posting still broken

I can post only short entries. Sometimes I can make short edits. Ignore the partial "parsha bit" post (failed edit); will delete/retry later.

parsha bit: Naso

This week's parsha describes the case of the sotah, when a man suspects his wife of infidelity but does not have the witnesses to bring a charge to the beit din. In this case, the torah describes a peculiar ritual in which the woman drinks a mixture of water, dirt from the mishkan, and a dissolved parchment with the divine name. If she is guilty painful physical consequences result; if she is innocent, nothing happens.

The rabbis added restrictions, perhaps to ensure that it would never happen. Before a husband can accuse, he must warn his wife against a specific man -- it cannot be a general charge -- in front of witnesses. Then, the man must have two witnesses who saw the woman and that man spend enough time together that it would be possible for something to happen. Then and only then the man can seek to have the ritual performed -- but he cannot go to a local court. Instead, he must go to the full Sanhedrin, and if they consent, only then can the ritual proceed. (Tractate Sotah, chapter 1)