Sotah - Daf 16
- If ashes can be used for sotah waters in place of earth
The Gemara asks regarding the sotah waters: אין שם עפר מהו שיתן אפר – If there is no earth there, can he place ashes in the water instead? אף על גב דאיקרי עפר הכא בקרקע המשכן כתיב – Do we say even though ashes are called ",עפר" but here it is written “the floor of the Mishkan,” disqualifying ashes, or since it is used for a derashah earlier, it does not exclude ashes? The Gemara presents a Baraisa: בשלשה מקומות הלכה עוקבת מקרא – In three places, halachah [leMoshe miSinai] undermines the apparent meaning of a passuk: the blood of a shechted wild animal or bird may be covered with anything (although the passuk says “earth”), a nazir who shaves with anything is liable (although it says “razor”), and a get may be written on anything (although the passuk implies parchment). If ashes could be used for a sotah, why was it not listed here? The Gemara answers that the list is not exhaustive and explains that another was left out - that a metzora’s second shaving is total (“like a gourd”), although derashos would imply it is not. The Gemara suggests three reasons why this case may not belong in the Baraisa.
- Three things which must be visible, and machlokes about blood of a metzora’s bird
It was taught in a Baraisa: שלשה צריכין שיראו – Three things must be visible: עפר סוטה – The earth of the sotah must be visible in the water, ואפר פרה – the ashes of the parah [adumah] must be visible in the spring water, ורוק יבמה – and the spittle of the yevamah performing chalitzah. Rebbe Yishmael adds another: אף דם צפור – Also the blood of [a metzora’s] bird must be visible in the spring water. Rebbe Yishmael holds that the two terms, "בדם" and ",במים" together teach: מביא מים שדם ציפור ניכר בהן – he brings the amount of water in which the blood of the bird will be recognizable, which the Sages set at a revi’is. Rebbe Yirmiyah asked Rebbe Zeira: גדולה ומדחת את המים – A large bird which its blood overwhelms the water, קטנה ונדחית מפני המים מהו – or a small bird whose blood is overwhelmed by the water, what then? Tosafos explains that he wondered how the Sages could unequivocally declare (according to Rebbe Yishmael) that a revi’is is the correct amount regardless of the bird’s size. Rebbe Zeira objected to his question and said that the Rabbis arrived at a revi’is through measurements, and this amount is fit for all size birds which are valid for a metzora.
- Machlokes if the sotah waters are valid if one placed the earth in before the water
It was taught in a Baraisa: הקדים עפר למים פסול – If one placed the earth in the vessel before the water, it is invalid. Rebbe Shimon holds it is valid. Rebbe Shimon makes a gezeirah shavah between the ashes of parah adumah and the earth of a sotah, teaching: Just as with sotah, the earth should be put on the water, so too with parah adumah, the ashes should be placed on the water. ומה כאן הקדים עפר למים כשר – Also, just as here [parah], if he placed the ashes before the water, it is valid, אף להלן הקדים עפר למים כשר – so too there [sotah], if he placed the earth before the water, it is valid (after the fact). The law by parah when the ashes are placed first, is itself disputed: Rebbe Shimon derives, based on contradictory terms in the passuk, that either order is valid. The Rabbonon hold that only one of the terms is teaching the order, and they reason: מה מצינו בכל מקום מכשיר למעלה – Just as we find in all places, the “permitter” is on top (the earth of sotah which tests her, and the blood of a metzora’s bird permits the water for its sprinkling), אף כאן מכשיר למעלה – here too, the “permitter” (the ashes) must be on top.
