Lud, Rabbi Eliezer's Town
In the Mishnah (Gittin 2a), we have:
הַמֵּבִיא גֵּט מִמְּדִינַת הַיָּם, צָרִיךְ שֶׁיֹּאמַר בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב וּבְפָנַי נֶחְתַּם.
MISHNA: An agent who brings a bill of divorce [get] from a husband to his wife from a country overseas, i.e., from outside of Eretz Yisrael to Eretz Yisrael, is required to state the following formula when he hands over the bill of divorce: This bill of divorce was written in my presence and it was signed in my presence.
רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר: אַף הַמֵּבִיא מִן הָרְקָם וּמִן הַחֶגֶר. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: אֲפִילּוּ מִכְּפַר לוּדִּים לְלוֹד.
Rabban Gamliel says: Even one who brings a bill of divorce from Rekem or from Ḥeger, which are on the periphery of Eretz Yisrael, must make this declaration. Rabbi Eliezer says: Even one who brings a bill of divorce from the village of Ludim to Lod must also make this declaration, despite the fact that these places are only a short distance apart. The reason is that the village of Ludim was not part of the main area settled by Jews in Eretz Yisrael.
Rabban Gamliel here is the third-generation Tanna, Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh, and so is contemporary with third-generation Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus.
Why does Rabbi Eliezer speak specifically about Kfar Ludim and Lud? One interesting idea is mentioned in Tosafot, by Rabbeinu Meir, that Rabbi Eliezer is mentioning his own town, where he presided over his bet din:
מכפר לודים ללוד - אומר ר"י שהזכיר לוד לאשמועינן אע"פ שהיתה נקראת כפר לודים על שם בני לודים שהיו מצויים בה תמיד אפילו הכי צ"ל בפני נכתב ובפני נחתם ולא חשיב כלוד עצמה ורבינו מאיר פירש דרבי אליעזר הזכיר שם עירו כדאמרינן (סנהדרין דף לב:) . אחר ר' אליעזר ללוד ואין נראה לר"י דכ"ש שלא היה צריך להזכיר כי היכי דלא נקט תנא קמא ממדינת הים לארץ ישראל דפשיטא היא דבארץ ישראל קאי:
As we say in Sanhedrin 32b:
ת"ר צדק צדק תרדף הלך אחר ב"ד יפה אחר רבי אליעזר ללוד אחר רבן יוחנן בן זכאי לברור חיל
§ The Sages taught: The verse states: “Justice, justice, shall you follow.” This teaches that one should follow the best, most prestigious, court of the generation. For example, follow after Rabbi Eliezer to Lod, after Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai to Beror Ḥayil.
The Ri takes issue with this explanation, of why singling out this particular city. But it still is a valid point.
I have a newspaper column in about two weeks about the implication of “from Kfar Ludim to Lud”. Stay tuned.
While we are at it, we should mention that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi also presided over a bet din in Lud.
Thus, in the story on Gittin 5a:
בִּפְלוּגְתָּא דְּרַבִּי יוֹחָנָן וְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי, חַד אָמַר: לְפִי שֶׁאֵין בְּקִיאִין לִשְׁמָהּ, וְחַד אָמַר: לְפִי שֶׁאֵין עֵדִים מְצוּיִין לְקַיְּימוֹ.
§ The Gemara comments: Rabba and Rava disagree with regard to the dispute between Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. One said that the reason the Sages required an agent to say: It was written in my presence and it was signed in my presence, is because they are not experts in writing a bill of divorce for her sake. And one said that the reason is because there are no witnesses available to ratify it.
תִּסְתַּיֵּים דְּרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי הוּא דְּאָמַר לְפִי שֶׁאֵין בְּקִיאִין לִשְׁמָהּ, דְּרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר אַבָּא אַיְיתִי גִּיטָּא לְקַמֵּיהּ דְּרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי, וַאֲמַר לֵיהּ: צְרִיכְנָא לְמֵימַר ״בְּפָנַי נִכְתַּב וּבְפָנַי נֶחְתַּם״, אוֹ לָא?
The Gemara suggests: It may be concluded that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi is the one who said that the reason is because they are not experts in writing a bill of divorce for her sake, as Rabbi Shimon bar Abba brought a bill of divorce before Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, and said to him: Am I required to say: It was written in my presence and it was signed in my presence, or not?
אֲמַר לֵיהּ: לָא צְרִיכַתְּ, לֹא אָמְרוּ אֶלָּא בְּדוֹרוֹת הָרִאשׁוֹנִים, שֶׁאֵין בְּקִיאִין לִשְׁמָהּ, אֲבָל בְּדוֹרוֹת הָאַחֲרוֹנִים דִּבְקִיאִין לִשְׁמָהּ – לֹא. תִּסְתַּיֵּים.
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said to him: You are not required to do so, as they said that one was required to state this declaration only in the earlier generations, when they were not experts in writing a bill of divorce for her sake. However, in the later generations, when they are experts about writing it for her sake, no, this declaration is no longer necessary. The Gemara states: It may be concluded from here that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi was of this opinion.
It could be that (Rav) Shemen bar Abba brought the get from overseas, in this case Bavel. Since Rav Shemen bar Abba came initially from Bavel. (See Yerushalmi Shabbat 6:2, where Rabbi Yochanan says to Shimon bar Ba, אָמַר לֵיהּ רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן. בַּבְלַייָא. לֹא תַעָבִד כֵּן. שֶׁהָרִאשׁוֹנִים לֹא הָיוּ עוֹשִׂין כֵּן.)
While it may not make sense to associate this with Kfar Ludim to Lud (depending on its meaning - see impending article), it could also be relevant that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi would be presiding over the court in Lud.