Riddle: What's the connection between this week's parsha and the original series of Star Trek?
A: Mr Spock (aka Leonard Nimoy) based his vulcan salute on the position of the Cohens' hands when they recite the "Birchat Cohanim"
Joke: Why is Captain Kirk's costume treife?
A: Because it's Shatner's (shatnez!)
One of the most disturbing episodes in the Torah is that of the Sotah ((chap. 5 - this week's parsha)
A marriage is in serious trouble:
1. The Wife
Speak to the Israelite people and say to them:
If any man’s wife has gone astray and broken faith with him, in that another man has had intimate relations with her, unbeknown to her husband, and she keeps secret the fact that she has defiled herself without being forced, and there is no witness against her— (Rashi -there are two witnesses that she kept her affair a secret (but not that she had the affair in the first place)
2. The Husband
and a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous about the wife who has defiled herself; or if a fit of jealousy comes over one and he is jealous about his wife although she has not defiled herself— (Rashi - "A Spirit of Jealousy" means that he had warned her to avoid being concealed with the other man)
Mishnah Sotah explains that she is given countless warnings not to see the other man (including a meeting with the Sanhedrin) and if she continues, only then, will the ceremony with the Cohen take place
(15) the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. No oil shall be poured upon it and no frankincense shall be laid on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.
it reminds G-d of the guilt of either of the two parties concerned, either the woman who had sinned or her husband who had suspected her unfairly.
1) Priest takes a vessel
2) Adds holy water
3) Adds dust from the ground
4) Lets makes her walk to a number of places, to tire her out, in order to obtain a confession..
(21) here the priest shall cause the woman to swear... “may the L-RD make you a curse and an oath among your people, as the LORD causes your thigh to sag and your belly to swell..
(22)... may this water that induces the spell enter your body, causing the belly to distend and the thigh to sag.” And the woman shall say, “Amen, amen!”
(23) The priest shall put these curses down in writing and rub it off into the water of bitterness. (24) He is to make the woman drink the water of bitterness that induces the spell....
Asseret Hadibrot #2 - 2nd of Man to Gd
You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. (5) You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the LORD your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me,
In other words, you are only allowed to worship Me and focus on Me - one way of this, is to write My Name down
Asseret Hadibrot #7 - 2nd of Man to Man
You shall not commit adultery.
What is the connection between the writing of G-ds name and adultery?
What is happening here?
In the case - a marriage has broken down.
The vows that were exchanged under the Chuppah, the symbolism of a home where Gd resides - are being questioned.
1. Is the husband overly jealous and not trusting of his wife?
or
2. Did the wife have an adulterous relationship?
In the 2nd Commandment, Gd has established that only He must be worshipped. Only His presence is allowed in our lives - not any other gods
Yet, here, where the marriage is collapsing, He is demanding that his name be destroyed, at the expense of saving the marriage - if the marriage has reached the stage where either the woman did commit adultery or the man suspected she had - both parties have removed the spirit Gdliness from their Union.
Gd's investment in the marriage is such, that He is willing to have His name erased - to save the union of these two people - and both the husband and wife know what is at stake, if they reach this point in their marriage - the destruction of Gd's name.
G-d is surely acting as the ultimate Marriage Counsellor!
Conclusion
The entire passage of the Sotah is undeniably one of the most challenging to understand in the Bible but if we look at it, from this angle, we can take it beyond marriage and look at the relationships that we create with our fellow human beings.
At the heart of our religion is the idea of loving our neighbour as our ourselves and treating people with respect. One needn't be married to someone to demonstrate traits like loyalty and honesty.
At the heart of every friendship is the bedrock of trust. When we behave well towards each other, we bring Gd into our lives, because He thrives in peace and harmony.
Maybe the message of the Sotah is to remind us of how important these factors are, if we wish to maintain a healthy outlook and promote peace amongst ourselves.
Wishing you all a peaceful, friendly and life-affirming Shabbat.