Nov 302015
 

More details about the spies’ tactics and what they said.  How did Caleb get the people to listen to him after the spies told their bad report?  Details of the ark’s miraculous nature leads into a discussion of Uza who gets killed for disrespecting the ark.  How many sets of stones were there?  When they wrote the Torah on the stones after crossing the Jordan, was the limestone put on first and then they wrote the Torah or was is the reverse?

Nov 292015
 

Once the mishna mentioned the blessings and curses that were to be recited when getting into the land of Israel, the gemara sidetracks to the splitting of the Jordan upon entering the land, the spies that Moshe sent to check out the land, etc.  Underlying these statements seems to be the idea of miracles (splitting of the sea, giant people and fruits that the spies saw in Israel), presumably linking them to the miracle of the Sotah waters.

Nov 272015
 

If there is conflicting testimony about whether or not the Sotah had sex when she was in seclusion, which testimony do we accept?  Does it depend on who the witnesses are and how many were in each group?  (What ceremonies/texts can be said in any language and which ones need to be said in Hebrew only?

Study Guide Sotah 32

Nov 262015
 

The 5th chapter ends with a discussion of how the Jews sang the song on the Red Sea with Moshe.  And whether Job worshipped God out of love or out of fear.  The 6th Chapter begins with how many witnesses and what types of witnesses are needed for the seclusion stage of the Sotah process (setira)?  Can a testimony from a bird be sufficient?  Once the first two stages are well established (kinui and setira – the husband’s warning to his wife and then her seclusion), if a  lesser form of testimony confirms that during the seclusion, the couple has relations, the woman cannot drink the Sotah waters and is forever forbidden to her husband.  The mishna also discusses the law in cases where there was conflicting testimony regarding whether or not they had relations.

Study Guide Sotah 31

Nov 252015
 

From where do we derive that a second and third degree impurity can transmit impurity to sacred items belonging to the temple (kodashim)?  There are five rabbis who hold against Rabbi Akiva’s opinion in the mishna and say that a second degree impurity cannot transmit impurity to a non sacred item (chulin).  The gemara derives from different texts how we know that each of those rabbis hold that way.

Study Guide Sotah 30

Nov 232015
 

From where do we derive that the man with whom the Sotah sinned gets the same punishment?  Sotah is an example of a case where there is doubt and yet the woman is forbidden to be with her husband.  This serves the basis for deriving the halacha regarding doubtful situations of tumah, impurity, coming from a sheretz.

Torah verses of Sotah for Daf 28

Nov 222015
 

Is it better to marry a woman with questionable behavior or her daughter?  Who else is excluded from drinking the Sotah waters?  The fifth perek begins with a list of laws relating to various topics that Rabbi Akiva and others taught on the day that Rabban Gamliel was replaced by Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria and the Beit Midrash doors were opened to everyone.

Nov 202015
 

Does a woman who is overet al dat get a second chance before losing her ketuba money?  Can a husband change his mind after starting the process?  At what point?  Are the same laws true for a parent who accuses their son of being a ben sorer u’moreh, or a zaken mamreh that the court pardons.

Study Guide Sotah 25

Nov 192015
 

Which women are not allowed from drinking the Sotah waters?  If they are now forbidden to their husbands, they must get divorced.  In which situations does she get divorced and get her ketuba money and in which situations is she not entitled to it?  Are their unique situations when the Beit Din can act as a power of attorney for the husband to suspect a women?

Study Guide Sotah 24