Jon Presco
Copyright 2011
Elevation from Levity
אִישׁ אִישׁ כִּי תִשְׂטֶה אִשְׁתּוֹ וּמָעֲלָה בוֹ מָעַל
אִישׁ אוֹ אִשָּׁה כִּי יַפְלִא לִנְדֹּר נֶדֶר נָזִיר לְהַזִּיר לַי־הֹוָ־ה
[5:12-6:2] “…Any man whose wife shall go astray and commit treachery against him;…
A man or woman who shall dissociate themselves through the vowing of the Nazirite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem;”
One set of laws discussed in Naso are the Halachos of the Sotah (Wayward Wife). The Sotah is a married woman who was known to have been secluded with a man other than her husband, thus, being suspect of having committed adultery. One whose wife was in position to have strayed from him is commanded to bring his wife to the Kohen where a service is performed in which a meal-offering is brought on her behalf and she goes through a degradation process as her hair is uncovered “before G-d” to be judged. The service ends as the Kohen writes the oaths of the Sotah and the name of G-d onto a scroll and erases it into bitter waters for the Sotah to drink, upon which she either dies a peculiar death from a stomach explosion if she’s guilty or she lives and goes back to her husband, blessed to bear a child.
The following chapter discusses the laws of the Nazir. The Nazir is one who takes the Nazirite vow, an acceptance to temporarily live under an extreme, strict lifestyle that includes the prohibition of becoming spiritually contaminated from a human corpse and abstaining from drinking wine or other grape products, and getting haircuts. The time period during which the Nazir abides by the vow is followed by the Nazir’s bringing of an offering and then the shaving of his, or her, hair.
The Chachamim maintain that the Torah puts the laws the Sotah and the Nazir right nexto to each other to teach that one who sees the degradation process of the Sotah should abstain from wine by becoming a Nazir. The idea is that one who sees the effects that come about from the Sotah who fell because of her sensual passions should be extra careful, as anyone can easily fall victim to temptation. Consequently, the strict abstinence of the Nazir will bring the Nazir closer to G-d and farther from desire and sin.
All of the above seems fine; however, it appears that in actuality, if one were to witness the Sotah in her humiliation and the agony that comes with it, they wouldn’t require the acceptance of extreme lifestyle to keep them from sinning like the Sotah. Really, the sight of the Sotah’s disgrace should be enough to successfully admonish one and direct them away from the path of sin. Why is one suggested to go as far as turning to the Nazirite lifestyle upon seeing the Sotah in her degradation?
When the Torah introduces the Sotah, it says “Ki Sisteh”-“if she shall go astray” [5:12], and the expression “Sotah” means “to deviate”. Rashi explains that these words can be interpreted slightly differently, as the letter “Sin” in the word “Sisteh” can be interchanged with the letter “Shin” and the Pasuk would read “Ki Sishteh”-“If she shall act foolishly”. Rashi explains further that adultery is committed when a Ruach Shtus (A spirit of foolishness) enters a person. The problem with Shtus—foolishness and levity—is that it is the first step of the sinning process as it is the mechanism that triggers infatuation. Levity and infatuation can easily become negative obsessions, which lead to sin.
On another note, one can be inspired by others to do goodness, however, the inspiration is ultimately a passive state and unless one acts immediately upon being inspired, one doesn’t become impacted by it in the long run. This concept applies on the negative side as well. One can be admonished not to do evil and one can see another suffering, for example, from the damage of drugs, but the words of admonishment and unpleasant sight don’t always prevent one from performing the negative action. It often takes a more immediate form of aversion or unpleasantness to enforce a certain behavior and prevent another. Likewise, it is easy for one to say that they saw what the Sotah went through and that they will be careful not to sin, but unless they proactively take something upon themselves or impact themselves by becoming a Nazir, they are just as prone to sin as the Sotah was (especially since one doesn’t necessarily fear the punishment of bitter waters and explosion as it the laws of Sotah apply to a male).
Furthermore, it is the degradation, not necessarily the explosive death of the guilty Sotah, that one is suggested to become a Nazir upon its sight. This idea shows what the Torah is truly stressing. Whether or not the Sotah was actually guilty, she undergoes the degradation for foolishly allowing herself into a susceptible position. This punishment is solely the effect of levity and the biggest mistake one can make is rationalizing that they can surpass the odds and stay away from sin despite levity and thus, taking the gamble of opting to act with levity and foolishness.
In the end, one must not only be cautious with one’s own actions upon seeing another fall, but one should realize how easy it is for them to fall the same way and be keen and proactive on the matter, making sure to intensely impact themselves to stay on the proper path, avoiding failure and assuring success.
May we all be zocheh to be aware of the effects of simply acting with foolishness and proactively elevate ourselves from levity by impacting ourselves to strictly live up to our status as Hashem’s holy people and we shall not only avoid falling, but we shall rise high and be successful in earning our Geulah in the days of Moshiach, Bimheira Biyomeinu! Have a Great Shabbos (and a Gut Chodesh)! (Don’t forget to count Sefiras HaOmer!)
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