Sota 2: A Cautious Introduction

After its first  Mishna, Masechet Sota begins with a discussion about why we are learning Masechet Sota.  Why is it placed at this point in Nashim?  How is it related to Masechet Nazir, which we just finished?  Are the rabbis implying that a person who partakes in a part of the sota ritual should become a nazirite?

The Mishna states that a man might warn his wife not to seclude herself with a specific man.  If his wife then secludes herself with the man specified, she is brought to drink the "bitter waters"; to determine whether or not she has been adulterous through a magical ingestion of water that has held a Torah verse.  

The Gemara wonders about how many witnesses are required in each part of this process.  Are no witnesses, one witness or two witnesses present when the husband issues his warning?  How many people are required to have witnessed the wife in seclusion with this specifically forbidden man?

A number of points jump out at me over the course of this very long first daf.  One is the fact that this marriage might end in divorce for a number of reasons:

• if the husband chooses to divorce his wife at any time
• if drinking the bitter waters makes the woman ill
• if even one person witnesses a seclusion long enough for cohabitation with a particular person following a husband's warning about that seclusion

There are other disincentives to divorce, including the fact that a husband who has himself been unfaithful will also suffer if his wife is forced to drink the bitter waters.

The rabbis are offering multiple options for couples to choose to stay together.  While this might not be ideal in cases where individuals preferred divorce, there are advantages to this system.  People are given the opportunity to think about what they are doing before making such life-altering decisions.  We are learning about a time when women were likely in extremely dire circumstances if they were without the financial support of a man.  Further, the accusation of adultery could destroy a woman's life.  Men were encouraged to think before they used such dangerous words.

Another point of interest is that a woman is forbidden to return to her husband if she has been adulterous.  Thus a husband must be extremely careful about his accusations if he is interested in staying married.  

In our first daf, a strong theme of caution emerges regarding the application of sota rituals.