[Avodah] A Cheireish Who Could Write

[Micha Berger]

AFAIK, "everyone" holds that today's deaf-mute would not qualify as
cheireish. The idea being that a cheireish is someone who is cut off
from communication and can't be taught, a problem not faced by today's
deaf-mute, now that we have sign languages.

As I mentioned yesterday, the inyan on the first couple of blatt of
Y-mi Terumos is about cheireish shoteh veqatan. In particular, what if a
cheireish indicates through head nodding or writing that he wishes to give
his wife a get? Do we say that his actions indicate daas sufficiently to
overcome the rule about cheireish? The gemara ends up saying that if he
was once a piqeiach and since became a cheireish (slowly, not as a suddent
recent event), he could give terumah. It doesn't work for get, but only
because the shtar stands like a middleman between himself and appointing
the sofer as a shaliach. And you can't appoint a shaliach indirectly.

But given what I said in the first paragraph... How does someone who
could read and write qualify as a cheireish to even have this discussion?
Why do we hold that American Sign Language takes someone out of the
chalos-sheim cheireish when the gemara says that written Hebrew does not?
Do we simply not hold like this Y-mi?

The Ein Mishpat on the side only gives the Rambam and Tur WRT geirushin,
which as I mentioned wouldn't work through kesivah either way.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Mussar is like oil put in water,
micha at aishdas.org        eventually it will rise to the top.
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