For the source text click/tap here: Sotah 4
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In order for the laws of a sota to come into play, the husband must warn his wife that she should not be secluded with a certain man, and his warning notwithstanding, she does exactly that. In order for the seclusion to be considered significant, it must be long enough for the man and woman to have engaged in at least the beginning of an act of sexual intercourse.
Several suggestions are raised with regard to the definition of that length of time.
The Gemara continues with a profound insight explaining that adultery is much more than a sin of sexual lust.
Rather it often is the result of arrogance - of thinking one can basically do what one wants.
Even more difficult is the teaching equating neglect to wash one's hand before a meal to adultery itself. "Whoever eats bread without washing one's hands it is as if they had relations with a harlot" (Sotah 4b).
The Gemara actually brings scriptural support for such a position: "'For on account of a harlot [a man is brought to] a loaf of bread" (Mishlei 6:26).
We explore the notion of a dangerous woman in Mishlei as well as the way the scribes shaped our interpretations.
We end with an analysis of Bialik’s Megilas Eish/Scroll of Fire