Torah Community Connections

Week 78 - Friday - 25 May 2001

SOTAH: CHAPTER 1: MISHNAH 6

If she was clothed in white he clothed her in black; if she wore gold ornaments and chains, nose-rings and finger rings, they remove them from her in order to disgrace her. He then brought an Egyptian rope and tied it above her breasts. Whoever wished to watch may come to watch, except for her male and female servants, because she is familiar with them. And all women are permitted to watch her, as it is said (Ezek. 23:48): "that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness."

Kehati

This mishnah continues to elaborate the priest's role in making the sotah drink in the Temple.

If she was clothed in white - if the sotah donned white garments, he clothed her in black - i.e., they dress her in black garments that render her unattractive. The Gemara cites the following baraita: "If black garments suit her, they would clothe her in ungainly garments;" if she wore gold ornaments - i.e., jewelry, and chains - or necklaces, nose or ear rings and finger rings, they remove them from her in order to disgrace her - i.e., spoil her looks. He then brought an Egyptian rope - made of palm leaves, or bast that grows around the palm tree; the Jerusalem Talmud defines it as hailing from Egypt, to emphasize her "Egyptian" conduct in accordance with the introduction to the passage on forbidden relationships (Lev. 18:3): "After the doings of the land of Egypt...shall you not do;" however, in the absence of Egyptian rope, he brought other rope, and tied it above her breasts - to prevent her garments from falling, once they are torn (see the previous mishnah).

Whoever wished to watch - the sotah's humbling, may come and watch - and accompany the ritual except for her male and female servants - who were not allowed to see her, because she is familiar with them - being used to them, their attendance would reinforce her recalcitrance and allegation of innocence. And all women are permitted to watch her - according to the Gemara, the women were obliged to watch her, hence some associate the term mutarot (permitted) with hatra'ah, i.e., the women are admonished to witness the sotah's humbling and drinking the curse-causing waters, as it is said: "that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness" - that they might take heed and beware of any semblance of lewd behavior.

SOTAH: CHAPTER 1: MISHNAH 7

With the measure that a person measures, so is it measured out to him. She adorned herself for the sin - the Almighty disgraced her. She bared herself for sin - the Almighty caused her to be bared. She sinned with the thigh first, and then with the belly: therefore, the thigh will be struck first and then the belly. And the rest of the body does not escape.

Kehati

After concluding the previous mishnah with the halakhah that "all women are obliged to see her" and learn the lesson, this mishnah interrupts the account of how the sotah is made to drink and undergo the test in order to present moral insights to be drawn from the sotah phenomenon.

With the measure that a person measures, so is it measured out to him - i.e., even as a person behaves, so Divine judgment is meted out to him, measure for measure, as evident in the case of a sotah: She adorned herself for sin - as she proceeded to seclude herself with another man, the Almighty disgraced her - i.e., He commanded that she be humbled by loosening her hair, dressing her in unattractive garments, removing her adornments, etc. (see the previous mishnayot).

She bared herself for sin - she failed to conduct herself modestly by joining the company of men and displaying herself so as to play the harlot, the Almighty caused her to be bared - by commanding that she stand at the entrance of the Nicanor gate and reveal her shame, as we learned in the previous mishnah: "Any who wished to see came to see."

She sinned with the thigh first, and then with the belly - when she committed adultery with the man whom she had met privately, therefore, the thigh will be struck first and then the belly - the priest curses her, as written (Num. 5:21): "May the Lord make you for a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord does make your thigh to fall away, and your belly to swell." The Gemara explains this as the actual sequence of the curse, wherein the thigh precedes the belly, whereas in the trial by water this is reversed, since the water tests her the way it enters the body, wherein the belly precedes the thigh, thus (ibid. v.17): "and her belly will swell, and her thigh will fall away."

And the rest of the body does not escape - none of her organs avoid the trial by water, and they are struck, although this is not explicitly mentioned in the Torah, they learned this from the verse (ibid.): "that the curse-causing waters shall enter into her to cause bitterness," i.e., the water would infiltrate all her organs (Sifrei). Others read in our mishnah: "And the rest of the body was not specified," substituting perat (detail) for palat (escape), i.e., though Scripture did not single out, just as her entire body relished the sin, so does all of her body share the punishment (Hameiri); This reflects the principle that "with the measure which a person measures, so is it measured out to him."

Return to Mishna Yomit Index

Visit the Mishna Yomit Archives