Sotah סוטה

Tractate Sota deals primarily with the halakhot associated with a sota, a woman whose husband suspects that she is unfaithful, and warns her not to seclude herself with a specific man. In the event that she secludes herself with that man, she is considered a sota, and it is prohibited for her to remain married to her husband unless she is taken to the Temple and undergoes an evaluation rite in order to determine whether she was in fact unfaithful. This rite includes the offering of a special meal-offering, the taking of an oath, and the drinking of the bitter water of a sota. However, the tractate also discusses the halakhot of those who go out to battle, the blessing given by the priests, and other topics.

The process by which a woman is given the status of a sota and the subsequent evaluation of her fidelity comprises two separate stages: First, seclusion with another man, the means by which a woman becomes a sota. Second, the evaluation rite by which it is determined miraculously whether the woman is guilty of infidelity. Although the evaluation rite might bring about the death of a guilty woman, nevertheless, the purpose of such a procedure is to return peace and harmony to the marriage (see Shabbat 116a).

This rite is not practiced in every instance when the husband suspects his wife of infidelity. Rather, it is performed when the level of suspicion is sufficient to suggest that the woman was unfaithful. The sota process involves a warning, which is likely the result of suspected promiscuous behavior on the part of the wife. If the woman is subsequently seen by two witnesses secluding herself for a sufficient amount of time to engage in sexual intercourse with the man about whom she was warned, then she must undergo the evaluation rite. Even if she didn't actually commit adultery, the woman's behavior is referred to by the Torah as an act of betrayal, both to her husband and to God, Who commanded the couple with regard to the sanctity of marriage (Midrash Tanhuma, Numbers 5).

Under these circumstances, the husband is permitted to divorce his wife due to her immodest behavior, and therefore, if he opts to evaluate whether she is permitted to him by means of the sota rite, it is indicative of the fact that he is interested in removing his doubts about her fidelity and rebuilding the relationship. Additionally, the wife has the prerogative to refuse to undergo the rite, and to be divorced without any payment of her marriage contract. If she opts to undergo the demeaning rite to prove her innocence, it is indicative of her remorse for her suspicious behavior and of her desire to put an end to their marital distrust and strife. In such a situation, where logic would call for dissolution of the marriage, the Torah provides a miraculous means of evaluating the woman's fidelity, which is ordinarily not verifiable by means of witnesses. The purpose of this rite is to bring peace to a marriage where the woman is, in fact, innocent, and the various elements of the rite would seem not only to evaluate whether she was faithful but also to contribute to rebuilding the necessary trust of the husband in his wife if she did not engage in adulterous sexual intercourse. In a number of places (see 8b, 9a, 14a) the Gemara explains that the actions of the sota are like the actions of an animal. This description of her actions is clearly true if she actually engaged in adulterous sexual intercourse, a transgression punished by capital punishment or excision, but the description of her actions as animal-like is accurate even if she merely secluded herself with the man after the warning. Since she has degraded herself by engaging in such behavior, the evaluation rite in the Temple calls for certain acts that serve to degrade the woman and remind her of her behavior: The priest publicly tears her upper garment and then ties it up with a thick rope; he removes her hair covering and unbraids her hair; the woman drinks the bitter water from a plain, earthenware vessel; and the meal-offering of the sota is brought from barley, which is animal food, unlike virtually all other meal-offerings, which are brought from wheat, a human staple. Additionally, no oil or frankincense is added to the meal-offering, to ensure that it is very plain.

One of the unique elements of the sota evaluation rite is that it is the only mitzva in the Torah whose entire essence is rooted in a miraculous process. The evaluation of the woman through the drinking of the bitter water is not a natural act, as the ingredients alone are not responsible for the death of an adulterous woman. Rather, it is a supernatural test, which results in guilty women meeting a unique death, while women who were not adulterous receive an extra blessing concerning their childbearing abilities. Additionally, the woman's drinking of the water evaluates not only her fidelity; if she is guilty, her paramour, wherever he may be, will die the same terrible death. Another unique aspect of this mitzva is that the preparation of the bitter water involves the erasing of God's name, an act that is prohibited under all other circumstances due to a negative mitzva. Because of these exceptional aspects of the mitzva of the sota rite, both the miraculous nature of the evaluation as well as the need to erase God's name, the court would try to discourage a woman from drinking the bitter water unless she was entirely convinced of her innocence. They would try to dissuade her through either explanation, invoking fear, or attempting to weaken her resolve if she was in fact guilty. In order for the evaluation rite to be effective, the husband himself had to be free of any iniquity, which is understood to mean either that he never committed any act of illicit sexual activity in his adult life, or that he did not have relations with his wife after her seclusion with the paramour. The Gemara also discusses a dispute initially recorded in the mishna as to whether a woman's punishment can be delayed due to her observing the mitzvot, learning Torah, or enabling her husband's or children's Torah study. Due to the miraculous nature of the evaluation rite and the fact that not every generation is worthy of having such open miracles performed in its midst, the Sages no longer allowed the rite to be performed from the time of the generation prior to the destruction of the Second Temple.

Although the halakhot involving a sota comprise an independent unit of halakhot, they also overlap with a number of more general aspects of halakhot involving marriage. A woman who was warned by her husband and secluded herself with the suspected man essentially puts into question her fidelity to her husband, and her halakhic status with regard to certain marital issues is altered. Until she is able to prove her innocence through the evaluation rite, it is prohibited for her to engage in sexual intercourse with her husband. And even in the event of divorce from her husband, it is forbidden for her to marry her paramour. Additionally, if she is married to a priest it is prohibited for her to partake of teruma. Furthermore, due to the strong basis of suspicion that her seclusion has raised, she almost always loses the right to payment of her marriage contract, unless she proves her innocence. Finally, even one witness testifying to her engaging in sexual intercourse with her paramour suffices to render it prohibited for her to attempt to prove her innocence through the sota rite.

In connection with the discussions of the sota process and the evaluation rite, a number of other issues are discussed in the tractate. Some of these issues are discussed at length, particularly matters that aren't directly related to any particular tractate in the Talmud. For example, ceremonial mitzvot that involve a lengthy process and are also associated with the Temple and performed by priests are discussed here. Also discussed are the halakhot involved in going out to battle, which involve a speech by the priest appointed to prepare the soldiers for battle. The blessings and the curses that were said by the people upon their arrival to Eretz Yisrael in the days of Joshua; the mitzva of assembly, consisting of a public reading of the Torah in the Temple area; as well as the halakhot of the heifer whose neck is broken at the scene of an unsolved murder are all discussed at great length.

Tractate Sota also contains a large amount of aggadic material, much of it stemming from the unique nature of the punishments discussed in the tractate. The miraculous nature of the evaluation rite, and its purpose in identifying whether or not adultery occurred, is also the source for a larger discussion about the nature of sin in general, and the nature of particular transgressions of famous biblical figures. This also leads to discussion with regard to divine retribution in general, and the aspects of measure for measure, which are used to define the means of God's system of reward and punishment.

The statement at the end of the tractate discussing the need to discontinue the use of the evaluation rite when the nation was no longer worthy of such a miraculous occurrence in their midst leads to the discussion of other, similar procedures that were discontinued for the same reason. This opens the text for a discussion of the unfortunate downfall of the Jewish people from their glorious spiritual levels to the depths of disgrace, which camouflaged the inner, spiritual beauty of the nation.

The tractate contains nine chapters, the majority of which deal primarily with clearly defined topics:

Chapter One deals with the halakhot of the husband's warning to his wife, the definition of seclusion, and the initial process of the husband's bringing his wife to the Temple for the evaluation rite. It also contains a lengthy description of the measure-for-measure nature of divine retribution.

Chapter Two describes bringing the meal-offering of the sota, writing the scroll of the sota, the oath of the sota, and the preparation of the bitter water.

Chapter Three deals with the meal-offering of the sota, the instances in which the meal-offering may not be brought, the punishment of the sota, and the merits that can delay divine execution of these punishments.

Chapter Four discusses which women are permitted to take part in the sota evaluation rite, and lists and discusses those who may not.

Chapter Five records a number of statements that were taught in the study hall on the day that Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya was appointed to lead the Sanhedrin.

Chapter Six deals with the type of testimony that can be used to determine that the accused woman has indeed committed adultery.

Chapter Seven lists several mitzvot that may be recited in any language alongside those mitzvot that may be recited only in Hebrew.

Chapter Eight deals with the halakhot of going out to battle.

Chapter Nine addresses the halakhot of the heifer whose neck is broken, and discusses matters that were discontinued due to the diminishing spiritual commitment of certain generations.