If someone giving a get has the English name “Philip”, how is this written in the get? Traditionally there is no usage in Hebrew (biblical or rabbinic) of a “peh” at the end of a word (I’m sure modern Hebrew has taken words from outside that end with a “peh” sound and spell them in Hebrew with a “peh” at the end — not sure if they do it with a regular peh or peh sofit…) However what is done l’maseh and is there any precedence of this in biblical or rabbinical Hebrew?
Answer:
The Tiv Gittin (Letter Yud, no. 18) writes that names that finish with a letter peh pronounced “p” rather than “f” should be written with a peh kefufah (פ) and not a peh peshutah (ף) to ensure that the reading is right.
Although Rav Yechezkel Avramsky (Sefer Zichron Le-Avi Ezri p. 286) mentions that he saw a Get with the name Philip written with a peh peshutah and a dagesh inside it, it seems that writing it with a peh kefufah is more correct.
This is also the ruling given in Bikkurei Asher p. 295.
Best wishes.
