Talking Talmud

A series of mishnahyots presented as one long Mishnah begins with different laws around menachot which leads into a mishnah discussing some halachic differences between men and women. Why does this mishnah appear in Masechet Sotah?

The Gemara addresses the categories of those who erode the world - we focus first in the "perushot," abstemious women. Specifically, a chaste girl who prays all the time, aiming to protect those who might come to sin because of her. Which is fully impressive, except for one who is masking destructive behavior (as in the case of Yochani bat Retivi). Note the real implications of ancient hypocrisy o...

What merit could stave off the death of a guilty sotah? Perhaps the merit of Torah study (but how much merit does that really get her?!). So presumably the merit of doing a mitzvah - but do mitzvot really protect those who do them? Plus, the role of King David's advisors. Also, the commentary on the positions of Ben Azzai and R. Eliezer in the mishnah. Also, how to expand on the vulnerability of T...

A new mishnah: The woman can walk back her plan to drink from the bitter waters until the very last minute, when the Name of God has already been erased, after which point, she'd be forced to drink. And then, if she's guilty, she basically explodes inside out, and she is removed from the Temple. But if she has merits, then her death will be delayed. Which leads to the oh-so-important dispute over...

A new chapter! The new mishnah delineates the process of the kohen taking the meal-offering from the sotah, and waving the basket it's in together with her. But does this happen before or after she drinks the bitter waters? It's a machloket. Also, another machloket on this process in the Gemara on this mishnah.

Different scenarios of the sotah case - especially where things go wrong in brining her to drink, etc. Which all are held in abeyance, as far as their solutions go. Also, a new mishnah on the sotah's affirmation: Amen, amen. Plus, the role of a husband in putting conditions and warnings on his wife, which is only acceptable during the time they're actually married. Also, the possible cases of adul...

A daf with 2 mishnayot. First, on the kohen's writing the scroll that will be dipped in the water and erased - what is the portion of text from the Torah that will be written there? It is, of course, a machloket. Also, what can (and cannot) this text be written on?

More on the sotah's water - and how earth (and ashes) need to be added to it. Plus, the mesorah/tradition on the writing of this document, as well as that of divorce, and more. Which gives us tradition overriding logic, as we also say in Nazir. Also, the order of the dust in the water (or is that water over dust?), and the parallel to the purification process with the parah adumah, the red heifer.

The ingredients of the meal-offering "always" include oil and frankincense - except for when they are excluded (sin-offerings, in particular, plus the sotah's offering). Also, the process of the water, the Name of God, and the process by which it would be erased. Plus, various purification processes, and some that are never allowed to be used again.

On Moshe's burial - and how the Romans didn't find the place either. Also, interpretations of how people can come close to God, including mirroring His attributes. Which leads back to the burial of Moshe. Also, a new chapter with a new mishnah: The sotah's meal-offering, carried by her husband in an Egyptian wicker basket, to tire her out, and get her to the point that she'll confess, rather than...

On retrieving Yosef's bones to rebury him in the land of Israel, as promised at the end of the Book of Genesis, and the role of Serach bat Asher. Also, on the burial of Moshe - whose burial was so different from that of Yosef, and not only because he can't go into the land of Israel, even after death. Including several interpretations why Moshe couldn't complain to the Israelites, regarding the la...

More exegesis of the Torah's verses on the opening on the story of the Exodus - beginning with Yocheved's pregnancy with Moshe (some of which presupposes knowledge of other midrashim). Tracking her pregnancy, and then the birth of Moshe. Also, the calendar of these events, including the date of Moshe's birth (Nisan? Sivan?)

Verses that are explicated on this daf are also found in the Haggadah - timely, this round of daf yomi, as we learn this daf on Passover. On the righteous women in whose merit the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt - with a focus on the women who promoted their own intimate relationships with their husbands, and also ensure ongoing fertility. Plus, the midrashim on the midwives of the Torah, and...

5 people who each had a trait that was to their credit, but they ended up brought down because of that same trait. Not surprisingly, beginning with Samson. Plus, a king's gout. Also, a deep dive into the story of Yehuda and Tamar.

The sages teach that the sotah-woman gets her just deserts, in alignment with her own actions. She doesn't get what she wanted, and what she had is taken from him. Likewise, other creatures in Tanakh have the same comeuppance - beginning with serpent of the Garden of Eden and carrying through several personalities, especially in King David's orbit. Plus, following the actions of the sotah-woman wi...

The kohen takes hold of the clothing of the sotah-woman, and uncovers (or dishevels) her head. There was concern that a particularly attractive woman would be overly on display for such a process - with comparison to another case where the sides of the dispute about this seem to reversed. Plus, a woman who wore white garments would be re-clothed in black, and if she looked good in black, she'd the...

The daf has a Mishnah describing how how the Sotah is brought to Jerusalem and how the public participated. The daf also explains what biblical stories were taught to the Sotah so that she may learn that a confession is admirable.

A new mishnah! At what point is a woman who's a sotah not permitted to eat terumah? Plus, a list of the women who are not allowed to eat terumah. Also, R. Sheshet's position on the case of a woman who was thought to be a sotah, but then two witnesses to her infidelity answer the question of her status, and the water she drinks isn't determining her innocence, because the witnesses confirm it indep...

Learning from the Divine, and God's choice of the lowly bush and the lowly mountain - against arrogance, and in favor of humility. But maybe some "arrogance," or comparable trait is necessary, at least for Torah scholars. Also, a halakhic discussion regarding the point at which the warning the husband gives his wife kicks in to have impact in their marital life.

How long is the seclusion that counts as suspect, for the husband to bring his complaint against his wife? The ways the Gemara measures time are far from the question of intimacy, though that underlies the discussion. Plus, the handling of a dispute between R. Akiva and Ben Azzai, or so it seems. [Who's Who: Ben Azzai] Also, a focus on Netilat Yadayim, and why the little things matter.

On the warning the husband gives his wife - and the multiple levels of anger in the process. Including the private/public dynamic of this accusation and sotah altogether. Plus, the focus on relationships. Also, the insidious destructive power of bringing licentiousness behavior home, or anger for that matter. With a recognition that there are different expectations for men and for women. Plus, Jos...

Introducing the sotah-woman, a unique Torah status that isn't in play in the absence of the Temple. From the verses to the rabbinic focus on witnesses to what appears to be unfaithful behavior on the wife's part as accused by the husband. Plus, the connection between a Nazir and a sotah, and the order of the tractates. Also, the way the husband gets the process underway. Plus the debate over wheth...

The Gemara goes on in its discussion about seminal emissions and various stages or levels of impurity. Including the "zav" status of a convert. A final mishnah: on Shmuel the prophet - was he a nazir or not?? (Does "morah" in the text mean razor, as it does in the context of Nazir, or "fear," which would make the man fearless, in a powerful re-read of the text). Also, the case of sages bentsching...

A new mishnah: One who finds a dead body that is lying in the manner of Jewish burial, and takes it from there, together with some of the dirt... Likewise, if he finds two bodies. But if he finds 3, what he's got there is a cemetery. Which in turn gives "legs to the matter," a halakhic concept regarding likelihood that we've seen before. Also, another mishnah: Regarding the likelihood that someone...

The status of floating impurity... the puzzles of the circumstances when it would extend impurity and when it would not. Plus, the implications for purification, as needed. Also, a nazir and a person busy preparing a Korban Pesach walk together by a "an impurity of the deep" (tehom)? Now what? Well, it depends on the point of their process of purification to begin with. Which leads to what might b...