Bitter Waters

In Exodus 15 we find the following passages

כג וַיָּבֹאוּ מָרָתָה--וְלֹא יָכְלוּ לִשְׁתֹּת מַיִם מִמָּרָה, כִּי מָרִים הֵם; עַל-כֵּן קָרָא-שְׁמָהּ, מָרָה.

23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.

כד וַיִּלֹּנוּ הָעָם עַל-מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר, מַה-נִּשְׁתֶּה.

24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying: 'What shall we drink?'

כה וַיִּצְעַק אֶל-יְהוָה, וַיּוֹרֵהוּ יְהוָה עֵץ, וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ אֶל-הַמַּיִם, וַיִּמְתְּקוּ הַמָּיִם; שָׁם שָׂם לוֹ חֹק וּמִשְׁפָּט, וְשָׁם נִסָּהוּ.

25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them;

כו וַיֹּאמֶר אִם-שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע לְקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, וְהַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו תַּעֲשֶׂה, וְהַאֲזַנְתָּ לְמִצְו‍ֹתָיו, וְשָׁמַרְתָּ כָּל-חֻקָּיו--כָּל-הַמַּחֲלָה אֲשֶׁר-שַׂמְתִּי בְמִצְרַיִם, לֹא-אָשִׂים עָלֶיךָ, כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה, רֹפְאֶךָ. {ס}

26 and He said: 'If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His eyes, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians; for I am the LORD that healeth thee.' {S}


I was giving the Daf today (Tractate Sotah)and I noticed that the Torah (Numbers 5,11-31)when referring to the water that is given to the Sotah to drink, also refers to the water as "Mayim Hamorim"(bitter waters).The jealous husband brings his wife who is suspected of being disloyal to the Temple and she is then tested by being given to drink this "Mayim Hamorim"(a recipe that consists of a parchment with G-D's name that is ground up and mixed with water). If she is found guilty she dies a horrible death with her stomach exploding.On the other hand if she is found innocent she is blessed with children.
It seems that the Jewish people after surviving Egypt and were now about to enter a covenant with G-D(with the giving of the Torah)were also being tested by the "Mayim Hamorim". That is why it says שָׁם שָׂם לוֹ חֹק וּמִשְׁפָּט, וְשָׁם נִסָּהוּ. (There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them; ). Apparently whatever laws were given at that time(Rashi brings a Michiltah that the laws of Shabbos,the Red Cow and Monetary laws were given),proved that the Jews were loyal and ready to dedicate themselves to G-D. It was after this test of obedience and dedication that G-D and the Jewish people were ready to consummate their marriage with the giving of the Torah.

My Sabbaths shall you observe and My Sanctuary shall you revere

Parshas Behar ends off with a seemingly strange passage "My Sabbaths shall you observe and My sanctuary shall you revere-I am Hashem"(Perek 25 Pasuk 2). At first glance one would think that this passage is referring to the commandment of keeping the weekly Sabbath which Jews celebrate every Saturday to remember G-D's creation of the world. Throughout the Torah the reason why the Sanctuary is mentioned together with the the Sabbath is (as our sages tell us)in order to teach us that we cannot violate the Sabbath even when building the Temple(this may also be the link to the thirty nine types of work that was done to build the temple and is thus prohibited for a Jew to practice on the Sabbath). The only problem with this interpretation in this particular Parsha is that the main subject of Parshas Behar was the Shmitah(every seventh year) and the Jubilee(every fiftieth year),which as our rabbis teach us is linked to the Shmitah cycle. There is no other mention in this Parsha of the weekly Sabbath laws.Why would Moshe end this Parsha with the weekly Sabbath instead of the main subject of the Parsha, the seven year sabbatical(Shmitah)? Furthermore the Shmitah is also referred to as sabbath as the Pasuk says in the beginning of our Parsha"but the seventh year shall be a complete sabbath for the land,a sabbath for Hashem;your field you shall not sow and your vineyard you shall not prune"(Perek 25 Pasuk 4).

I would therefore like to propose that the last passage in this Parsha is actually a summation of Parshas Behar and is also a final warning for us and for future generations to keep the Shmittah. The mentioning of the Temple with the Shmittah is in order for us to realize that the keeping of the Shmittah is eternally linked to the Temple in a way that the existence of the Temple is tied into our keeping the Shmitah. As G-D tells Moshe and the Jewish people " And you will I scatter among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. Then shall the land be paid her Sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye are in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and repay her Sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall have rest; even the rest which it had not in your Sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it."(Leviticus 26:33-36).Also see Rashi on Pasuk 35.

We also find that G-D told the prophet Jeremiah to tell the Jewish people "therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: 'At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew, that hath been sold unto thee, and hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee'; but your fathers hearkened not unto Me, neither inclined their ear...... Therefore thus saith the LORD: Ye have not hearkened unto Me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbour; behold, I proclaim for you a liberty, saith the LORD, unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine; and I will make you a horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth."(Jeremiah 34:12-22)
Finally we find in Chronicles the passage "And they burnt the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia; to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had been paid her Sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. "(Chronicles II 36:19-22)