וְהִשְׁבִּ֨יעַ הַכֹּהֵ֥ן אֶֽת־הָֽאִשָּׁה֮ בִּשְׁבֻעַ֣ת הָאָלָה֒ וְאָמַ֤ר הַכֹּהֵן֙ לָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה יִתֵּ֨ן יְהוָ֥ה אוֹתָ֛ךְ לְאָלָ֥ה וְלִשְׁבֻעָ֖ה בְּת֣וֹךְ עַמֵּ֑ךְ בְּתֵ֨ת יְהוָ֤ה אֶת־יְרֵכֵךְ֙ נֹפֶ֔לֶת וְאֶת־בִּטְנֵ֖ךְ צָבָֽה׃
Alors le pontife adjurera la femme par le serment d’imprécation, et il dira à la femme: "Que l’Éternel fasse de toi un sujet d’imprécation et de serment au milieu de ton peuple, en faisant lui l’Éternel dépérir ton flanc et gonfler ton ventre;
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 5,21. “may the Lord make you a curse and an imprecation among your people, as the Lord causes your thigh to sag, etc.;”
We need to pay close attention to the word יתן which normally means “he will give,” or “may he give,” being used here when introducing a curse. Moreover, the line יתן ה' אותך לאלה, “may Hashem make you a curse, etc.,” seems to contradict a fundamental principle in Judaism that nothing negative ever originates from Hashem, and here the priest appears to invoke precisely this!
We may have to look at the following in order to understand what is written here. When G’d exacts judgment from sinners this may take two forms. 1) By doing so, He at the same time sanctifies His holy name. 2) He is not concerned with sanctifying His holy name through the manner in which he executes this judgment. When G’d’s name becomes sanctified while He exacts retribution from the sinner, this is an act of Kindness on His part, as the victim of the judgment exacted simultaneously became the instrument through which G’d’s name was sanctified. The victim’s soul experiences a spiritual elevation as a result of having been instrumental in sanctifying G’d’s name.
We find an allusion to this in Exodus 14,31 where the Torah writes: וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה אשר עשה ה' במצרים, “Israel saw the great hand of the Lord that He brought to bear on Egypt, etc.;” the expression יד הגדולה, always is an allusion to G’d’s attribute of loving kindness. If you were to ask how we can possibly see G’d’s “kindness” when He is busy drowning the mighty armies of the Egyptians, the answer appears immediately afterwards where the Torah describes that as a result of witnessing G’d’s great hand the Israelites were in awe of G’d as never before, i.e. וייראו העם את ה' ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו, so that “they feared the Lord and believed in Him as well as in His servant Moses.” Some of the “credit” for the Jewish people’s faith could be attributed to the Egyptians in their role as G’d’s victims, which resulted in His name being sanctified. G’d’s intervention in the affairs of the Sotah, and her jealous husband similarly is bound to result in the people observing the results having greater respect for G’d and His name.
We need to pay close attention to the word יתן which normally means “he will give,” or “may he give,” being used here when introducing a curse. Moreover, the line יתן ה' אותך לאלה, “may Hashem make you a curse, etc.,” seems to contradict a fundamental principle in Judaism that nothing negative ever originates from Hashem, and here the priest appears to invoke precisely this!
We may have to look at the following in order to understand what is written here. When G’d exacts judgment from sinners this may take two forms. 1) By doing so, He at the same time sanctifies His holy name. 2) He is not concerned with sanctifying His holy name through the manner in which he executes this judgment. When G’d’s name becomes sanctified while He exacts retribution from the sinner, this is an act of Kindness on His part, as the victim of the judgment exacted simultaneously became the instrument through which G’d’s name was sanctified. The victim’s soul experiences a spiritual elevation as a result of having been instrumental in sanctifying G’d’s name.
We find an allusion to this in Exodus 14,31 where the Torah writes: וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה אשר עשה ה' במצרים, “Israel saw the great hand of the Lord that He brought to bear on Egypt, etc.;” the expression יד הגדולה, always is an allusion to G’d’s attribute of loving kindness. If you were to ask how we can possibly see G’d’s “kindness” when He is busy drowning the mighty armies of the Egyptians, the answer appears immediately afterwards where the Torah describes that as a result of witnessing G’d’s great hand the Israelites were in awe of G’d as never before, i.e. וייראו העם את ה' ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו, so that “they feared the Lord and believed in Him as well as in His servant Moses.” Some of the “credit” for the Jewish people’s faith could be attributed to the Egyptians in their role as G’d’s victims, which resulted in His name being sanctified. G’d’s intervention in the affairs of the Sotah, and her jealous husband similarly is bound to result in the people observing the results having greater respect for G’d and His name.
The Gate of Unity
This is in accordance with the statement in Zohar regarding the thigh of a Sota.21Regarding the verses, (Genesis 32:26) “And Yaakov was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him etc.” and, “He saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh,” the Zohar (Mishpatim 111b) explains that the Sitra Achara (the side of evil) persevered over the thigh, i.e. Netzach, of Yaakov, and “won” it from him. The Zohar then continues to explain that the aspect of the “thigh” (i.e., Netzach) of the aspect of Yaakov was weakened until the Prophet Shmuel came and rectified it. (It explains there that its weakness was that it did not draw down the light of prophecy. As is explained elsewhere, prophecy is primarily revealed through the aspects of Netzach and Hod.) From the time of Shmuel onward the Sitra Achara does not have dominion over the aspect of the thigh of Yaakov. Rather, the forces of evil and concealment now receive their sustenance from another “thigh,” the thigh of the adulteress (Sota). As scripture states regarding the adulteress - Sotah (Numbers 5:22), “These waters that cause curse shall enter your innards to distend the stomach and cause the thigh to fall.” The reason for this is because the Sitra Achara itself is compared to an adulteress, as stated (Proverbs 2:17), “Who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God.” (See Zohar II 111b; Numbers 5:21, 27.)