Sotah - Daf 3
- A person’s private wrongdoings are publicized
Rebbe Meir said: אדם עובר עבירה בסתר והקב"ה מכריז עליו בגלוי – A person commits a sin privately, such as the unfaithful wife, and Hashem “announces” it openly. Rashi explains that Hashem causes the husband to warn her, resulting in its becoming known publicly, as it says: " ועבר עליו רוח קנאה" – “And a jealous spirit shall pass over him,” ואין עבירה אלא לשון הכרזה – and the word "עבירה" is an expression of announcing, as it says: "ויצו משה ויעבירו קול במחנה" - And Moshe commanded, and they announced (ויעבירו) throughout the camp. Reish Lakish said: אין אדם עובר עבירה אלא אם כן נכנס בו רוח שטות – A person does not commit a sin unless a spirit of foolishness enters him, as it says: “"איש איש כי תשטה אשתו תשטה – “A man whose wife strays” (the word "תשטה" can be read “sishteh,” that she will act foolishly).
- Machlokes if the רוח that enters the husband is a רוח טומאה or a רוח טהרה
The academy of Rebbe Yishmael said: אין אדם מקנא לאשתו אלא אם כן נכנסה בו רוח – A person only warns his wife if a “spirit” entered him, which he bases on the passuk. Amoraim disagree about the nature of this “spirit”: The Rabbis said: רוח טומאה – It is a spirit of impurity, but Rav Ashi said: רוח טהרה – It is a spirit or purity, out of an intolerance for promiscuity. The Gemara finds support for Rav Ashi in a Baraisa: וקנא את אשתו – Regarding the passuk, “And he shall warn his wife,” Rebbe Yishmael said: רשות – It is merely a permit for him to do so, but not an obligation. Rebbe Akiva said: חובה – It is an obligation to do so if he suspects her. Since these Tannaim hold it is a permit or even an obligation to warn her, it stands to reason that the spirit which caused him to do so is a pure one. The Gemara relates two other cases about which Rebbe Yishmael and Rebbe Akiva disagree if they are a permit or obligation. One is the passuk which teaches that a Kohen becomes tamei for his deceased relatives, and the other is the passuk about keeping a non-Jewish slave permanently. Rebbe Yishmael says each of these is a permit, and Rebbe Akiva considers them obligatory. The Gemara explains the source of the dispute in each case.
- Mitzvos and aveiros go before a person in the future
Rav Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rebbe Yonasan:כל העושה מצוה אחת בעוה"ז מקדמתו והולכת לפניו לעוה"ב – Anyone who does one mitzvah in this world, it precedes him and goes before him in the World to Come (and announces his arrival), as it says: “"והלך לפניך צדקך – And your righteous deeds will go before you. וכל העובר עבירה אחת בעוה"ז מלפפתו והולכת לפניו ליום הדין – And anyone who commits one sin in this world, it envelops him and goes before him on the Day of Judgement, as it says, "ילפתו ארחות דרכם יעלו בתוהו ויאבדו" – They are enveloped by their paths, enter wasteland, and are lost. Rebbe Eliezer says: קשורה בו ככלב – [The sin] is bound to him like a dog (referring to their remaining attached after mating), as it says regarding Yosef’s refusing the advances of Potiphar’s wife: "ולא שמע אליה לשכב אצלה להיות עמה" –: And he did not listen to her to lie beside her, to be with her. לשכב אצלה בעולם הזה להיות עמה לעולם הבא – “To lie beside her” means in this world, and “to be with her” means that the sin would be bound to him in the World to Come.
