1,686. A Sotah

Hilchos Ishus 24:23

If a kohein’s wife tells her husband that she was sexually coerced or that she had sexual relations accidentally with another man, she is not listened to because maybe she’s just attracted to another man (and trying to force a divorce). If he believes her or was informed about it by a third party whose word he accepts, he should divorce her and pay her the value of her kesubah.

Hilchos Ishus 24:24

Let’s say that a man tells his wife in front of witnesses not to seclude herself with a particular man. If two witnesses observe her going into a private place with that person and they remained there long enough to engage in intimate relations, then she is prohibited to her husband until he has her drink the “bitter waters,” as will be explained, IY”H, when we come to Hilchos Sotah. If the husband dies before having his wife drink, she does not receive the value of her kesubah. Even though the witnesses didn’t observe the actual act, her actions are sufficiently scandalous to warrant this. Nowadays, since we no longer have the “bitter waters,” a woman in this situation is rendered prohibited to her husband forever. She must be divorced without receiving the value of her kesubah, neither the baseline amount nor the additional sum, because it was her own actions that rendered her prohibited.