Sotah 14a (יד.) — the Talmud in English

And the wicked kingdom had already sent

Rome

to

Gastra

governor

of Beth Peor: “Show us where Moses is buried!”

When they stood above, it appeared to them

that he was

below.

When they stood

below, it appeared to them

that he was

above.

They divided into two groups.

To those standing above, it appeared that he was below,

while those who stood

below, it appeared that he was above.

This was to fulfill what is stated: “

And no man knows his burial place.”

Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: Moses our teacher himself also does not know where

he is

buried.

For

it is written here: “

And no man knows his burial place,”

and it is written there: “

And this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed.”

And we expound that “no man knows” also refers to Moses our teacher himself.

And Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: Why was Moses buried near Beth Peor?

In order to atone for the deed of Peor,

for which they sinned with the daughters of Moab.

And Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: Why was Moses’ grave concealed from the eyes of flesh-and-blood beings?

Because it is revealed and known before the Holy One, blessed be He, that the Temple would ultimately be destroyed and Israel exiled from its land.

Perhaps, at that time, they would come to Moses’ grave, stand weeping, and plead with Moses, saying to him: “Moses our teacher, arise and pray on our behalf!” And Moses would arise and annul the decree.

Because the righteous are dearer after their death than during their lifetime.

For you find this

when Israel was in the wilderness and sinned in their deeds and made the calf: the Holy One, blessed be He, became angry with Israel and said to Moses: “Leave Me, and I will destroy them.”

How many righteous people and how many pious people were in that generation—Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Eldad and Medad, the seventy elders, and the rest of the sages and students—and He did not act on their account and did not annul the decree, but only on account of Moses.

And Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “

You shall follow the Lord your God”?

Is it possible for a person to follow the Divine Presence?

But it is already stated: “

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire”?

Rather, it means: To follow the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He.

Just as He clothes the naked, as it is written: “

And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them,”

so you, too, clothe the naked,

The Holy One, blessed be He, visits the sick, as it is written: “

And the Lord appeared to him in the terebinths of Mamre”;

so you, too, visit the sick!

The Holy One, blessed be He, comforts mourners, as it is written: “

And it was after the death of Abraham that God blessed Isaac his son,”

for He comforted him over the death of his father and bestowed upon him the blessing for mourners;

so you, too, comfort mourners!

The Holy One, blessed be He, buries the dead, as it is written: “

And He buried him in the valley”;

so you, too, bury the dead! “

Garments of skin”—

they disagreed,

Rav and Shmuel,

about its interpretation.

One said: Something that comes from skin,

which was made of wool that comes from the skin of an animal.

And one said: Something from which the skin derives benefit,

which was made of linen, which a person wears over his skin.

Rabbi Simlai taught: The Torah begins with acts of kindness and ends with acts of kindness.

Its beginning is an act of kindness,

in that He clothed the naked,

as it is written: “

And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.”

And its end is an act of kindness, as it is written: “

And He buried him in the valley.”

Rabbi Simlai taught: Why did Moses our teacher desire to enter the Land of Israel?

Did he need to eat of its fruit, or did he need to be satiated by its goodness?

Rather, Moses said as follows: Israel were commanded many mitzvot that can be fulfilled only in the Land of Israel; let me enter the Land of Israel so that they may all be fulfilled through me.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Is all that you seek merely to receive reward

for the mitzvot?

I will regard you as though you had performed them!

As it is stated,

in the Book of Isaiah: “

Therefore I will allot him a portion among the many, and with the mighty he shall divide the spoil, because he exposed his soul to death, and he was counted with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of the many, and interceded for the transgressors.”

And Rabbi Simlai explains the verse concerning Moses our teacher: “

Therefore I will allot him a portion among the many”:

I might

have said that I would allot him a portion

like

the righteous

of later generations,

but not like those of the earlier generations?

The verse states: “

And with the mighty he shall divide the spoil,”

that is,

like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were mighty in Torah and mitzvot. “

Because he exposed

emptied [from the expression “and she emptied her pitcher”]

his soul to death”—

for he submitted himself to death

on behalf of Israel,

as it is stated: “

And if not, erase me, please, from Your book.” “

And he was counted with the transgressors”—

for he was counted among those who died in the wilderness. “

Yet he bore the sin of the many”—

for he atoned for the deed of the Golden Calf. “

And he interceded for the transgressors”—

for he requested mercy for the transgressors of Israel, that they should repent.

And intercession means nothing other than prayer, as it is stated

in the Book of Jeremiah, when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: “

But you, do not pray on behalf of this people, and do not raise on their behalf a cry or prayer, and do not intercede with Me.”

The chapter “The Woman Suspected by Her Husband” is concluded.

A. It is stated in the section concerning the sotah: "

The man shall bring his wife to the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall not pour oil upon it [upon her offering], and he shall not place frankincense upon it, because [her offering, the offering of] jealousy is it, an offering of remembrance, recalling iniquity.

The priest shall bring it near, and shall place her before the Lord."

The priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel, and from the dust that is on the floor of the Tabernacle the priest shall take and place it into the water.

The priest shall place the woman before the Lord, uncover the woman's head, and place upon her palms the offering of remembrance; it is an offering of jealousy.

And in the priest's hand shall be the bitter waters that cause a curse.

And the priest shall administer the oath to her.

The priest shall take from the woman's hand the offering of jealousy, wave the offering before the Lord, and bring it near to the altar. The priest shall take a handful from the offering, its memorial portion, and burn it upon the altar.

And afterward he shall give the woman the water to drink."

B. Tosafot write here that the order of our Mishna is not the order stated in the Torah. They were uncertain which of the two orders is valid. However, below [17b, s.v. kodem] they wrote: “The order of the passage is primary, but the order of the Mishna is not even a mitzva in the general sense”!

According to Maimonides, there is another order, which follows neither the order of the verses nor the order of the Mishnayot.

Mishna:

If

her husband

brings her offering

of his wife

in an Egyptian wicker basket [

a basket made of palm fibers, the soft twigs that grow around the palm],

and places it

upon her palms,

with the offering remaining in her hand until the completion of the entire procedure, and this is

in order to weary her,

and so that she will refrain from drinking.

The Mishna explains that the sotah offering differs in several details from other offerings:

a.

All the other meal-offerings

other

begin

that is, the beginning of their bringing into the Temple courtyard

and end in a service vessel.

Whereas

this one,

the sotah offering,

begins,

the beginning of its bringing into the Temple courtyard,

in an Egyptian wicker basket, and

only

its end

is

in a service vessel.

b.

All the other meal-offerings

other

require oil and frankincense, whereas

those

this one,

the sotah offering,

requires neither oil nor frankincense.

c.

All the meal-offerings come from wheat,

whereas

those

this one

comes from barley.

d.

The omer offering, although it comes from barley,

that is, although the omer offering also comes from barley, it differs from the sotah offering—

it,

the omer offering,

was brought

at least from

fine sifted flour

[the choicest flour, after being sifted through thirteen sieves].

Whereas

those

this one,

the sotah offering—not only does it come from barley, but it

comes as ordinary flour,

as it is ground, without sifting, including everything mixed into it.

Rabban Gamliel says

[as in: Rabban Gamliel said]:

Just as her deeds

of the sotah are

the deeds of an animal,

because she abandoned herself to relations with one who was not her partner,

so too her offering

is

animal food,

namely, barley.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: “And he places it upon her palms in order to weary her”:

It was taught in a beraita: Abba Ḥanin says

[he explained]

in the name of Rabbi

Eliezer: And why all this!?

Why do we trouble ourselves to weary her!?

In order to weary her

so that she will retract

and admit that she is impure, for then she will not be tested and will live.

And from here we can derive:

If this is how the Torah showed compassion

[by stating, “And he shall place it upon her palms,” in order to weary her, so that she will confess and not die]

for those who transgress His will,

like this sotah, who committed adultery, and the Torah showed compassion for her so that she would not die,

all the more so

that the Torah shows compassion

for those who fulfill His will.

We challenge this:

But from where

do we know that the reason for wearying her is so that she will confess—

because He showed compassion

upon her so that she would not die

!?

Perhaps

they weary her in order that she will say, “I will not drink,”

so that

[in order]

the scroll will not be erased,

and the sacred Name will not be erased in the water!?

We answer:

He holds

Rabbi Eliezer: