Wine, Women and Sin – Naso
Parshat Naso describes two of the less common, but highly interesting Menachot – the Minchat Sotah and the Minchat Nazir.
If a man suspects his wife of adultery but there are no witnesses, he brings her to the Beit Hamikdash and the Kohen brings a Minchat Sotah at the entrance to the Azarah, close to שער ניקנור (Sifri) –
"והביא האיש את אשתו אל הכהן והביא את קרבנה עליה עשירת האיפה קמח שערים לא יצק עליו שמן ולא יתן עליו לבנה כי מנחת קנאת הוא מנחת זכרון מזכרת עון" (במדבר ה, טו).
Undoubtedly the Minchat Sotah is the simplest of all the Menachot – plain barley semolina flour and that’s it! No oil, no levonah, like the other Menachot.
"ולקח הכהן מים קדשים בכלי חרש ומן העפר אשר יהיה בקרקע המשכן יקח הכהן ונתן אל המים. והעמיד הכהן את האשה לפני ה' ופרע את ראש האשה ונתן על כפיה את מנחת הזכרון מנחת קנאת הוא וביד הכהן יהיו מי המרים המאררים" (שם, יט).
The Kohen then takes an earthenware bowl filled with pure water from the Kiyor and mixes sand/dirt from the floor of the Mikdash into it. He then uncovers and unbraids the woman’s hair (according to Rashi – "סותר את קליעת שערה כדי לבזותה מכאן לבנות ישראל שגלוי הראש גנאי להן").
The Kohen holds the water and hands her the barley offering, giving her a last chance to admit her guilt. He then explains the consequences of her drinking this potion of bitter water. The text of the warning of the Kohen (including Hashem’s name) is then written on parchment using water-soluble ink. This parchment is then inserted into the water where the letters dissolve and mix together with the bitter water which the accused woman then drinks. If she is innocent, she emerges unscathed and is rewarded by painlessly giving birth to a perfect child (Sota 26a). If however she is guilty, her stomach swells up, her legs fall off and she dies. According to Rabbeinu Bachyei – not only does she die physically in this world, but also merits neither עולם הבא nor תחיית המתים.
I am not going to get into what happens to the male adulterer, or the case of an evil husband who intentionally and falsely accuses his wife, to try get rid of her. The Gemara and the Mefarshim discuss this at length, but it is not the topic of this shiur. Suffice it to say - they get their just rewards.
Immediately following the episode of the Sotah, the Torah details the laws of the Nazir. Rashi explains the proximity of the two topics – someone who witnesses a Sotah in her disgrace, should abstain from drinking wine as that leads to adultery.
A Nazir (man or woman) is someone who undertakes a regimen of abstinence, specifically in three areas a. refraining from anything connected to grapes and wine, b. leaving their hair to grow ugly and wild and c. coming into contact with a טומאת מת, even a first degree relative. The minimum period of Nezirut is 30 days, but someone may undertake it for longer.
Upon completion of the Nezirut, the Nazir must bring two korbanot, a חטאת and a שלמים. In addition the Nazir must bring a basket of חלות מצות and a basket of רקיקי מצות. Following the offering of these korbanot, the Nazir must shave his hair (in a special room in the Mikdash called לשכת הנזיר) and the hair is then burnt on the mizbeach and the Nazir then drinks wine.
Chazal say that a Nazir attains a higher spiritual level than even the Kohen Gadol, through his abstinence.
The whole concept of abstinence is not Torah “mainstream”. HKB”H intended that we elevate the physical world to a higher level of spirituality, not that we cut ourselves off from it, like the goyim do in their monasteries. The Nazir is a notable exception and the question is, why?
In addition, why does a Nazir have to direct his attention to only wine, hair and impurity of a dead body? The truth is that abstinence from these three is not as difficult as it may seem. Abstaining from drinking wine for 30 days? Some people regularly don’t drink wine year round and they don’t feel deprived. Not cutting your hair for 30 days? During Sfirah we don’t cut our hair for longer! Not coming into contact with a dead body? Baruch Hashem many of us go months even years before we need to attend a funeral. So what is the big deal about becoming a Nazir? For 30 days he doesn’t do these three things … so what? If you said that for 30 days he must refrain from using his smartphone! Or for 30 days you are not allowed to shower! Wine, hair, dead bodies? That’s easy!
So what is so special about these specific three things?
Another interesting aspect to explore is the Minchat Nazir. This offering consists of only two types of matzot – challot and rekikim. Contrast this with the Korban Todah which has 4 types of bread – one chametz bread and three types of matzot – challot, rekikim, murbechet. The Toda is the “all inclusive” Mincha – containing practically every type of bread brought in the Mikdash (with the exception of the Lechem Hapanim which was unique). Why in the Minchat Nazir are chametz breads and murbechet missing?
Finally, what is the intricate connection between the Nazir and the Sotah? We already see a hint, regarding the “hair” aspect in both, but what is the reason that a Nazir becomes a Nazir only because he sees a Sotah in her disgrace? What about other equally serious sins, like murder? Why when someone sees one man murdering another, does he not have to become a Nazir?
To fully understand this, I would like to develop a principle based on a Gemara (Brachot , 40a).
"דתניא אילן שאכל ממנו אדם הראשון - רבי מאיר אומר גפן היה, שאין לך דבר שמביא יללה על האדם אלא יין שנאמר (בראשית ט, כא) 'וישת מן היין וישכר'. רבי נחמיה אומר תאנה היתה, שבדבר שנתקלקלו בו נתקנו שנאמר (בראשית ג, ז) 'ויתפרו עלה תאנה'. רבי יהודה אומר חטה היתה, שאין התינוק יודע לקרות אבא ואמא עד שיטעום טעם דגן".
There is a machloket in the Braita – what kind of tree was the עץ הדעת. Rebi Meir says it was a grape vine, since nothing causes more grief than excess consumption of wine and he brings an example from Noach. Rebi Nechemya says it was a fig tree, because after they sinned, Adam and Chava covered themselves in fig leaves. Rebi Yehuda says it was a wheat tree, because a baby does not acquire דעת until he begins to eat grains (solid food).
In my shiur on parshat Truma (https://www.showbreadinstitute.org/truma2021 ) I explore the opinion of R. Yehuda in depth and its connection with the Lechem Hapanim. Here however I will attempt to explore ALL THREE opinions and propose a hypothesis that all three were contributing factors to חטא אדם הראשון.
Let’s begin with Rebi Meir - גפן.
As is well known, grapes that are left to ferment become wine, due to a chemical reaction discovered by Louis Pasteur whereby microorganisms feeding of the sugar in the grapes, create alcohol. It is entirely possible, from the pshat of this opinion, that the עץ הדעת was indeed a grape vine, in which case in order for Chava and Adam to have become intoxicated from it, they would have had to first allow the grapes become wine – a delayed process, similar to that of the wheat becoming bread (explored in my shiur on Truma above). Chava gave Adam grapes to eat which intoxicated him and caused him to sleep, which is when Chava committed adultery with the נחש. Had Adam been awake it would not have happened.
Conversely, it is also possible to attain “intoxication” without imbibing alcohol, as suggested by some Mefarshim regarding Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon that died because they brought an אש זרה - that they were not necessarily intoxicated from actually drinking wine (which seems incredulous given their spiritual stature), but rather that they were intoxicated by the prospect of achieving an unprecedented proximity to HKB”H.
Wine is somewhat of a conundrum in the Torah. In some cases it is viewed as something negative (Noach, daughters of Lot, Nadav and Avihu, etc.) and in some cases it is considered a positive thing (Malkitzedek giving Avraham wine, Yaakov giving Yitzchak wine before receiving the bracha, the נסכים in the Mishkan, etc.)
Either way, whether from becoming physically intoxicated from drinking wine, or from becoming psychologically intoxicated from the temptation of the נחש, according to Rebi Meir, the concept of גפן - uncontrolled and misdirected intoxication - led to Chava sinning and causing Adam to sin.
Rebi Nechemya – תאנה.
There is an incredible Gemara (Brachot 61a) that describes how HKB”H introduced Chava to Adam for the first time. The Gemara describes it like a chuppah, where HKB”H acted as the Shoshvin, leading Chava up the aisle as it were and as a special gift to the married couple, HKB”H braided Chava’s hair “מלמד שקלעה הקדוש ברוך הוא לחוה”. Steinzaltz (and other Mefarshim) add “את שערותיה”. Braiding, gathering up and minimizing the exposure of a married woman’s hair is a sign of צניעות. This perush incidentally is the basis for כיסוי ראש and also …. braiding challot for Shabbat.
Chava violated her marriage bond by allowing the נחש to see her unbraided hair and this led to adultery. This is hinted at in the passuk –
"וַתִּפָּקַחְנָה עֵינֵי שְׁנֵיהֶם וַיֵּדְעוּ כִּי עֵירֻמִּם הֵם וַיִּתְפְּרוּ עֲלֵה תְאֵנָה וַיַּעֲשׂוּ לָהֶם חֲגֹרֹת" (בראשית ג, ז).
They made חֲגֹרֹת from fig leaves. חֲגֹרֹת in gematriya is כיסוי דראש.
Rebi Yehuda – חיטה.
I have explored this in depth in my shiur on parshat Truma (above), but I will summarize it briefly here. The עץ הדעת was a 5-grains tree whose fruit were wheat, barley, rye, spelt and oats. This was the tree that disobeyed HKB”H’s command to be an עץ פרי עשה פרי. The נחש duped Chava into thinking that she could create life without שלושה שותפין הן באדם by mixing ground grains (flour) from the tree with water, in the same way HKB”H created אדם הראשון by gathering dust of the earth and mixing it with water. Subsequently, instead of creating life as the נחש promised, Chava in fact created death – by her sin, she caused the human species to become mortal. The Mefarshim refer to the עץ הדעת as – סמא דמותא – the potion of death.
All three ברי פלוגתא in in the Gemara in Brachot 40a, Rebi Meir, Rebi Nechemya and Rebi Yehuda focus on the root cause – what led Chava to sin and they each address a different possible cause.
What they all agree on however is what the end result was. The end result was adultery between Chava and the נחש.
Chava says הַנָּחָשׁ הִשִּׁיאַנִי וָאֹכֵל, from the root of the word נישואין. The Gemara (Shabbat 146a) says that the נחש had physical intercourse with Chava, an adulterous relationship since Chava was Adam’s wife.
Therefore Chava was in fact the first סוטה. But it was not only Chava.
If, as the Mefarshim say, the עץ הדעת is called סמא דמותא – the potion of death, then since both Chava and Adam ate from the tree, it is as if both were administered the bitter water of the סוטה. We can understand Chava having to drink the water of the סוטה, since she committed adultery with the snake, but why Adam?
After Am Yisrael sinned with the עגל הזהב, Moshe ground up the golden calf into dust, added the dust to water and gave to Am Yisrael to drink – similar to the potion of the סוטה. Here however the sin was idol worship, not adultery, so why were Am Yisrael treated like a woman who had committed adultery? Chazal say that at Har Sinai, HKB”H, as it were, wed Am Yisrael, it was like a relationship between a man and his wife. By sinning with idol worship, Am Yisrael were in fact betraying HKB”H and committing adultery.
Adam, by also eating from the עץ הדעת Chazal say, committed the sin of idol worship by defying HKB”H’s commandment. Therefore it is not surprising that he too had to be administered the סמא דמותא.
We see that the punishment received both by Chava and Adam were synonymous with that of the סוטה. Until Chava ate from the עץ הדעת the birth process was designed to be “Polaroid” – conception and almost instantaneous, painless birth. Chava’s punishment was to now suffer the tribulations of pregnancy as her belly swelled up and endure the agony of childbirth. Adam, whose stature Chazal say before the sin stretched from the earth to the heavens, was diminished – as if his legs had fallen off.
Now we begin to understand the modus operandi behind the Minchat Sotah. The passuk calls it a מזכרת עון, something that recalls a sin. Which sin? The sin of Chava and Adam, the first case of a סוטה.
It is a Mincha from barley grains, one of the fruits of the עץ הדעת, the lowliest of the 5 types of grains. The Mefarshim say that since barley has always been used in the world predominantly as animal feed, bringing such an offering emphasizes the animalistic nature of the sin of adultery.
The Kohen takes pure water and mixes it with sand from the earth in the Mikdash, reminiscent of how HKB”H created Adam. ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים – HKB”H allows his name to be erased and mixed into this mixture – the Mefarshim view this as an indication of how far HKB”H is willing to go to restore שלום בית between a man and his wife (if she is innocent).
The Kohen unbraids and exposes the woman’s hair, just as Chava did resulting in adultery with the נחש.
The woman then drinks this bitter potion and if she is guilty it acts as a potion of death – סמא דמותא, just like Chava introduced death to the world. If however she is innocent it results in – life! And not just “survival”, but the propagation of new life, life perfect in every physical form.
When someone undertakes Nezirut, it is not to become “holy” or to cut themselves off from the pleasures of the world. The purpose of Nezirut is to repair the damage of חטא עץ הדעת, no more and no less.
This is why Nezirut involves three and only these specific three things – wine, hair and impurity of death. These three things according to the Gemara were the root causes of חטא עץ הדעת, the things that led up to the sin of adultery – intoxication from wine, exposing a married woman’s hair and causing death by trying to “bypass” the only path of life - שלושה שותפין הן באדם.
These three things are also the root cause that arouses the יצר הרע, the נחש – intoxication, lack of modesty and impurity.
By accepting upon themself Nezirut and refraining from these three things, a person elevates themself higher than the level of a Kohen Gadol, because he eliminates the raison d’etre of the יצר הרע. In addition, he repairs the damage done in Gan Eden that led to חטא עץ הדעת.
By refraining from anything connected to גפן the Nazir repairs the damage caused by the intoxication of Chava from the temptation of the נחש. Following his Nezirut, the person may then drink wine with no fear, since it is directed for the purposes of good, not evil, like the נסכים in the Mikdash.
By growing his hair ugly and wild and not attending to his haute couture, and by later shaving and burning his hair, the Nazir repairs the damage caused by Chava seductively exposing her hair.
By distancing himself from טומאת המת – even his first degree relatives – the Nazir repairs the damage done by the introduction of טומאת המת by Chava.
When the Nazir is finished his Nezirut, he must bring a קרבן חטאת. Why? ask the Mefarshim, what sin has he committed by becoming a Nazir? Just the opposite – he is fulfilling a מצוות עשה in the Torah and fixing חטא עץ הדעת. Some Mefarshim say that he sinned against his body by denying himself things that Hashem permitted, but that is an inadequate reason. The real reason he brings a קרבן חטאת is not to atone for his sin, but for the sin of Chava and Adam!
In addition, he must bring a קרבן שלמים to restore שלום בית between Chava and Adam.
The Minchat Nazir has two kinds of matzot – חלות מצות בלולות בשמן and רקיקי מצות משוחין בשמן. Both have oil, but in the challot, the oil is hidden in the matza and not visible. In the rekikim the oil is spread on top of the matza and is visible. R’ Chaim of Volozhyn says that the visible oil spread on top of the rekimim is the highest level of the neshama, the invisible oil inside the challot is the lowest level of the nefesh. The purpose of Nezirut is to flip the lowest animalistic part of ourselves and make it the highest spiritual level possible. Chametz bread, like in the Toda is unwelcome as it reflects the יצר הרע. The מרבכת which soaks oil from the מחבת into the matza is, according to R’ Chaim of Volozhyn, an intermediary between the nefesh and the neshama. For the Nazir there are no intermediaries – there is black and white, taking the animalistic and raising it to the highest level of spirituality, no grey areas in the middle.
When a person sees a סוטה בקילקולה, say the Mefarshim, he should undertake Nezirut. When someone experiences the sin of Chava and Adam firsthand, they must undertake to repair that sin.
The undertakings are not necessarily “hard”, there are many harder things a person can undertake. They are however the reparation of the three specific things that are the root cause of the sin of adultery and they restore שלום בית between a man and his wife and between Am Yisrael and HKB”H.
