Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use

Sotah

The Sotah Ritual: Mistrusting Women and Their Torah Study

A male priest recites and inscribes a curse that the sotah is compelled to orally ingest and disclose the “truth” without listening to her words. Set in the wilderness period, and framed as a narrative passed down from mother to daughter, the short story of Iʿezer and Shifra by David Frischmann (a 20th century Hebrew fiction writer) highlights how, when she is accused of being a sotah, Shifra’s ignorance of Torah dooms her.

Prof. Rabbi

Wendy Zierler

,

,

The Torah Is Sanctioned by God: In the Footsteps of the Abravanel

Rabbi

Avi Weiss

,

,

Shaming Women Suspected of Adultery - What About Men?

The Mishnah adds further humiliation to the biblical sotah ritual for a suspected adulteress. Other rabbinic texts from the same period critique this expansion, as well as the gender inequality inherent in the ritual itself.

Prof.

Ishay Rosen-Zvi

,

,

The Sotah Ritual: Permitting a Jealous Husband to Remain with His Wife

The root ק.נ.א “jealous zeal” in the chapter on the sotah (Numbers 5) highlights a key goal of the ritual and its accompanying offering, namely, to remove the husband’s jealous zeal and allow him to remain with his wife without guilt.

Prof.

Hanna Liss

,

,

Naso: Alleviating Intense Emotions

A New Look at the Meaning of the Sotah and Nazir Rituals

Prof. Rabbi

Stephen A. Geller

,

,

The Tale of Susanna: A Story about Daniel

A Second Temple story of how Daniel used his knowledge of Torah to save a righteous woman from wicked judges who falsely accused her of adultery.

Dr.

Malka Z. Simkovich

,

,

Birkat Kohanim: The Magic of a Blessing

Why was the priestly benediction placed together with the laws of nazir and the laws of sotah

Prof.

Shawna Dolansky

,

,

Maimonides’ Purim and Chanukah Message of Peace

Both Chanukah and Purim are celebrations of Jewish victory over their enemies. Nevertheless, Maimonides turns these into holidays of peace.

Prof.

Menachem Kellner

,

,

No items found.