Lydda, Oh Lydda. The Person and the Page

Gittin 2a

The Mishna in Gittin (2a) begins with a statement that an agent bringing a get from abroad must declare that it was written and signed before him. Rabban Gamliel (of Yavneh, third-generation Tanna) adds that one must similarly recites if he brings from Rekem and Cheger. Rabbi Eliezer (ben Hyrcanus, third-generation Tanna) adds that this is even from Kfar Ludim to Lud. The Mishnah continues with other opinions.

I don’t live in Israel in Rabbi Eliezer’s time, so I have no idea as to the implications of Kfar Ludim and Lud. How close were these to each other? Was there a difference in government? Was it a border town, with Kfar Ludim across the border? Who populated these towns? There was some obvious meaning to the immediate audience of the Mishnah which escapes me, but from which we can understand what Rabbi Eliezer is adding. Perhaps Amoraim, or Rishonim, or archaeologists can help.

On Gittin 4a, Abaye, a fourth-generation Babylonian Amora, is cited by the Talmudic Narrator (first תְּנַן, then וְאָמַר אַבָּיֵי, then וְאָמַר רַבָּה בַּר בַּר חָנָה, and finally the supposition, מִכְּלָל) as saying that we are dealing with cities (בַּעֲיָירוֹת) which are adjacent to Israel and swallowed up within its concave borders. Perhaps Abaye had direct knowledge of these cities, perhaps he had a tradition, or perhaps he arrived at this explanation via reason. Preceding Abaye was Rabbi Illai speaking to Rabbi Yishmael about a get from Kfar Sisai, where he said וַהֲלֹא כְּפַר סִיסַאי מוּבְלַעַת בִּתְחוּם אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּקְרוֹבָה לְצִיפּוֹרִי יוֹתֵר מֵעַכּוֹ. Thus, we see both adjacency / being swallowed up. 

Bavli’s Understanding

The Talmudic Narrator seems to take Abaye’s statement to be