Friday, March 31, 2023

.ב Did you see that?

דתניא רבי אומר למה נסמכה פרשת נזיר לפרשת סוטה לומר לך שכל הרואה סוטה בקלקולה יזיר עצמו מן היין
רש"י ד"ה בקלקולה. בניוולה ובבשתה שמנוולין אותה כדקתני מתני' (לקמן דף ז:) קושר חבל למעלה מדדיה:

This is just a minor pet peeve but I have encountered a number of individuals who seem to misunderstand the גמרא to be referring to someone who has seen a סוטה who fails the test and all the frightening consequences that follow. According to רש"י, at least, that is clearly not the case. This suggestion applies even to someone who witnesses an innocent סוטה who successfully drinks the water and survives. The exposure and public humiliation she endures is enough to suggest that the onlooker should withdraw himself from drinking wine.

.ב Bashert

אמר רב יהודה אמר רב ארבעים יום קודם יצירת הולד בת קול יוצאת ואומרת בת פלוני לפלוני
רש"י ד"ה מזווגין אשה לפי מעשיו. צנועה לצדיק ופרוצה לרשע:
תוספות ד"ה קודם יצירת הולד. נראה לרבי קודם יצירת הזכר בין אם לא נולדה הנקיבה עדיין בין אם נולדה:

A number of interesting observations here. First, it is interesting that the בת קול does not say פלונית לפלוני but rather בת פלוני לפלוני. One might suggest that the male is predestined to marry into a specific family but the exact identity of the daughter is not predestined. I find that to be kind of a stretch. I had thought, perhaps this is an indication that the husband should be older than the wife. In other words, the female is not identified directly because she is not yet conceived. תוספות here would seem to indicate otherwise. It is also intriguing, especially considering תוספות's approach that this declaration seems to be tied to the male. In a biblical world where males may marry more than one woman, the idea of destiny would seem more applicable to the female.

רש"י's comment, in its subtlety, is also quite telling. He does not say צנועה לצנוע or צדקת לצדיק. This would seem to be prime fodder for a schmooze on the relative roles of men and women. I don't think any elaboration is necessary at this point.