Naso: The Curious and Troubling Case of Sotah

From Rabbi Rachel Barenblatt, "Bread and Bitter Water" at https://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2009/06/bread-and-bitter-water-radical-torah-repost.html
I'm fascinated that the barley flour brought as an offering in this instance is not anointed with oil, nor glorified with frankincense, because it is an offering of jealousy. (Everett Fox calls it "a grain-gift of jealousy / grain-gift of reminding that reminds of iniquity.") There's a poetic kind of appropriateness to the lack of oil and spice. Jealousy negates what is rich and valuable and beautiful. When jealousy consumes us, we are dulled in a way that obscures the flavor of our relationships, even our relationship with God.

From Rabbi Lauren Eichler Berkun, "Redeeming the Sotah" at https://www.jtsa.edu/torah/redeeming-the-sotah/While it is certainly distressing to imagine biblical women inflicted with this humiliation and physical threat, I like to imagine this ordeal as one of the examples of biblical ingenuity. Let us note that the effects of the bitter waters are somewhat paradoxical. If the woman is guilty of adultery, she will become barren. If she is innocent, she will be fertile. Some interpret this verse to mean that she will get pregnant. In other words, the sotah trial will enable a jealous, suspicious husband to be assured that his wife’s pregnancy is a sign of her faithfulness to him. Surely this bit of biblical “magic” was a way of maintaining shalom-bayit (a peaceful home) and a means for ascertaining clear lineage. The woman’s pregnancy would be attributed solely to her husband.

From Rabbi Yissocher Frand, "The Connection Between the Chapters of Sotah and Nazir" at https://torah.org/torah-portion/ravfrand-5770-naso/
The Torah introduces the laws of Sotah with a peculiar expression “A man, a man whose wife goes astray and commits trespass against him…” [Bamidbar 5:12]. The commentaries note that repetition of the word “Ish” [a man] is indicative of a husband who is “too much of a man” – i.e. – too domineering and too controlling. When the atmosphere in the house is one of over assertiveness on the part of the husband, a likely result will be that the wife will go astray.
G-d teaches here that sometimes the way to bring peace between people requires bending the strict letter of the law. There was no greater way to teach this lesson than to allow “My Name that is written in sanctity” to be eradicated in water.

From Rabbi Lauren Eichler Berkun, "Redeeming the Sotah" at https://www.jtsa.edu/torah/redeeming-the-sotah/
Here is a wonderful example of an aggressive and shrewd woman who uses the sotah ritual, a ritual often associated with women’s subjugation, as a means for taking control of her own destiny. Hannah forces God’s hand though a clever application of God’s own words. According to the Torah, a woman suspected but innocent of adultery will become pregnant upon drinking the bitter waters. The barren Hannah threatens God with a fail-safe plan. She will arouse jealousy in her husband by secluding herself with another man. However, she will not actually commit adultery. She will then be subject to the sotah ordeal with an outcome predetermined by God’s own laws. She will become pregnant.
This midrash is a fascinating example of rabbinic creativity. In addition to the portrayal of a strong and resourceful woman who is not afraid to challenge God, the midrash may reflect a rabbinic attempt to redeem the sotah ritual. Rather than an ordeal for controlling and punishing women, the sotah ritual becomes an opportunity for barren women to achieve fertility!

From Rabbi Lewis M Barth, "The Sotah (Suspected Adulteress), the Nazir (Nazirite) and the Kohein (Priest)-How Odd They Should Be Neighbors!" at https://reformjudaism.org/learning/torah-study/torah-commentary/sotah-suspected-adulteress-nazir-nazirite-and-kohein-priest
Both the sotah and the nazirite are singled out to be models in society, one for disgrace and the other perhaps for appreciation of excessive religiosity. Yet their humanity is affirmed by the message of the Priestly Benediction, a brief blessing that in its terseness holds the multiplicity of all that human beings hope for in life. A comment on "May the Eternal bless you" (Numbers 6:24) in Sifrei B'midbar , a tannaitic midrash on the Book of Numbers, says simply "with the blessing explicitly stated in the Torah. . . "
It is not so odd that the sotah (suspected adulteress), the nazir (nazirite), and the kohein (priest) are neighbors in the biblical texts. For me, the most powerful meaning of their proximity is that they are our neighbors: those with secrets no one will ever know, those with a deep need for excessive religious expression, those who simply want what most of us want-life's blessings.