Sotah - Daf 17
- איש ואשה זכו שכינה ביניהן
Rebbe Akiva darshened: איש ואשה זכו שכינה ביניהן – A husband and wife, if they are meritorious in their mutual fidelity, the Shechinah is between them. (The yud in איש and the hei in אשה combine to Hashem’s name). לא זכו אש אוכלתן – If they are not meritorious, meaning they are unfaithful to the marriage, a fire consumes them. (With the yud and hei removed, each is left as אש – fire). Rava added: ודאשה עדיפא מדאיש – and the wife’s fire is stronger than the husband’s, האי מצרף והאי לא מצרף – because the letters representing the fire of the woman are joined, whereas the letters representing the fire of the man are not joined.
- The עפר of a sotah, and Avraham Avinu saying "עפר ואפר"
Rava said: מפני מה אמרה תורה הבא עפר לסוטה – Why did the Torah say, “Bring earth for a sotah”? זכתה יוצא ממנה בן כאברהם אבינו – If she is meritorious, a son like Avraham Avinu will come forth from her, about whom it says: "עפר ואפר" – dust and ashes. לא זכתה תחזור לעפרה – If she is not meritorious, she will return to her dust when she drinks the waters. Rava darshened: בשכר שאמר אברהם אבינו "ואנכי עפר ואפר" – As reward for Avraham Avinu saying, “I am but dust and ashes,” זכו בניו לב' מצות, אפר פרה ועפר סוטה – his descendants merited two mitzvos: ashes of the parah [adumah], and the earth of a sotah. The mitzvah of covering blood of a shechted wild animal or bird is not reckoned here, because it does not provide a benefit beside the mitzvah (as opposed to parah adumah, which effects taharah and atones for the Golden Calf, and sotah waters, which brings marital harmony and other benefits). Rava also said that in reward for Avraham refusing to accept "מחוט ועד שרוך נעל" – from a thread to a shoestrap, his descendants merited the mitzvos of the thread of techeiles and the strap of tefillin. The Gemara explains their benefits.
- Requirements for writing the sotah scroll
The next Mishnah teaches that the sotah scroll must be written on parchment, because the Torah calls it a ".ספר" It must be written with דיו – ink, because the Torah says, " ומחה" – and he shall erase, requiring כתב שיכול למחות – a writing which can be erased. Rava teaches six cases where the writing is invalid:
מגילת סוטה שכתבה בלילה פסולה – A sotah scroll which he wrote at night is invalid, because it is compared to judgments, which are performed by day. כתבה למפרע פסולה – If he wrote it backwards, it is invalid, because "האלה" – these, implies it must be written in order. כתבה קודם שתקבל עליה שבועה פסולה – If he wrote it before she accepted the oath, it is invalid, because the acceptance appears before the commandment to write it. כתבה איגרת פסולה – If he wrote it as a letter (as Rashi explains, without etching lines for writing), it is invalid, because the Torah describes it as a "ספר" and a sefer Torah requires etching lines. He adds two more cases on the next Daf.
