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Questions tagged [tractate-sotah]

Tractate dealing with process of Sotah (suspicious wife), mandetory Hebrew torah verses, Mashuach milchama (Cohen appointed for war) and egla Arufa (breaking calfs neck for unknown murder).

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In this page of Ein Yaakov on Sotah, near the bottom of the page, appears the word "Piska" in bold lettering. What does it signify?

In this page of Ein Yaakov on Sotah, near the bottom of the page appears the word "Piska" in bold lettering. I don't think it's part of the actual Gemara, so what does this signify? Thanks....
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What mitzvos did Moshe Rabbeinu want to fulfill in Eretz Yisrael?

The Gemara Sotah (14a) writes: דָּרַשׁ רַבִּי שִׂמְלַאי: מִפְּנֵי מָה נִתְאַוָּה מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ לִיכָּנֵס לְאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל? וְכִי לֶאֱכוֹל מִפִּרְיָהּ הוּא צָרִיךְ?! אוֹ לִשְׂבּוֹעַ מִטּוּבָהּ ...
NJM's user avatar
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1 vote
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Egypt 2309-2362

If Am Israel went out of Egypt in 2448, 210 years after the moment yaakov avinu and the brothers joined yosef, that would be the year 2238. Yosef was 39 years old then and died at the age of 110. ...
Vyacheslav Yosef Dobrovych's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
163 views

Sotah in third temple?

Putting the possibility of building a third temple aside, (this is a theoretical question), if the third temple was rebuilt, would the sotah ritual still apply like it did during the second temple ...
Man of faith's user avatar
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2 votes
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Why is the Mitzvah of Parah Adumah considered a reward?

The Gemara (Sotah 17a) says that the Mitzvah of Parah Adumah was given as a reward for Avraham Avinu’s humility, and Rashi explains that it’s considered a reward, because A. It purifies. B. It atones ...
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Meaning of Sotah 48b - '...irons chariots ceased...'

Sotah 48b states as follows: 'Rabbi Ami says: From the time when the First Temple was destroyed, shiny [peranda] silk [shira] and white glass ceased to exist. This is also taught in a baraita: From ...
ANH's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
100 views

Why did Rav Yaakov snap back at his adoptive father?

It says in Sotah 49a that רַב אַחָא בַר יַעֲקבֹ אִיטַּפַל בֵיהּ בְרַב יַעֲקבֹ בַר בְרַתֵּיהּ כִי גָּדַל א״ל אַשְקְיָין מַיָּא אָמַר לוֹ לָאו בְרִיךְ אֲנָא Rav Acha bar Yaakov reared Rav Yaakov, his ...
yogazefish's user avatar
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0 answers
58 views

Why does the Gemara reference R' Yaakov in an odd way?

In Sotah 46a, it says the following: אָמַר לְהוּ הַהוּא מֵרַבָנָן ור׳ יַעֲקבֹ שְמֵיהּ לְדִידִי מְפָרְשָא לִי מִינֵּיהּ דְרַבִי יוֹחָנָן מְשִיכַת עוֹל לְרָחְבוֹ טֶפַח One of the rabbis said to them, ...
yogazefish's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
99 views

How can we compare a Ba'al Ga'avah who did teshuva to avraham avinu?

It says in Masechet Sotah 5a: דָרַש רַב עֲוְִירָא זִמְנִין אָמַר לָהּ מִשְּמֵיהּ דְרַב אַסִּי וְְזִמְנִין אָמַר לָהּ מִשְּמֵיהּ דְרַב אַמִי כָל אָדָם שֶיֵּש בוֹ גַּסּוּת הָרוּחַ לַסּוֹף מִתְמַעֵט ...
yogazefish's user avatar
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1 answer
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Where are the "many times" (פעמים רבות) referred to by Maimonides in his commentary on Mishnah Sotah 3:4? Which statement of בן עזאי?

The Mishnah Sotah 3:4 states: אֵינָהּ מַסְפֶּקֶת לִשְׁתּוֹת עַד שֶׁפָּנֶיהָ מוֹרִיקוֹת וְעֵינֶיהָ בּוֹלְטוֹת וְהִיא מִתְמַלֵּאת גִּידִין, וְהֵם אוֹמְרִים הוֹצִיאוּהָ הוֹצִיאוּהָ, שֶׁלֹּא תְטַמֵּא ...
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Tzadok the Kohen Gadol considered greater than Aharon and his sons?

When I was recently learning Sotah I saw on daf 48b that Tzadok, during the time of Dovid HaMelech, was a rare instance during that period, of someone who asked the Urim VeTumim and was answered. רַב ...
Dov's user avatar
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Karpas - Samech Parech

I've heard many times from my Rabbeim throughout the years that כרפס is the same letters as ס' פרך, representing the 60 myriads of Jews who were forced to do עבודת פרך (often translated as crushing ...
Eliyahu's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
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Parallels in Sotah 11a and Shabbat 33b

I noticed yesterday that there are some similarities between the story brought in Sotah 11a and the one in Shabbat 33b. In Sotah 11a it says: "Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba says that Rabbi Simai says: ...
Harel13's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Apparent contradiction in Bamidbar 35:1-5

I am aware that Sotah 27b and Rashi do not not regard these verses as self-contradictory, although they point to the apparent contradiction. The verses in English: The LORD spoke to Moses in the ...
Tom W's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
188 views

Under what mechanism is the Sotah's Megillah allowed to be erased?

Normally, it is an Issur Deorayta (Torah Prohibition) to erase Hashem's name - לא תעשון כן לה׳ א–לוקיכם. However, by the Sotah we do erase Hashem's name. Is this working using the methodology of עשה ...
talmidforlife's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
717 views

Where in the Tanakh is it derived that females are to cover their heads when praying?

Where in the Tanakh is it extrapolated that females are to cover their heads or hair when praying or reciting the name of HaShem? I form this question upon reading the following: Women and girls ...
ninamag's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
107 views

Eidim Zommemin on Sotah?

Tosefta Sotah 2:6 notes the Halacha of the Korban of a Sotah who was made a sotah by Eidim Zommemin. I am wondering what their punishment would be. Seemingly, there should be lashes. Is it possible to ...
talmidforlife's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
93 views

Sotah 34a se’a as unit of weight?

In Sotah 34a, the weight of the stones at the Jordan from Joshua 4:3 is given as “about forty se’a.” Some (for instance Steinsaltz) use this in the discussion of the cluster of grapes brought back by ...
sideband's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
95 views

Can three Talmudic passages about mitzvot "protecting" and mitzvot "saving" be reconciled?

The Talmud in Shabbat 49a records the following story: שפעם אחת גזרה מלכות רומי הרשעה גזירה על ישראל שכל המניח תפילין ינקרו את מוחו והיה אלישע מניחם ויוצא לשוק ראהו קסדור אחד רץ מפניו ורץ אחריו וכיון ...
Alex's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
94 views

Why does the gemara seem to care more about erasing God's name than getting the correct ruling for a sotah?

In the mishna on Sotah 7a , we learn that the beis din intimidates the sotah in order to try to get her to admit to wrongdoing and avoid drinking the sotah water. The gemara on 7b asks why our mishna ...
Daniel's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
138 views

Why does the gemara not consider the possibility that someone will warn his wife about seclusion when he's mad at her?

The gemara in Sotah 2b discussed two different versions of a statement by Rabbi Eliezer: one from the mishna on 2a and one from a beraisa. In the mishna, Rabbi Eliezer states that in order for a woman ...
Daniel's user avatar
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1 answer
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What is the Chidush that Parashat Hamelech is read off the Torah scroll in Hebrew?

ואלו נאמרין בלשון הקודש: מקרא ביכורים, וחליצה, ... ברכת כהנים,... ופרשת המלך... (Sotah 32a) these are recited only in the sacred tongue, Hebrew: Bikkurim and Chalitzah and the blessings and curses ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
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Is there any connection between the Sotah, the Mizbeiach, and the Beis HaMikdash keychain?

In exactly three contexts, the Mishnah notes that there was an amah square marble slab with a ring, using exactly the same language each time. The first is in Sotah 2:2, regarding the Sotah procedure:...
DonielF's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
287 views

What is Rambam's source that the Sages issued a command to not teach your daughter Torah?

The Mishnah in Sotah (3:4) states: אם יש לה זכות היתה תולה לה יש זכות תולה שנה אחת יש זכות תולה ב' שנים יש זכות תולה ג' שנים מכאן אומר בן עזאי חייב אדם ללמד את בתו תורה שאם תשתה תדע שהזכות תולה לה ר&...
Alex's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
198 views

Sotah saving herself by disqualifying the mincha

The gemara in Zevachim 47a quotes the opinion of Rabbi Elazar Bar Rabbi Yose who holds that not only the kohen who is being makrev a korban can disqualify, but even the owner can disqualify. Upon ...
sam's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
240 views

The minimum amount of water a Sotah must drink

I was wondering if there is a minimum amount of water a Sotah must drink in order for the water to take effect. The closest I found to this being addressed was Rashi on Bamidbar 5:13 who quotes a ...
alicht's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
153 views

How to understand "a person only sins if a spirit of foolishness enters him?"

The gemara in Sotah 3a states: ריש לקיש אמר אין אדם עובר עבירה אא"כ נכנס בו רוח שטות שנא' (במדבר ה, יב) איש איש כי תשטה אשתו תשטה כתיב Reish Lakish says: A man commits a transgression only if a ...
alicht's user avatar
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1 vote
4 answers
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Parnassah and Marriage: Rambam vs. The Lubavitcher Rebbe

Reading Rambam's Mishneh Torah, Human Dispositions 5:11, we stumble upon the following opinion: The way of sensible people: A man should first select a permanent vocation out of which to derive a ...
Dan Weisberg's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
2k views

Historically, were women trained for obligatory wars? Or did they serve some other military function?

Sotah 8:7 says that for obligatory wars all go out to fight, "even a bridegroom from his chamber and a bride from her canopy". Historically, was this in fact our practice? Did women participate in ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
301 views

In the time of the mishna, were there Jewish cities without courts?

In a discussion of the heifer ritual when a murder victim is found between two cities, Sotah 9:2 lists some cases when a city does not bring a heifer, including a city where a majority of the ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
57 views

Does any ongoing transgression exempt one from going to war?

We know from Devarim 20:8 that someone who is "fearful and faint-hearted" is sent home from battle (in optional wars) lest he demoralize others. In Sotah 8:5 Rabbi Yose the Galilean says this refers ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
131 views

For things that can be said in any language, how fully must you understand the language?

Sotah 7:1 gives a list of things that are said in any language, including the Sh'ma and the t'filah. Several commentaries I've seen explain that these texts are so important that you need to ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
240 views

Who are "the women who twist yarn by the moon"?

Sotah 6:1 talks about when a man who hears about his wife violating his warning divorces her rather than invoking the sotah test: Someone who warned his wife [against being secluded with a certain ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
101 views

What happens if the accused sotah did commit adultery, but not with the man she was warned about?

Sotah 5:1 says: Just as the water checks her [the woman], so does the water check him [the man] The rest of the discussion there is about how the physical consequences that happen to her also ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
278 views

If only a married woman can be a sotah, why does a non-spouse have authority to warn her?

Sotah 4:1 explains that certain women do not drink the sotah waters and do not receive the ketubah because they are not yet married and the torah says "she goes astray while married to her husband". ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
50 views

God's Nichum Aveilim

Asking for a friend: On Kiddushin 38a, Tosfos s.v. Tzei, explain that Hashem didn't approach Yehoshua until after the 30 days of mourning for Moshe had elapsed, since the Shechinah does not descend ...
רבות מחשבות's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
145 views

How early in the process can the accused sotah refuse to drink?

The mishnayot in the first chapter of Sotah describe the beginning of the process -- the accusing husband brings her to the court where they try to intimidate her into confessing, and if she doesn't ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
1k views

A female thief is not sold to make restitution -- so what happens instead?

The mishna in Sotah 3:8 says, in a list of differences in halacha between men and women: A man is sold for his theft [i.e., to repay it], a woman is not sold for her theft. (Sefaria translation) ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
152 views

What is the amount of time a suspected woman needs to be secluded to be considered a Sotah?

The Gemara lists a series of opinions (9 by my count) in Sotah 4a as to how long the amount of secluded time must be for a forewarned woman to be considered a potential Sotah. Do we know which Tanna ...
alicht's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
103 views

In regard to a Sotah, does "zchus tola la" also apply to the person she was mezanah with?

By a Sotah, there's a concept of "zchus tola lah" Mishnah Sotah 3:4 אִם יֶשׁ לָהּ זְכוּת, הָיְתָה תוֹלָה לָהּ. יֵשׁ זְכוּת תּוֹלָה שָׁנָה אַחַת, יֵשׁ זְכוּת תּוֹלָה שְׁתֵּי שָׁנִים, יֵשׁ ...
alicht's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
127 views

What is specific about the pre-ordination of these 3 things - spouses, houses, and fields?

Gemara Sotah 2a אמר רב יהודה אמר רב ארבעים יום קודם יצירת הולד בת קול יוצאת ואומרת בת פלוני לפלוני בית פלוני לפלוני שדה פלוני לפלוני... Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Forty days before an embryo is ...
RibbisRabbiAndMore's user avatar
11 votes
4 answers
674 views

Does every woman have a destined match?

There is a Talmudic statement in Sotah 2a which is commonly used as the source that every person has their destined match (the parameters of "destined" is a separate discussion): והא אמר רב יהודה ...
Alex's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
79 views

Are there any merits which delay the adulterer's explosion?

In mSotah 5:1 it states that the Sotah waters check the woman and her presumed consort. I assume this 'checking' leads to the consort suffering the same death as the woman. The talmud further states ...
rikitikitembo's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
391 views

Why does Rashi pair a Tzaddik with a Tzanuah and not a Tzadeikes?

The Gemara in Sotah 2a discusses that although a first marriage is predetermined, a second marriage is according to one’s status at the time (summary based on conclusion of Gemara there). Rashi there ...
DonielF's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
150 views

Does the Torah use the word טָמְאָה to imply physical defilement anywhere besides sotah?

In the parsha of sotah (Bamidbar 5:13) the Torah describes the woman who was secluded and had relations with another man as וְנִסְתְּרָ֖ה וְהִ֣יא נִטְמָ֑אָה meaning that she became physically defiled -...
rikitikitembo's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
260 views

Why did Caleiv mention the quail?

After the meraglim gave their negative report on the Land of Israel, the Torah says (translations from Sefaria) Numbers 13:30 וַיַּ֧הַס כָּלֵ֛ב אֶת־הָעָ֖ם אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה Caleiv hushed the people before ...
robev's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
247 views

Why is one who touched doubtful Tumah in a public domain considered Tahor?

The source that doubtful Tumah in a private domain is Tamei is the Gemara in Sotah (28b - see there for translation): מה ת"ל והיא נטמאה והיא לא נטמאה אם נטמאה למה שותה אם לא נטמאה למה משקה מגיד לך ...
ertert3terte's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
202 views

What's wrong Letzanut?

The Talmud in Sotah 42 says four groups do not receive the Shechina (divine presence) in the next world. One of these is the group of "letzim" (jesters). What is considered bad letzanut? I assume ...
ray's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
571 views

Are the talmudic "Prushim" the Rabbinic Pharisees?

In Masechet Sotah, 20a, the mishna details harmful forces and reads (translation from dafyomi.co.il) The following destroy the world - a foolish Chasid, a crafty evildoer, a woman who is Perushah, ...
rosends's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
255 views

What happens to the Sotah?

In the Torah (Bamidbar 5:21) it says that when the guilty Sotah drinks the water, her "belly will swell and her thigh will fall." Anyone have more details as to what this means? Does it mean ...
ray's user avatar
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