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3 ‎[1] **He would take her meal-offering out of** the **Egyptian wicker basket** made of palm leaves in which it was lying **and would put it into a service vessel and** then **place it on her hand. And** the **priest** would then **place his hand underneath hers and wave it** together with her.
‎[2] The priest **waved** it **and brought** it **near** to the southwest corner of the altar, **removed a handful** from it, **and burned** the handful; **and the remainder was eaten by the priests.** The priest **would force** the woman **to drink** the bitter water of a *sota*, **and afterward he would sacrifice her meal-offering. Rabbi Shimon says:** The priest would **sacrifice her meal-offering and afterward he would force her to drink, as it is stated:** “And the priest shall take a handful of the meal-offering, as the memorial part of it, and burn it upon the altar, **and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water”** (Numbers 5:26). But Rabbi Shimon concedes that **if** the priest first **forced her to drink and afterward sacrificed her meal-offering,** it is still **valid.**
‎[3] If **before the scroll was erased she said: I will not drink, the scroll** that was written for **her is sequestered, and her meal-offering is** burned and **scattered over** the place of **the ashes, and her scroll is not fit to give** to **another *sota* to drink.** If **the scroll was erased and** afterward **she said: I am defiled, the water is poured out, and her meal-offering is scattered in the place of the ashes.** If **the scroll was** already **erased and she said: I will not drink, she is forced to drink against her will.**
‎[4] When a guilty woman drinks **she does not manage to** finish **drinking before her face turns green and her eyes bulge, and her** skin becomes **full of** protruding **veins, and** the people standing in the Temple **say: Remove her,** so **that she does not render the Temple courtyard impure** by dying there. The mishna limits the scope of the previous statement: **If she has merit, it delays** punishment **for her** and she does not die immediately. **There is a merit** that **delays** punishment for **one year, there is** a larger **merit** that **delays** punishment for **two years,** and **there is a merit** that **delays** punishment for **three years. From here Ben Azzai states: A person is obligated to teach his daughter Torah,** so **that if she drinks** and does not die immediately, **she will know that** some **merit** she has **delayed** punishment **for her. Rabbi Eliezer says: Anyone who teaches his daughter Torah is teaching her promiscuity [*tiflut*].** **Rabbi Yehoshua says: A woman desires to** receive the amount of **a *kav*** of food **and a sexual relationship [*tiflut*]** rather **than** to receive **nine *kav*** of food **and abstinence. He would say: A foolish man of piety, and a conniving wicked person, and an abstinent woman [*perusha*], and those who injure** themselves out of false **abstinence;** all **these are** people **who erode the world.**
‎[5] **Rabbi Shimon says: Merit does not delay** the punishment **of the bitter water** of a *sota*, **and if you say** that **merit does delay** the punishment **of the water that causes the curse,** as stated earlier by the Rabbis (20a), **you weaken [*madhe*]** the power of **the** bitter **water before all the women who drink** the water, who will no longer be afraid of it, as they will rely on their merit to save them. **And you defame the untainted women who drank** the water and survived, **as** people **say: They are defiled but** it is their **merit that delayed** the punishment **for them. Rabbi** Yehuda HaNasi **says: Merit delays** the punishment **of the water that causes the curse, but** a woman whose punishment is delayed **does not give birth and does not flourish; rather, she progressively deteriorates. Ultimately she dies by the same death** as a *sota* who dies immediately.
‎[6] If **the meal-offering** of the *sota* **is rendered impure before it has been sanctified in the** service **vessel, its** status **is like** that of **all the** other **meal-offerings** that are rendered impure before being sanctified in a service vessel, **and it is redeemed. But if** it is rendered impure **after it has been sanctified in the** service **vessel, its** status **is like** that of **all the** other **meal-offerings** that are rendered impure after being sanctified in a service vessel, **and it is burned. And these are** the *sota* women **whose meal-offerings are burned** if they have already been sanctified in a service vessel: A woman **who** confesses and **says: I am defiled,** and therefore prohibited **to you; and** a woman **with regard to whom witnesses came** and testified **that she is defiled; and** a woman **who says: I will not drink** the bitter water of a *sota*, even if she does not confess her guilt; **and** a woman **whose husband** changed his mind and **does not want to force her to drink; and** a woman **whose husband engaged in sexual intercourse with her on the way** to the Temple.
‎[7] **And all the** women **who are married to priests, their meal-offerings are** always **burned,** as the verse states: “And every meal-offering of a priest shall be completely burned; it shall not be eaten” (Leviticus 6:16). **An Israelite woman who is married to a priest, her meal-offering is burned; and** the **daughter of a priest who is married to an Israelite, her meal-offering is eaten.** The mishna asks a general question: **What** are the differences **between a priest and the daughter of a priest? The meal-offering of the daughter of a priest is eaten** by the priests, **but the meal-offering of a priest is not eaten.** The **daughter of a priest can become disqualified** from marrying a priest and from partaking of *teruma* by engaging in sexual intercourse with someone forbidden to her, **but a priest does not become desacralized** by engaging in sexual intercourse with a woman forbidden to him. The **daughter of a priest may become impure** with impurity imparted **by a corpse, but a priest may not become impure** with impurity imparted **by a corpse** except for the burial of his seven closest relatives. **A priest may eat from offerings of the most sacred order, but** the **daughter of a priest may not eat from offerings of the most sacred order.**
‎[8] **What** are the halakhic differences **between a man and a woman? A man lets** his hair **grow and rends** his garments when he is a leper, **but a woman does not let** her hair **grow or rend** her garments when she is a leper. **A man can vow** that **his** minor **son** shall **be a nazirite,** obligating the son to remain a nazirite even during his adulthood, **but a woman cannot vow** that **her son** shall **be a nazirite. A man can shave** at the culmination of his naziriteship **by** using offerings originally designated for **his father’s naziriteship,** i.e., if one’s father was also a nazirite and he died having already designated offerings for the culmination of his naziriteship; **but a woman cannot shave** at the culmination of her naziriteship **by** using offerings designated for **her father’s naziriteship.** **A man can betroth his daughter** to another man while she is a minor, **but a woman cannot betroth her daughter** even while she is a minor. **A man can sell his daughter** as a maidservant while she is a minor, **but a woman cannot sell her daughter** as a maidservant even while she is a minor. **A man is stoned naked, but a woman is not stoned naked. A man is hanged** after he is stoned for certain transgressions, **but a woman is not hanged. A man is sold for his** committing an act of **theft** in order to pay his debt, **but a woman is not sold for her** committing an act of **theft.**
Version: William Davidson Edition - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-noe-edition-koren-talmud-bavli-1
License: CC-BY-NC