Sota 3: The Spirit of Jealousy; What Precedes Us to The World To Come

In daf 2, our first Mishna teaches some of the basic rituals involved in drinking the bitter waters.  It begins with jealousy coming over a man; he believes that his wife might be adulterous with a particular person.  He must warn her not to seclude herself with that person, and witnesses must be present.  If a witness attests that the wife then secluded herself secretly and then defiled herself with that man, the main rituals of sota are enacted.

Today's daf questions some of those basic assumptions.  Is he overcome by the spirit of jealousy or the spirit of purity?  Is he feeling jealous or pure because of his wife?  Or is he taken over by a spirit of jealousy or purity before he places blame for that feeling upon his wife and then warns her?  What does seclusion entail?  How can we know that she was defiled while secluded?  How much time would it take for a couple to have intercourse while secretly secluded?  

Is warning his wife mandatory, or is it simply an option?  The rabbis consider other situations where actions are mandatory.  One of these regards priests who are normally forbidden to become tamei, ritually impure.  There is a requirement that they become tamei,when they experience the death of a close family member.  Another example is the competing requirement to enslave Canaanite bondspeople forever and to never enslave one's brethren, fellow Jews, forever - even if they are one's slaves.  

Rabbi Chisda says that both licentiousness and anger in a home are like a worm in sesame   The Gemara clarifies  while this applies to both women and men, the directive is to women, whose punishments are much greater for such behaviours.  The rabbis elaborate:  before we sin, the Divine presence is with us always.  After we sin, It departs.  As well, acts of righteousness precede us to the World to Come, while transgressions wait for us on the Day of Judgement.  Rabbi Elazar notes that our sins cling to us like a dog.  He looks to Joseph who turned away from the Queen's advances, refusing to "lie with her" nor to "be with her".  According to Rabbi Elazar, lying with her refers to the sins of this word, while being with her suggests a clinging to sin for eternity.

Our daf ends with a conversation about a husband's ability to divorce his wife because he finds something unseemly about her.  It would be relatively simple to divorce one's wife at any time.  The Gemara notes that there is some degree of stringency regarding the number of witnesses required.  Again, the rabbis seem concerned that we understand their hesitancy to condone divorce based on a husband's whim.