: Concerning [the people in] a city besieged by an army, and [those in] a ship storm tossed at sea, and one who goes to be tried —- they are presumed to be alive. But [concerning people in] a city captured by an army, and [those in] a ship lost at sea, and one who goes to be executed —- the stringencies of the living and the stringencies of the dead are applied to them: The daughter of a non-Kohen [married] to a Kohen and the daughter of a Kohen [married] to a non-Kohen may not eat of terumah.

One who was bringing a get within Eretz Yisrael and became ill may send it with another. But if he had said to him: “Take from her such and such a thing for me,” he may not send it with another, for he does not want his deposit to be in the hand of another.

[If] one was bringing a get from overseas and became ill, the court appoints [another] and sends him, and he says before them: “It was written in my presence and signed in my presence.” The latter agent need not say: “It was written in my presence and signed in my presence”; rather, he says: “I am an agent of the court.”

One who lends money to a Kohen, a Levi, or a poor person, [on the condition] to separate from their portions in its stead, may separate in its stead on the assumption that they are alive, and he need not be concerned that the Kohen or Levi may have died, or that the poor man become wealthy. [If] they died, he must obtain permission from the heirs. If he lent them before the court, he need not obtain permission from the heirs.

One who puts aside produce to separate terumah and tithes with them, [or] money to separate the second tithe with them, may separate with them on the assumption that they are still in existence. If they were lost, he must be cautious regarding a period of twenty-four hours —- [these are] the words of R' Elazar ben Shamua.  R' Yehudah says: At three points in time the wine must be examined: at the time of the east wind [which is] after the Festival, with the emergence of the budding berries, and at the time that liquid enters the unripe grapes.

[If] one sent a get to his wife, and encountered the agent, or sent an agent after him, and he said to him: “The get that I gave you is void,” it is void. [If] he reached his wife first or sent an agent to her, and he said to her: “The get that I sent you is void,” it is void. If [the above occurred] after she received the get, he can no longer nullify it.

Originally, he would convene a court elsewhere and nullify it. Rabban Gamliel the Elder decreed that they should not do this, for the sake of the general good.  Originally, he would change his name and her name, the name of his town and the name of her town, but Rabban Gamliel the Elder decreed that he write: “The man, So-and-so, and any name he has”; “the woman, So-and-so, and any name she has,” for the sake of the general good.

A widow is not paid from the property of orphans except with an oath. They ceased from imposing an oath upon her, [so] Rabban Gamliel the Elder decreed that she should make a neder prohibiting whatever the orphans wish, and collect her kesubah.  Witnesses sign on a get for the sake of the general good. Hillel decreed [the] prozbul for the sake of the general good.

A slave who was taken captive and they redeemed him —- if to be a slave, he shall be subjugated; if to be a free man, he shall not be subjugated. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliels says: In either case, he shall be subjugated.  A slave whose master designated him as payment for a debt to another and [then] freed him —- by right of law, the slave should not be liable at all; but, for the sake of the general good, they compel his master to free him, and he writes a bond for his value. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: He does not write; only the one who freed [him].

One who is half-slave and half-free works one day for his master and one day for himself; [these are] the words of Beis Hillel. Beis Shammai said to them: You have provided a solution for his master, but for [him] himself you have not provided a solution: He cannot marry a slave, because he is half-free; [and he cannot marry] a free woman, because he is half-slave. Shall he remain idle? But was not the world created only for propagation, as it says (Isaiah 45:18): He created it not a waste; he formed it to be inhabited. Rather, for the sake of the general good, his master is compelled to free him, and he writes a bond for half his value. [Subsequently] Beis Hillel retracted, and taught in accordance with the words of Beis Shammai.