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Does a widow or widower still feel maritally bonded to their deceased spouse?
Perhaps this may sound like a strange query as most people, especially those who have sadly lost a spouse, are likely of the opinion that they surely do. Still, while this may seem to be a question relating to the emotional and spiritual bond felt between a married couple, it also has halachic ramifications.
The Mishna (Gittin 1:6) in today’s daf (Gittin 13a) informs us that ‘if someone were to say to an agent “give a ‘get’ to my wife”… and dies [before the ‘get’ is delivered], then the agent should not give [the ‘get’] posthumously’.
Perhaps, on first glance, the reason why we say that the agent should not deliver the ‘get’ is because the husband has since died which means that a ‘get’ is redundant.
Alternatively, we may claim that as a result of the husband’s death, the agents’ mission is invalidated because the agent is – halachically – an extension of the husband. Consequently, if there is no husband, there is no agency.
However, as the Tosfot HaRosh explains on the basis of the Yibbum (levirate marriage) law, a married couple does maintain a connection even after one’s spouse has died which means that, at least technically, divorce can be effective even after death. However, because, as previously mentioned, agency isn’t effective after death, the agent does not have the authority to give the ‘get’ once the husband has died.
Overall, while the halacha may not permit posthumous gittin, the very fact that this topic is addressed by the Mishna teaches us something very profound – that absent of technical reasons, a ‘get’ could possibly be effective even after death. And why? Because married couples often still feel married even once one of them has died.