Sotah 2 - March 31, 9 Nissan

Ketubot bookmark and checklist Masechet Sotah is sponsored by Ahava Leibtag in honor of Dr. Bryna Levy. "She helped me fall deep in love with learning." Today's daf is sponsored by Rikki and Alan Zibitt in loving memory of Rikki's mother, Frieda Carlin, Freydl bat Meir v'Rivka on her 8th yahrzeit. "May her neshama have an Aliyah. Mom, we love and miss you every day."  Today’s daf is sponsored by Dodi Lamm and Tina Lamm in loving memory of their wonderful aunt, Miriam Auslander, Miriam bat Meir Shmuel v’Perel, who passed away this week. "She was intelligent, creative, full of warmth and beloved by young and old.  We will miss her!" The first two parts of the process of a woman becoming a sotah are called kinui and stira. Kinui is a warning by the husband that his wife shouldn’t be alone in a room with a particular man. Stira is if she is then seen going into a room alone with that man. In the presence of how many witnesses does the husband need to do the kinui and how many witnesses are required to testify that she was in the room alone with that man after the warning was issued? Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua disagree about the numbers and the Gemara later brings a third tannaitic opinion (Rabbi Yosi B’Rabbi Yehuda) as well. Why is Masechet Sotah in this placement among the masechtot? What does it teach us about the connection between a nazir and a sotah? Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yitzchak minimizes the blame placed on the sotah as he holds that it takes two to tango, meaning a woman who is not loyal is a reflection of the husband as well, as spouses are matched up to each other by their actions. Furthermore, Raba bar Rav Hanna says that when God makes matches it is as difficult as the splitting of the Red Sea. A difficulty is raised on Rav Shmuel from a statement of Rav that says that couples are matched up already from birth, before they have an opportunity to sin. How is that resolved? The Gemara points out that the debate about witnesses was only for kinui and setira, but if witnesses saw the couple engage in sexual relations, all agree that even with one witness, we can act on that testimony and forbid the wife to her husband and she will not be able to drink the sotah waters to try to prove her innocence. From where is this derived? After this is proven from verses, the Gemara questions this proof as it seems unnecessary, but eventually shows why it was necessary. What is the basis for the debate between Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Yosi b’Rabbi Yehuda? The rabbis raised an important critique against Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yosi that if we allow only the husband’s testimony in part of the process, there will be no end to the cases in which husbands will forbid their wives to them. Nowadays (after the destruction of the Temple) that there is no way for a woman to prove her innocence, Rav Chanina warned that men should make sure not to warn their wives not be with a particular man as according to Rabbi Yosi son of Rabbi Yehuda, even without witnesses this could forbid her to him if she ends up going into a closed room with that man. Why is it called kinui when he warns her?  Two different suggestions are given.