Naso - Suspicious Situations

Parshas Naso contains the laws concerning a woman who is suspected of adultery. The basic situation is that her husband becomes very jealous of his wife. However there is a genuine question as to whether she has secretly had an affair or there is no basis for this suspicion. In such a situation among other things she is to be brought to the Temple where she is to drink water mixed with dust from the floor of the Temple. She must agree to a curse that if she did commit adultery her thighs will fall and her stomach will become swollen. If in fact she has done nothing then the curse will not be effective and she will conceive a child. The basic idea is to effectively invoke prophesy to clarify a very difficult situation.

In the Tanakh this is not unusual. When Rivka, our matriarch, experiences a difficult pregnancy, she inquires of Hashem and receives a direct answer. When Saul is searching for his father's lost donkeys, he asks the prophet Samuel for guidance. In many other instances a prophet is asked to give the people the decision of God. However, shortly after the building of the second Temple, prophecy ceased.

The Talmud interprets the passage on the suspicious husband differently. It essentially sees the wife as being overly familiar with a man who is not her husband. She is even alone with him after her husband has explicitly told her not to do so. Therefore it is very logical to believe she has in fact committed adultery, even though she was not caught in the act. Consequently, she is given a trial by ordeal, where strong efforts are made to get her to confess. If she does not confess and the curse does not occur, plus she gives birth to a boy; it is assumed she did not in fact commit adultery, even though her behavior was very bad.

It is appropriate to meditate on the Torah and use its stories as allegories. To interpret this for the good a new idea can be compared to an embryo. At times a new idea comes into the world and it is a good one. However people reject it and malign it. They say all sorts of terrible things about it that it is apostasy and will drive a person insane. They behave towards it like they would towards a woman unjustly accused of adultery. Wild accusations are made against the people who adhere to it and they are subject to a trial by ordeal. Nevertheless they cling to their position. Once the good idea bears fruit, its goodness is apparent and it is accepted by all.

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