Commentaire de citation sur Les Nombres 5:29

And the whole earth was of one language and of common purpose. It appears that the entire incident of the Dispersion follows the principle that our Sages taught (Sanhedrin 71b): When the wicked gather together, it is bad for them and bad for the world; when the wicked are scattered, it is good for them and good for the world. For the righteous, the opposite is true. This is because when the wicked gather together, they devise evil plans against others. Additionally, they breed among themselves quarrels, conflicts, and hatred. This is the nature of the jealousies that exist between factions whose actions are not for the sake of Heaven but rather to make a name for themselves on earth. The root cause of this is that each of them has an external goal that divides their hearts from one another — for this one desires wealth and honor, that one excessive food, another excessive sexual pleasures, and yet another says “let us make a name for ourselves,” wanting to be elevated above others. From this, strife inevitably follows, both because they lack a unified purpose [for evil paths are many, while the good path is only one], and because each individual desires to achieve superiority and prominence over others. This trait is indeed prevalent among our people. Therefore, the dispersal of such groups is better than their gathering, as it is written, All workers of iniquity shall be scattered (Psalms 92:10). Nothing is better than creating space between those who cleave together [inappropriately], as it is written, Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongue, for I have seen violence and strife in the city (Psalms 55:10).

A betrothed woman and a shomeret yavam do not drink [the bitter waters] and do not receive their ketubah, as it is said, “When a wife, being under her husband, goes astray” (Numbers 5:29), this excludes a betrothed woman and a shomeret yavam. The Torah uses the word “wife” (alternatively translated as woman) in summarizing the laws of the Sotah. From here the rabbis deduce that she must have the status of full wife in order to drink the bitter waters. A betrothed woman does not have such a status and hence, even if her fiancé forbids her from being secluded with a certain man and afterwards she is secluded with him, she does not undergo the sotah ordeal. Similarly, a “shomeret yavam”, a woman whose husband died childless and is waiting for either levirate marriage (yibbum) or the release from levirate marriage (halitzah), does not drink the bitter waters. This refers to a case where the yavam, her brother-in-law, warned her not to be secluded with a certain man. Both of these women do lose their ketubah, since they were secluded after being warned; however, neither is allowed to undergo the sotah ordeal.

נטמאה ונטמאה – (Numbers 5:27 and Numbers 5:29) the extra “vav” in the second word "ונטמאה" –and defiles herself (Numbers 5:29) is for interpretation.

To have her drink when she is married - and if she secludes herself after the wedding, she will drink on account of the warning from [the period of] betrothal; he cannot make her drink when she is betrothed, since we require "while living in her husband's household" [Numbers 5:29].