The Sota - Suspected Adulteress (2) The Minchat Kina'ot or Minchat Sota brought" in an Egyptian basket" and placed "in her hands in order to tire her out" (Sota 2:1). Woven of palm leaves, the use of an "Egyptian basket" was also symbolic; Egypt was considered the very epitome of immorality (Rambam, Hilchot Sota 3:11). The Kohein took a half of LOG of "water that had been sanctified" from the Kiyor (the laver) and poured it into a new earthenware cup. This earthenware vessel would be used by the Kohein to administer the Mayim HaMarim to the Sota (B'midbar 5:17, Sota 2:2.). [Rashi cites a Midrash about the Kiyor, based on Sh'mot 38:8 which is preserved in the Midrash Tanchuma. When Moses asked the people for donations to build the Mishkan, the response was overwhelming. Wanting to contribute to the Sanctuary on a more personal level, the women brought their copper vanity mirrors. Appalled at such "frivolity", Moses refused to accept them. Then G-d said to him, "Dearer to Me are these mirrors than all the other gifts which have been brought, because these mirrors increased the hosts of Israel." When the Israelite men in Egypt were exhausted from their slave labor, their wives would go out to them with food and drink, show their despairing husbands their reflections in their copper mirrors and coo sweetly in their ears, 'Am I not more beautiful than you?' The men forgot their troubles; "united" with their wives and brought many Jewish children into the world. For this reason Moses was commanded to accept the women's mirrors and use them to construct the Kiyor. The women's copper mirrors were used in Egypt to increase love between husband and wife and thereby "increase the hosts of Israel". Similarly water from the Kiyor - fashioned from these same "love-mirrors" - would be used to ascertain the purity of the relationship between husband and wife.] "The Kohein entered the Heichal and turned right where there was a place (on the floor) 1 Ama long and 1 Ama wide, having a marble flagstone on which was fixed a ring. And when he raised it, he took dust from underneath and put enough (in the previously mentioned earthenware cup) to be visible on the water, as it is written, 'And of the dust that is on the floor of the Mishkan, the Kohein shall take and put it into the water…'" (B'midbar 5:17, Sota 2:2). With the newly prepared mixture in hand, the Kohein exited the Heichal and rejoined the Sota and her husband. "The Kohein shall abjure her and say to the woman, 'If a man has not lain with you, and you have not strayed in defilement with someone who is not your husband, then you shall be innocent of these bitter waters that cause a curse. But if you have strayed with someone other than your husband, and if you have become defiled, and a man other than your husband has lain with you…' The Kohein shall abjure the woman with the oath of the curse, and the Kohein shall say to the woman, 'May G-d render you as a curse and an oath among your people, when G-d causes your thigh to collapse and your stomach to swell. These waters that cause the curse shall enter your innards to cause your stomach to swell up and your thighs to collapse. And the woman shall respond, 'Amen, Amen'" (B'midbar 5:19-22). "To what does she reply Amen, Amen? Amen to the word "curse" and Amen to the word "oath" (in the previously quoted curses). Amen, (that I have not defiled myself) because of this man; Amen (that I have not defiled myself with) any other man. Amen in that I have not gone astray after my betrothal or while I was married... Amen in that I have not been defiled; and if I have indeed been defiled, (may all these curses) come upon me…" (Sota 2:5). "The Kohein shall write these curses (including the four letter Divine name) on a scroll and then blot them out into the Mayim HaMarim" (B'midbar 5:23). Until this point, the Sota could still back out; she could confess, be divorced and simply forfeit her marriage settlement. But once the holy four-letter name of G-d had been erased and the parchment placed in the water, she had to go through with it. If necessary, she was forced to. The Pasuk could not be written on a tablet, nor papyrus or unprepared skin; it had to be inscribed on parchment. The curses had to be written with ink which could be erased (Sota 2: 2.) It is likely that the Kohein, the Sota and her husband stood on the semi-circular flat area at the top of the 15th stair in front of the Nicanor Gate where they would be visible to spectators. We can picture the Kohein facing east and standing somewhat to the side so his back was not towards the Bayit. The disheveled Sota stood on the other side facing north and holding the Minchat Kina'ot. Her husband faced her (Sota 1:6). Women were "encouraged" to come and witness the proceedings. "Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness" (Yechezkel 23:48). "The husband took her meal offering out of the 'Egyptian basket' and put it into a Kli Shareit - a 'vessel of ministry' (i.e. a regular Mikdash vessel) and this he placed in her hand." All this time the Kohein was holding the cup with the Mayim HaMarim in full view of the Sota (B'midbar 5:18, Rambam, Hilchot Sota 3:14). Once the Kohein had administered the Mayim Hamarim, "The Kohein put his hand under hers and 'waved' (B'midbar 5:25) the Minchat Sota" (Sota 3:1). This act of "waving" is called TENUFA. He started "in the east like all other Menachot" (Rambam, Hilchot Sota 3:15). The Kohein waved it "forward and backward and upward and downward."(Menachot 62a, "'Forward and backward - it is to Him to Whom the four directions belong; 'Upwards and downwards' - it is to Him to Whom heaven and earth belong…" (Even though two different words are used in the Torah, in a deliberation in Sukka 37b, the "waving" of the "two loaves and the two lambs" offered on Shavu'otare compared to the "waving" of the Lulav. [Menan'in is used for the Lulav and Tenufa for the "two loaves and the two lambs" and the Minchat Kina'ot] While our sources do not mention specifically the order of directions that the "two loaves and the two lambs" were waved, we do have a tradition as how the Lulav was (and is) "waved" during the Hallel service: east, south, west, north, up and down. Since the Gemara does compare them, it is likely that the "order of directions" of the waving of the "two loaves and the two lambs" was done in the same manner as the Lulav. And we probably can assume that the Minchat Kina'ot also was "waved"in a similar fashion.) Minchat Kina'ot in hand, the Kohein left the Sota (no doubt in the company of other Kohanim), passed through the Nicanor Gate, and entered the Azara. He passed the northern side of the Mizbei'ach, turned left and proceeded to walk between the western side of the Mizbei'ach and the Bayit until he came to the southwest corner of the altar. There he paused. <to be continued> Catriel's book in progress: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrims Prospective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service [The
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