For the source text click/tap here: Sotah 15
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The mishnah starts to follow the order of the verses which describe the Sotah ritual in Numbers 5. Verse 15-17 and describes the minhah sacrifice (yesterday’s mishnah) and the water in the earthenware bowl, into which the name of God will be rubbed out.
The verse only says that the priest takes some water, but it does not say where he takes it from. The mishnah adds that it is taken from the laver.
There is a debate about how much water is to be put into the bowl, but in either case the amount of water is just sufficient to absolve the ink from God’s name. Rabbi Judah gives a smaller measurement for the water since he prescribes the least amount of writing (see tomorrow’s mishnah).
We explore the ritual through the lens of Andrew Durbin’s review of the secondary literature on the rabbinic including feminist readings.