Commento su Sotah 3:4
אֵינָהּ מַסְפֶּקֶת לִשְׁתּוֹת עַד שֶׁפָּנֶיהָ מוֹרִיקוֹת וְעֵינֶיהָ בּוֹלְטוֹת וְהִיא מִתְמַלֵּאת גִּידִין, וְהֵם אוֹמְרִים הוֹצִיאוּהָ הוֹצִיאוּהָ, שֶׁלֹּא תְטַמֵּא הָעֲזָרָה. אִם יֶשׁ לָהּ זְכוּת, הָיְתָה תוֹלָה לָהּ. יֵשׁ זְכוּת תּוֹלָה שָׁנָה אַחַת, יֵשׁ זְכוּת תּוֹלָה שְׁתֵּי שָׁנִים, יֵשׁ זְכוּת תּוֹלָה שָׁלשׁ שָׁנִים. מִכָּאן אוֹמֵר בֶּן עַזַּאי, חַיָּב אָדָם לְלַמֵּד אֶת בִּתּוֹ תוֹרָה, שֶׁאִם תִּשְׁתֶּה, תֵּדַע שֶׁהַזְּכוּת תּוֹלָה לָהּ. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, כָּל הַמְלַמֵּד אֶת בִּתּוֹ תוֹרָה, כְּאִלּוּ מְלַמְּדָהּ תִּפְלוּת. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר, רוֹצָה אִשָּׁה בְקַב וְתִפְלוּת מִתִּשְׁעָה קַבִּין וּפְרִישׁוּת. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, חָסִיד שׁוֹטֶה, וְרָשָׁע עָרוּם, וְאִשָּׁה פְרוּשָׁה, וּמַכּוֹת פְּרוּשִׁין, הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ מְכַלֵּי עוֹלָם:
Finisce a malapena di bere prima che il suo viso diventi verde, i suoi occhi si gonfino e [sembra] piena di tendini (o "vene"), e loro [i sacerdoti] dicono "rimuovila, rimuovila!" quindi non contamina il cortile. Se ha merito, [gli effetti sopra descritti] sarebbero sospesi per lei. C'è un merito che sospende per un anno, c'è un merito che sospende per due anni, c'è un merito che sospende per tre anni. Da qui Ben Azai dice: Un uomo è obbligato a insegnare a sua figlia Torah, perché se beve [come sospetta adultera], saprà che il merito lo sospende per lei. Il rabbino Eli'ezer dice: Chi insegna a sua figlia Torah è considerato come se avesse insegnato la sua follia. Il rabbino Yehoshua dice: Una donna desidera un kav e una follia più di nove kav e astinenza. Direbbe: un uomo sciocco e pio, un astuto malvagio, una donna [eccessivamente] astinente e le auto-flagellazioni degli asceti, tutto ciò distrugge il mondo.
Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
אינה מספקת לשתות – in the Gemara (Tractate Sotah 20b), that our Mishnah is according to Rabbi Akiva who holds like Rabbi Shimon who said that one offers her meal-offering and afterwards cause her to drink it. [for as long as] her meal-offering is not offered, the waters do not examine her, as it is written (Numbers 5:15): “a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
Introduction
This mishnah begins by describing what happens immediately after the sotah drinks the water.
The second half of the mishnah broaches the idea that if the woman has some type of “merit” the effect that the waters have on her is delayed, even if she did commit adultery.
Part of this mishnah deals with women studying Torah, an issue which is of great importance in our society. We should remember that in the past century great advances were made in providing women with proper education in Torah. Some of the statements in this mishnah are, to put it mildly, not flattering to women and do not reflect the society in which we live or women’s place in that society. In my commentary on this mishnah I shall not delve deeply into this issue and the different ways in which this mishnah has been understood. Rather I refer the reader to Judith Hauptman’s excellent book “Rereading the Rabbis”. Professor Hauptman teaches at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and her book contains some sensible statements on this mishnah in particular and on the rabbi’s attitudes’ towards women in general. Another interesting book, although very different than Hauptman’s, is Daniel Boyarin’s classic “Carnal Israel”, which also contains a chapter on women studying Torah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
מתמלאת גידין – since her flesh blows up, she appears like her sinews have become swollen.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
She had barely finished drinking when her face turns yellow, her eyes protrude and her veins swell. And [those who see her] exclaim, “Remove her! Remove her, so that the temple-court should not be defiled”. The mishnah begins by describing the potentially immediate effects of the water. The people who see her scream that she must immediately be removed, lest she defile the Temple. I should note that this defilement is probably not of the typical ritual defilement, but rather a type of moral defilement. The Torah often describes three sins which defile but not in the same way that things such as a dead body, menstruation or leprosy defile ritually: murder, sexual sins (adultery and incest) and idol worship. These sins defile in such a way that their defilement cannot be easily removed through a standard purificatory process (i.e. a mikveh). As an adulteress, this woman’s mere presence in the Temple is perceived as dangerous.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
שלא תטמא את העזרה – it is stated not from defilement from contact with the dead, but rather that she should not spread the condition of uncleanness from her period of menstruation and defile Nicanor [Gate] and the Women’s Court when she would go out through there for a menstruant woman and a woman with a flux are forbidden to enter the Temple mount. But a dead person himself is permitted to enter into the Temple Mount and [into] Nicanor [Gate] which were not sanctified with the holiness of the Temple Courtyard.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
If she had merit, it [causes the water] to suspend its effect upon her. Some merit suspends the effect for one year, some merit suspends the effects for two years, and some merit suspends the effect for three years. The mishnah now introduces the idea that if she had some sort of merit, the water will not take immediate effect but its effect will be delayed. It is hard to tell whether the mishnah expects that such effect can be delayed indefinitely. The Talmud lists some ways in which a woman can gain merit and thereby defer the effects of the water. Besides Torah study which the sages debate below, the ways that the Talmud anticipates a woman’s merit involve her children or her husband. For instance, she can bring her children to school, or wait for her husband outside when she anticipates that he will be returning from a journey.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
יש לה זכות וכו' – In the Gemara (Tractate Sotah 21a) it explains that the merit of [studying] the Torah is what suspends its effect for her as she brought her children to school and waited for her husband that he will leave outside of the city to engage in the study of Torah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
Hence Ben Azzai said: a person must teach his daughter Torah, so that if she has to drink [the water of bitterness], she should know that the merit suspends its effect. All the rabbis who debate agree that the most effective way for a person to gain merit is to study Torah. This is after all, perhaps the highest value in the rabbinic value system. However, the rabbis debate whether or not she should learn Torah. According to Ben Azzai, a father should teach his daughter Torah. His reasoning is somewhat strange. He holds that she should learn Torah so that if she drinks the waters and they do not take effect, she will not believe that the waters are ineffective but rather she will chalk it up to her Torah study. Doubt about the waters may cause her to believe that in the future she could get away with adultery again. In other words, teaching a daughter Torah is actually a means of preventing her from committing further adultery.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
כאלו מלמדה תפלות – the juxtaposition of sexual connection of men that from the Torah she understands shrewdness and makes her words in chastity as it is written (Proverbs 8:12): “I, Wisdom, lives with prudence; [I attain knowledge and foresight]” (see Talmud Sotah 21b).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
Rabbi Eliezer says: whoever teaches his daughter Torah teaches her lasciviousness. Rabbi Eliezer says the opposite. If the girl learns Torah she will think that as long as she learns Torah, she is “free” to commit adultery, for she will be protected against the effects of the bitter waters.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
רוצה אשה בקב – to feed a small amount of food so that sexual intercourse will be available to her.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
Rabbi Joshua says: a woman prefers one kav (of and sexual indulgence to nine kav and sexual separation. The connection between Rabbi Joshua’s statement and those which precede it is unclear. Rabbi Joshua says that a woman prefers the sexual company of her husband (or another man) even more than she does extra money to buy more things. Practically speaking, she does not want him to travel on business but would rather him stay home to be with her. “Sexual company” in this statement has a negative connotation. Perhaps, Rabbi Joshua is saying that she does not realize the sacrifice of sexuality that Torah study requires, and hence it is not an appropriate endeavor for her.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
מתשעה קבין ופרישות – to separate from sexual intercourse; therefore, there is no good that is Torah study.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
He used to say, a foolish pietist, a cunning wicked person, a female separatist, and the blows of separatists bring destruction upon the world. This statement is an addendum to the mishnah, brought here because it was said by Rabbi Joshua and it also makes reference to a woman who separates herself. There are four types of people that destroy the world: 1) A foolish pietist. This is illustrated as a man who for matters of modesty does not rescue a drowning woman. 2) A cunning wicked person. One way that this is illustrated is that he is lenient when he makes rulings for himself and stringent when it comes to rulings for other people. 3) The word which I have translated as “separatist” can also be translated as “Pharisee”, but I believe that in this mishnah it does not refer to a woman who was a member of this Second Temple political party. Rather, it refers to a woman who separates herself too much from sexual relations. Abstinence is not the ideal proposed by Rabbi Joshua, nor almost any rabbi. Rather his ideal is one of moderation. 4) In this clause the “separatists” probably does refer to the Pharisees. Rabbi Joshua is referring to hypocritical Pharisees, who strike and flagellate themselves in order to make themselves look pious, when in reality they are not so. We can see that Rabbi Joshua portrays an ideal of religious honesty and moderation and is deeply skeptical of outward acts of zealousness. This attitude of inner, rational, non-zealous piety is, in my mind, the ideal portrayal of the righteous Jew.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
חסיד שוטה – It explains in the Gemara (Talmud Sotah 21b) such as the example that a woman drowned in the river and he said: “It is not the way of the world to look at this woman and to save her.”
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
רשע ערום – such as the example where a person speaks in a misleading manner to the judge prior to his fellow litigant coming and when the gates of merit were opened in the heart of the judge to my words, it is difficult to remove them and behold, his wickedness and shrewdness of that [litigant] who transgressed on (Exodus 23:1): “You must not carry false rumors.”
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
ואשה פרושה – such as the example of a woman sorcerer who would close the womb of women that are giving birth through sorcery and the woman giving birth would have difficulty doing so. She would say: “I will go and pray; perhaps my prayer will be accepted and she dissolves her witchcraft and she gives birth.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
ומכות פרושים –that he hits himself to show that he is humble and modest, like the example that he walks at the rear at the side of greatness and does not raise his foot from the ground and as a result knocks his fingers on stones and he is that which called in the Gemara (Talmud Sotah 22b) a knocker–borrower (an opprobrious epithet for a sort of sanctimonious Pharisees), or someone who makes himself as one who closes his eyes so as to not look at women. And because of this, he strikes his head and the wall and blood leaves him. And he who is called a bleeder, meaning to say that he bleeds himself as a result of his [excess] piety.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
הרי אלו מכלי עולם – that they want to demonstrate to humanity that they are pious but their inner being is not like their outer shell.
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