Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L
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Priestly Blessing.
The Sotah.
G-d tells Moshe to relate the following to the Israelites concerning a married woman who is suspected of having relations with a man who is not her husband*.
*Side note: Rashi points out that the reason for the juxtaposition of this section to the previous one concerning Terumah, is to teach that if a man neglects to give what is his possession to a Kohen (i.e. Terumah), his fate will be that he will need to bring his wife to the Kohen for her being a Sotah (i.e. a woman who strays).
Such a woman (called a Sotah) sins against two men: The "Man" Above (i.e. G-d) and her husband. This is why the text repeats the word "man" (איש איש).
The wording of "go astray" in Hebrew is related to the word "foolish". This is to teach that someone only commits adultery if a spirit of foolishness enters into them.
This sin of adultery does not make the woman a Sotah if the one the woman had relations with was a minor or an animal. This still doesn't mean that it's ok for her to do that.
Once a woman commits adultery, she is no longer allowed to be with her husband.
However if the husband has relations with someone who is forbidden to him (eg. his wife's sister), this does not make him forbidden to his wife).
So our text now discusses a situation where a woman could be accused of being a Sotah and thus summoned by the court to drink the water of the Sotah to determine her innocence or guilt. The following stipulations apply:
* This woman must have had relations with another man who was not her husband.
* Her husband must not have witnessed this act. If the husband witnesses them having relations and a man's wife has relations with another man, and keeps this to himself, hoping that his wife will drink the waters of the Sotah and die, these waters will have no hold over her.
* This law does not apply to a blind man, only to a man who has the potential to see.
* The wife must have been secluded with the other man for an amount of time sufficient for them to have had relations.
* There must have been no witnesses to their having relations, yet there must be witnesses to them having been secluded.
* This does not apply to a woman who was raped by this other man.
* The husband must have warned his wife that she not be secluded with this other man on account of his jealousy (before they secluded themselves).
If all of these stipulations are met, the husband must bring his wife to the Kohen together with an offering of 1/10th of an ephah of unsifted barley* flour for her. No oil or frankincense may be poured upon it so as not to make it special.
No oil because oil is called "light" and what she did was "dark". And no frankincense because the matriarchs are referred to as frankincense (see Shir HaShirim 4:6) and in secluding herself as such, she removed herself from their ways of modesty.
*Side note: This is in contrast to other offerings which were of wheat. Wheat is the food of man and barley that of an animal, and the act of secluding herself with another man is that of an animal so it is befitting that she bring an offering of animal food.
This meal offering is called a meal offering of jealousies(in the plural) - again alluding to the fact that she sinned both against G-d and her husband.
The Kohen is to bring the woman closer and have her stand before G-d. The Kohen is to put sacred water (which has been consecrated in the Kiyor) into an earthenware vessel, and then add into it earth from the floor of the Mishkan.
The reason why the Sotah drinks specifically from water that came from the Kiyor is because this copper Kiyor was made out of the mirrors of the women in Egypt to entice their husbands to have relations with them under the apple trees.However this Sotah departed from their ways.
Drinking water mixed with dirt out of a simple earthenware vessel is restitution for her having enticed the man by giving him fine wine to drink in nice wine glasses.
The Kohen would make the woman move around from place to place to make her uncomfortable and confess (if she were guilty). It was preferable for the woman to confess than have her drink the waters so as 1)she doesn't die and 2)G-d's Holy Name would not need to be erased.
He then exposes the entire upper portion of her body, undoing any braiding in her hair in order to disgrace her. The chumash text only mentions that her head would be uncovered - Rashi writes that this is the source of where we learn that it is shameful for a Jewish woman to have her head be uncovered.
After having her walk to and fro, the Kohen would stand her "in front of G-d", i.e. at the Gate of Nikanor (the eastern gate of the Courtyard of the Beis HaMikdash) - this was the way that everyone would enter, i.e. the most public place on the Temple grounds.
He would then put her meal offering into her hands. This was also to try to tire her out in the hopes that she would confess.
The Kohen held the "bitter" waters. There is an opinion that these waters actually contained bitter tasting herbs, however Rashi says that they are called bitter in regards to their purpose - i.e. being bitter to the woman.
The Kohen is then to make an oath to her, that if she is innocent, the waters will not harm her, however if she is guilty, they will choke her and the waters will enter her internal organs and her thigh and stomach will swell up. The thigh is mentioned before the stomach as in the act of adultery, the thigh feels pleasure before the stomach. In fact, her entire body is affected by the bitter waters since her entire body participated in the sin, however the text explicitly mentions the thigh and stomach as they were the parts that initiated the sin. In making such an oath, the Kohen is taking responsibility that if what he says does not come true, he is to be afflicted in the manner that he is swearing/cursing by. The curse also is that if she is guilty, then people will use her name to curse others (i.e. they will curse others by referencing what happened to her).
As for the man with whom she had relations - his stomach will distend and his thigh will fall.
After the Kohen said all of this, the woman is to respond, "Amen, Amen", thus accepting the oath. The first amen is for the curse (i.e if she is guilty), and the second is for the oath (i.e. if she is innocent).
The Kohen then offers up the woman's meal offering: He takes the meal offering from the woman's hands and waves it back and forth and up and down before G-d. The woman's hand is placed above that of the Kohen's and she waves it along with him.
Then, similar to what is done with other meal offerings, the Kohen then brings the offering over to the southwestern corner of the altar and then scoops out "threefingerfuls" of it (referred to as it's "memorial portion", since in burning it it becomes a remembrance on High).
The Kohen then inscribes the curses onto a scroll and then erases them in the bitter waters. He then forces the woman drink these waters. If she refuses to drink it, it is poured into her mouth against her will unless she first confesses.
If the woman is guilty, her waters will cause her stomach to distend and thigh to collapse (here the stomach is mentioned before the thigh as it is not about which part sinned first but rather where the water first entered into her body) and she will be used as an example by which others curse others. The fact that all of this happens to her while she is amidst her own people as opposed to strangers makes the experience all the more humiliating.
However if the woman is innocent, the waters will not affect her as such and furthermore, she will be blessed that if until now she had given birth painfully, she will give birth with ease from then on, and if up until then she only gave birth to dark skinned children, she will give birth to light skinned children from then on.
Her husband remains innocent in the eyes of the law - if the waters find the woman guilty, he is not punished for her death. And if the waters find her innocent, she is allowed to be with her husband again.
The Nazarite
G-d describes the laws regarding a Nazarite to Moshe for him to relate to the Israelites.
A Nazarite is defined as a man or woman who sets themself apart for G-d.
The section regarding a Nazarite is juxtaposed to the section about the Sotah to teach that anyone who witnesses a Sotah in her state of disgrace, should take upon themselves to become a Nazarite.
The reason for this is because a Nazarite abstains from drinking wine and wine leads to adultery.
The word Nazarite denotes "separation". Here too, it is in reference to the person separating themself from wine for the sake of G-d.
The Nazarite abstains from all wine - both new and aged as well as anything which has been soaked in wine. He shall not eat grapes or raisins or anything made from their seeds or skin.
A Nazarite may not cut his or her hair.
A Nazarite may not come near a human corpse, even of their immediate family, as a Nazarite's body is sanctified to G-d and thus may not be made impure through contact with the dead.
If a person accidentally dies (some people say suddenly) in the tent in which the Nazarite is, this will cause the Nazarite to become impure.
The Nazarite is to purify himself thorough sprinkling water of the red heifer on him and seven days later he is to shave his head.
And then on the eighth day, he is to bring two turtledoves or two young doves as an offering.
The Kohen is to designate one of these doves as a sin offering and one as an olah offering. This will serve as atonement for the Nazarite coming in contact with the corpse (alternatively, his sin is paining himself through abstaining from wine - since this time their abstention was in vain since it doesn't count towards their time as a Nazarite since they had become impure).
The Kohen is then to "sanctify his head", i.e he may now resume his status of a Nazarite - and he begins counting his years as a Nazarite once again, starting from that day (i.e. the previous years before he became impure through contact with a corpse do not count towards this Nazarite time).
In the first year of a person's Nazarite status, they are to bring a sheep as a guilt offering.
Once the Nazarite's time of being in this status is complete, he is to go to the entrance of the Ohel Moed and given an offering to G-d consisting of:
* One unblemished sheep who is in it's first year as an olah offering and it's corresponding meal offering and libation
* One unblemished ewe in it's first year as a sin offering
* One unblemished ram as a peace offering and it's corresponding meal offering and libation
* A basket of unleavened loaves:
* 10 loaves of fine flour mixed with oil and
* 10 unleavened wafers smeared with oil
The Kohen is to bring these offerings before G-d to perform the service of the sin and olah offerings.
He first slaughters the peace offering (ram) with intention to sanctify the bread with it and offers it together with its meal offering and libation.
The Nazarite then shaves his head at the entrance of the Ohel Moed and put this shaved hair into a fire that is in a kettle which is found under the sacrifice of the peace offering (cooking it).
The reason the Nazarite's hair is cooked in this fire specifically is because this peace offering was cooked in the Courtyard, after which time the Kohen would take its foreleg and wave it before G-d.
This foreleg is then placed into the hands of the Nazarite together with one of the unleavened loaves and one of the unleavened wafers.
All of these are set aside for the Kohen, in addition to the breast and leg which are usually given to the Kohen from a peace offering.
After this whole ceremony, the Nazarite may drink wine.
These offerings must be given by the Nazir in addition to any others which he had pledged to give at the end of his Nezirus.
And then on the day that the Nazarite becomes purified through having the water from the red heifer sprinkled on him.
The Priestly Blessing
G-d tells Moshe to tell the priests in a manner that they all hear that they are to bless the Israelites with the priestly blessing (see the parsha - Bamidbar 6:24-27 for the text).
When the priests bless the Israelites, they should do so with a whole heart and concentration, not while distracted or in haste.
The blessing consists of blessings for the Israelites possessions, and protection against robbers ("for G-d is both the giver and the guard."). The blessing also includes that G-d should show them a smiling and radiating face and give them the quality of grace (according to Rashi. By contrast, Okelos understands this to mean that G-d will be gracious towards them).
The Kohanim are to bless the Israelites with the Tetragrammaton (G-d's Ineffable Name). In the Beis HaMikdash, the Koahnim would pronounce it as it is spelled, while outside of the Beis HaMikdash they would use the more standard pronounciation.
G-d concludes by saying that He will fulfill the blessings of the Kohanim.
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