002 - הִלְכוֹת סוֹטָה פֵּרֶק ב

Laws of Sotah, Chapter 2

1. A woman whose husband warned her and who then secluded herself is not compelled to drink; she drinks only if she wishes. If she said, "Yes, I was defiled," she leaves without a kesubah and is forbidden to her husband forever, and she does not drink. Likewise, if she said, "I am not defiled, but I will not drink," she is not compelled to drink, and she leaves without a kesubah. Likewise, if her husband said, "I do not wish to make her drink," or her husband had relations with her after she secluded herself, she does not drink; she takes her kesubah and leaves, and she is forbidden to him forever.

2. The following are the women who are not fit to drink, even though she wishes to drink and her husband wishes to make her drink. Rather, they leave without a kesubah once witnesses to the seclusion come after the witnesses to the warning, and they are forbidden to their husbands forever. They are fifteen women, as follows: a betrothed woman (arusah); a shomeres yavam (a widow awaiting yibbum); a minor girl married to an adult; an adult woman married to a minor; the wife of an androgynos; the wife of a man who is blind, lame, mute, or deaf, or whose hand is severed; and likewise a woman who is lame, mute, or blind, or whose hand is severed, or who is deaf. Each of these is not fit to drink.

3. From where do we know that they are not fit to drink? For it is stated: "אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׂטֶה אִשָּׁה תַּחַת אִישָׁהּ" ("When a woman goes astray while under her husband," Bamidbar 5:29). "Under her husband" excludes a betrothed woman and a shomeres yavam, who are not under their husbands. "A woman" excludes a minor. "Her husband" excludes the wife of a minor and the wife of an androgynos, who is not a man. "וְנֶעְלַם מֵעֵינֵי אִישָׁהּ" ("And it was hidden from the eyes of her husband," Bamidbar 5:13) excludes the wife of a blind man. "וְהֶעֱמִיד הַכֹּהֵן אֶת הָאִשָּׁה" ("And the kohen shall stand the woman," Bamidbar 5:18) excludes a lame woman. "וְנָתַן עַל כַּפֶּיהָ" ("And he shall place upon her palms," ibid.) excludes one who has no palm, or whose palm was crooked or withered so that she cannot take anything with it, even if only one of her palms is so, since it says "her palms." "וְאָמְרָה הָאִשָּׁה" ("And the woman shall say," Bamidbar 5:22) excludes a mute woman. "וְאָמַר אֶל הָאִשָּׁה" ("And he shall say to the woman," Bamidbar 5:19) excludes one who cannot hear. And it says, "אִשָּׁה תַּחַת אִישָׁהּ" ("A woman under her husband," Bamidbar 5:29), teaching that she must be whole like him and he must be whole like her. You thus learn that anything that prevents her from drinking prevents her husband from making her drink, and any blemish that prevents the husband from making her drink prevents her from drinking when she has a similar blemish.

4. A minor girl whose father married her off: if she was unfaithful willingly, she becomes forbidden to her husband. Therefore the warning of jealousy is given to her, not to make her drink, but to disqualify her from her kesubah, as we have said. But a minor who is eligible for mi'un is not given a warning of jealousy, for her will does not have the power to make her forbidden to her husband; even if he was a kohen, she does not become forbidden to him.

5. If he warned his betrothed or the woman bound to him by zikah, and she secluded herself after he married her, she drinks like all other women. A married woman whom he warned, and who secluded herself before her husband had relations with her, does not drink; she leaves without a kesubah and is forbidden to him forever. For it is stated: "וַיִּתֵּן אִישׁ בָּךְ אֶת שְׁכָבְתּוֹ מִבַּלְעֲדֵי אִישֵׁךְ" ("And a man other than your husband has lain with you," Bamidbar 5:20), meaning that the husband's relations preceded those of the adulterer.

6. A convert, a freed maidservant, the wife of a convert, the wife of a freed slave, a mamzeres, the wife of a mamzer, and the wife of a saris, whether a saris chamah or a saris adam, who are permitted to their husbands, are like all other women, and they drink.

7. A pregnant or nursing woman: he warns her and makes her drink as she is. A woman who is about to drink, and her husband died before she drank, does not drink and does not take her kesubah.

8. Any man who has ever engaged in forbidden relations after he came of age, the waters that bring the curse do not test his wife. Even if he had relations with his betrothed in his father-in-law's house, which is forbidden by the words of the Sofrim, the waters do not test his wife. For it is stated: "וְנִקָּה הָאִישׁ מֵעָוֹן וְהָאִשָּׁה הַהִיא תִּשָּׂא אֶת עֲוֹנָהּ" ("The man shall be clear of iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity," Bamidbar 5:31); when the man is clear of iniquity, the woman bears her iniquity.

9. Therefore, if his wife was forbidden to him by a negative prohibition or by a positive prohibition, even as a sheniyah, and he warned her and she secluded herself, she does not drink. Rather, she leaves without a kesubah, and she is forbidden to him on this account as well. If he transgressed and married a woman pregnant by another man, or nursing another man's child, she drinks, for there is no transgression here.

10. A man who has neither a wife fit to bear children nor sons, and he married a barren woman, an elderly woman, or an aylonis: she does not drink and does not take a kesubah. If he had sons, or another wife fit to bear children, he makes her drink, even though she is elderly, barren, or an aylonis and is not fit to bear children. For the Torah said, "וְנִזְרְעָה זָרַע" ("She shall conceive seed," Bamidbar 5:28), only concerning a woman fit to bear children: if she used to give birth in pain, she will give birth with ease; if she usually gave birth to daughters, she will give birth to sons.

11. If he had a wife and sons, and they died between the warning and the seclusion, she has already been deemed fit to drink, and he makes her drink. If he had neither sons nor a wife fit to bear children, but only this aylonis or the like, and a son was born to him from his divorcee between the warning and the seclusion, the aylonis has already been excluded from drinking.

12. Any woman who had a warning and a seclusion and did not drink the bitter waters, whether because her husband did not wish to make her drink, or because she did not wish to drink, or because a witness to her defilement came, or because she admitted, or because she was one of the women who are not fit to drink, or because the beis din gave her the warning, since she became forbidden to her husband in any event, she is forbidden forever to the man with whom she secluded herself, just as she is forbidden to her husband. If he transgressed and married her, she is removed from him with a get, even if she had children from him. From the Oral Tradition they learned: just as she is defiled to the husband, so she is defiled to the adulterer.

13. But if no warning preceded, and witnesses came concerning her that she secluded herself with this man, and they saw an unseemly matter, for example, they entered after him and found her fastening her belt, or they found saliva above the canopy, and the like, and her husband divorced her on account of this unseemly matter, she may not marry the man suspected; she is forbidden to him. If he transgressed and married her, and she had children from him, she need not leave; but if she had no children, she must leave.

14. When does this apply? When the city was abuzz about her and about this suspected man for a day and a half or more, saying, "So-and-so was unfaithful with so-and-so," and the rumor did not stop; provided that neither she nor he had enemies spreading the rumor. But if there was no such talk about this matter in the city, or the rumor stopped not out of fear, then if she married the suspected man, she need not leave, even though she has no children. Even if one witness came and testified that she was unfaithful with him, she need not leave.

15. A woman whose husband divorced her on the testimony of witnesses to an unseemly matter, and she married another man who divorced her, is forbidden to marry the suspected man on whose account she left her husband. If she married him, she need not leave, even though she has no children.

16. Any woman concerning whom two witnesses came and testified that she was unfaithful with this man while she was married to her first husband must leave this man, even if she has several children from him. And wherever we have said that she must leave, she leaves without a kesubah.