The woman is forced to undergo a complex, intimidating, and humiliating ritual of "The Bitter Waters," to determine if she, suspected and accused of adultery by her insanely jealous husband, is guilty. The portion of the Torah that addresses her situation is written on a parchment that will be dissolved in water  drink to prove her innocence or guilt. God's Name is erased to demonstrate, "God's commitment to bring peace to the relationship between husband and wife."
How odd of God to wait for such an unusual situation to prove His concern for healthy marriages! Why wait for a husband, in a moment of insanity, to accuse his wife of having an affair rather than have an intense ceremony at the wedding? Why does the Torah spend so much time describing a terrible situation, after the fact, instead of directly addressing marriage in great detail? Why such a public ceremony rather than skilled marriage counseling before the situation spun out of control?

The person observing this humiliating ritual glances at the husband and wonders, "What kind of man could do this to his wife?  Why is he so jealous? Why does he suspect that his wife is looking for something outside of marriage? Was there any truth to their marriage before this began?"

The marriage was a pretense. We cannot afford to live a life of pretend. It will suck away any truth from all our actions, words, and relationships, including our relationship with God. The pretender will perform all required religious duties without connecting to his actions. His prayers will be empty. His Torah study, vacuous. His Mitzvot, meaningless.
The Talmud declares, "Whoever sees a Sotah in her state of humiliation, should take a nazirite vow to abstain from wine [Sotah 2a]." The observer of pretense and its consequences must withdraw and, with great care and honesty, objectively examine every aspect of his life to determine whether he too is living a life of pretend.

It is not the adultery that triggers the erasure of God's Name; it is the pretending that led to this situation. It is the pretense that threatens every aspect of our lives. It is, as Isaiah proclaims, "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, 'Read this, please,' they will answer, 'I can't; it is sealed' (Isaiah 29:11)." Isaiah's scroll is the same as that of the Sotah. It is the Torah that is studied as words sealed in a scroll, words that we are not permitted to study with freshness and a desire to open the seal and find practical meaning in its words. The scroll of the Sotah is intended to remind us of the danger of living a life of pretend, as Isaiah continues, "These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is merely learned behavior (Verse13)."

My heart breaks for those who study Torah, pray three times each day, and observe the Mitzvot as if all the lessons are sealed and hidden, that they do not speak to each of us in powerful ways.

My heart rejoices with the people who battle to break the seal and discover fresh and exciting ideas that resonate deep within our hearts and souls. I spent the festival of Shavuot with such people, seal-breakers, living the text, using prayer to have a direct conversation with God, working on their relationships, searching for truth. They gave me so much more than I could possibly give them. They were not just "Minnesota Nice," they were "Minnesota Real."

The pretenders erase God's Name and Presence from His Torah and service. The Seal-breakers inscribe God's Name for eternity. Each question rips at the seal of mystery. Each demand for an explanation shreds the seal of ignorance. Each quest for meaning dissolves the seal that stops us from accessing the eternal wisdom of our rich heritage.

I wish you a Shabbat of passionate seal-breaking; a Shabbat that will allow us on the eighth day to circumcise the uncircumcised hearts that stop us from accessing all that can be ours.


Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Simcha L. Weinberg
President 
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