Mishnah.org Logo

Today's Mishnah Yomi

Sotah 2:5 - 2:6

The Mishnah Yomi for Sunday, May 12, 2024 is Sotah 2:5 - 2:6

Mishnah 1

Mishnayos Sotah Perek 2 Mishnah 5

סוטה פרק ב׳ משנה ה׳

5
With regard to what does she say: “Amen, amen” (Number 5:22), twice, as recorded in the verse? The mishna explains that it includes of the following: Amen on the curse, as she accepts the curse upon herself if she is guilty, and amen on the oath, as she declares that she is not defiled. She states: Amen if I committed adultery with this man about whom I was warned, amen if I committed adultery with another man. Amen that I did not stray when I was betrothed nor after I was married, nor as a widow waiting for my yavam to perform levirate marriage, since a woman at that stage is prohibited from engaging in sexual intercourse with any men, nor when married through levirate marriage to the yavam; amen that I did not become defiled, and if I did become defiled, may all these curses come upon me. Rabbi Meir says that “amen, amen” means: Amen that I did not become defiled in the past, amen that I will not become defiled in the future.
עַל מַה הִיא אוֹמֶרֶת אָמֵן אָמֵן. אָמֵן עַל הָאָלָה, אָמֵן עַל הַשְּׁבוּעָה. אָמֵן מֵאִישׁ זֶה, אָמֵן מֵאִישׁ אַחֵר. אָמֵן שֶׁלֹּא שָׂטִיתִי אֲרוּסָה וּנְשׂוּאָה וְשׁוֹמֶרֶת יָבָם וּכְנוּסָה, אָמֵן שֶׁלֹּא נִטְמֵאתִי. וְאִם נִטְמֵאתִי, יָבֹאוּ בִי. רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר, אָמֵן שֶׁלֹּא נִטְמֵאתִי, אָמֵן שֶׁלֹּא אֶטָּמֵא:
ה׳

אמן שלא שטיתי ארוסה ונשואה – through the rule permitting the court to insert in an oath an affirmation to which the person concerned could not have been compelled directly, he places the burden upon her unchastity while betrothed and even though he did not have regarding him warnings of jealousy (given to the suspected wife) and a married woman’s retirement with a man under suspicious circumstances. And from here, this insertion of an oath to which a person could not have been compelled to take directly is from the Torah.

שומרת יבם וכנוסה – if she was his sister-in-law (i.e., the widow of his brother who died without issue) and he brought her into a levirate marriage and he was jealous of her and she retired with a man under suspicious circumstances, he inserts a claim of ritual impurity which she could not have been compelled to take directly that she had become defiled while she was awaiting levirate marriage . And our Mishnah is according to Rabbi Akiva who said that a woman awaiting levirate marriage is unchastity–lewdness, but it is not the Halakha but rather a woman awaiting levirate marriage who ran about as a prostitute is permitted to the levir. Therefore, he does not make this condition upon her if she was unchaste as a woman awaiting levirate marriage.

אמן שלא נטמאתי וכו' – My explanation is made for the “Amen” on the imprecation, “Amen” on the oath, as we taught above (in this Mishnah). And this is what it said: “Amen” that I did not become ritually impure – that is the “Amen” on the oath that the Kohen imposed upon her: “I impose upon you the oath that you did not become ritually impure.

ואם נטמאתי יבואו בי – and if I become I became defiled, it should come upon me,” meaning the acceptance of the imprecation that the Kohen related to her and if you were ritually defiled, all of these curses will come upon you.

אמן שלא אטמא – that if you become ritually impure afterwards, the water will contest her, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Meir.

אמן שלא שטיתי ארוסה ונשואה. על ידי גלגול שבועה הוא מגלגל עליה זנות של ארוסין ואף על פי שלא היה בו בקנוי וסתירה. ומכאן לגלגול שבועה מן התורה:

שומרת יבם וכנוסה. ואם היתה יבמתו וכנסה, וקנא לה ונסתרה, מגלגל עליה טומאה שנטמאה כשהיא שומרת יבם. ומתניתין רבי עקיבא היא דאמר שומרת יבם ערוה. ואינה הלכה. אלא שומרת יבם שזנתה מותרת ליבם. לפיכך אינו מתנה עליה אם זנתה שומרת יבם:

אמן שלא נטמאתי וכו׳ פירושי קמפרש לאמן על האלה, אמן על השבועה דתנינן לעיל. והכי קאמר, אמן שלא נטמאתי הוא אמן על דשבועה שהשביעה הכהן משביע אני עליך שלא נטמאת:

ואם נטמאתי יבואו בי. היינו קבלת אלה, שאמר לה הכהן ואם נטמאת יבאו ביך כל הקללות הללו:

אמן שלא אטמא. שאם תיטמא לאחר זמן מים מערערים אותה. ואין הלכה כר״מ:

Mishnah 2

Mishnayos Sotah Perek 2 Mishnah 6

סוטה פרק ב׳ משנה ו׳

6
All agree that he may stipulate with her through this oath neither with regard to what she did before becoming be-trothed to him, nor with regard to what she will do after she becomes divorced from him. Similarly, if a husband divorced his wife, and while divorced she secluded herself with another man and became defiled, and afterward her husband took her back and remarried her, and he then warned her about a specific man, and she secluded herself, and she is now about to drink the water of the sota, he cannot stipulate with her that she take an oath that she did not become defiled during the period in which she was divorced. This is because her husband would become forbidden to her only if she had married another man after being divorced, not if she merely committed an act of promiscuity. This is the principle: In every case where if she would engage in sexual intercourse with someone else she would not become forbidden to her husband due to this act, he may not stipulate with her that her oath include that act. The oath can include only cases in which she would be rendered forbidden to him.
הַכֹּל שָׁוִין שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַתְנֶה עִמָּהּ לֹא עַל קֹדֶם שֶׁתִּתְאָרֵס וְלֹא עַל מֵאַחַר שֶׁתִּתְגָּרֵשׁ. נִסְתְּרָה לְאַחֵר וְנִטְמֵאת וְאַחַר כָּךְ הֶחֱזִירָהּ, לֹא הָיָה מַתְנֶה עִמָּהּ. זֶה הַכְּלָל, כֹּל שֶׁתִּבָּעֵל וְלֹא הָיְתָה אֲסוּרָה לוֹ, לֹא הָיָה מַתְנֶה עִמָּהּ:
ו׳

ולא משנתגרשה – for if she ran about as a prostitute–was unchaste after she was divorced, and he retracted [from his decision to divorce her] and restored her [as his wife] and he was jealous of her, and she retired with a man under suspicious circumstances, the [bitter] waters do not examine her on prostitution that is after divorce, for the divorced woman who engaged in prostitution is permitted to return to her husband, for the All-Merciful (i.e., God) suspended [the prohibition] on Kiddushin–betrothal, [not] on intercourse, as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:2): “She leaves his household and becomes the wife of another man.” Therefore, when she was betrothe to another man, even though she had not had sexual intimacy, she is prohibited to return to her husband, but if she had sexual intercourse without Kiddushin–betrothal, she is permitted to return to her husband.

ולא משנתגרשה שאם זנתה לאחר שגירשה וחזר והחזירה וקינא לה ונסתרה, אין המים בודקים על זנות שלאחר גירושין, דגרושה שזנתה מותרת לחזור לבעלה, דבקדושין תלה רחמנא האיסור לא בביאה, דכתיב (דברים כ״ד:ב׳) ויצאה מביתו והלכה והיתה לאיש אחר. לפיכך, נתקדשה לאיש אחר, אע''פ שלא נבעלה. אסורה לחזור לבעלה. ואם נבעלה בלא קדושין, מותרת לחזור לבעלה:

Mishnah Yomi FAQ

Still have a question? Contact Us