Thank you for joining us for Maseches Sotah. We begin with chapter 1, mishnah 1. For a woman to acquire the status of a sotah and become obligated to drink the water in the Beis HaMikdash - in order to clarify whether or not she engaged in a forbidden relationship - two prerequisites are required:
Kinui - the warning that a husband gives his wife not to seclude herself with a particular man.
Setirah - her being in seclusion with that very man she was warned not to seclude herself with.
Our mishnah discusses what testimony is required for something to be considered kinui, that is, that the warning was actually given, and what testimony is required regarding the setirah.
The wording of the mishnah - the view of Rabbi Eliezer:
The mishnah opens: "HaMekaneh le'ishto" - one who issues a kinui to his wife and warns her not to seclude herself with a particular man. Rabbi Eliezer says:
"Mekaneh lah al pi shenayim" - the kinui must take place in the presence of two witnesses, or on the basis of their statement. Two witnesses must testify that he warned her not to seclude herself with that man.
"U'mashkeh al pi ed echad" - but for her to drink the sotah water because she secluded herself, the testimony of a single witness suffices. If one witness says that he saw her secluding herself with that man, that is enough to obligate her to drink the sotah water, and she is forbidden to her husband until she drinks it.
"O al pi atzmo" - even the husband's own testimony counts as testimony about the setirah, that is, about the fact that the seclusion actually took place.
The view of Rabbi Yehoshua:
Rabbi Yehoshua says: "Mekaneh lah al pi shenayim" - the kinui is established on the testimony of two witnesses, exactly as Rabbi Eliezer said. But regarding the testimony about the setirah he disagrees and says: "U'mashkeh al pi shenayim" - the giving of the water to drink is also done only on the testimony of two witnesses about the seclusion, and one witness or the husband's own testimony is not enough.
The witness to the tumah:
The Gemara notes that the dispute between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua was stated only regarding the testimony about the kinui and the testimony about the setirah. But regarding a witness to the tumah - a witness who testifies that during the seclusion she actually engaged in relations with that man - both agree that even a single witness is enough for her not to drink the bitter water. For the bitter water comes only where there is a doubt about which there are no witnesses, as the Torah says: "V'ed ein bah" - that there is no witness on the question of whether she committed the sin of adultery. But if there is even one witness that she transgressed, she does not drink the bitter water and she is forbidden to her husband permanently.
An alternative version in the name of Rabbi Eliezer:
The Gemara brings a beraisa that Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer, containing a version different from the one before us in the mishnah. According to this version the matter is reversed: the kinui - the warning - may be established by one witness or by the husband himself, whereas the witnesses to the setirah, the witnesses to the seclusion, are the ones who must be two.
The practical halachah nowadays:
Based on this version, the Gemara notes that nowadays, when there is no sotah water, a person should never say to his wife, even in private: "Do not seclude yourself with so-and-so." For if she then secludes herself with that man in the presence of two witnesses, according to this opinion she becomes permanently forbidden to her husband: the husband's own warning is enough to count as kinui, and once the setirah occurred in the presence of two people, she is obligated to drink sotah water - and we have no sotah water, so she will remain forbidden to her husband forever. For this reason the Gemara says that one should never do this.
In summary: in this mishnah we learned the two conditions that obligate a woman to drink the sotah water - kinui and setirah - and the dispute about the testimony required for each of them: according to Rabbi Eliezer, kinui with two witnesses and the drinking on the testimony of one witness or of the husband himself; and according to Rabbi Yehoshua, both with two witnesses. We also learned that regarding a witness to the tumah all agree that even a single witness is enough to forbid her permanently, since the water comes only where there is a doubt - "V'ed ein bah"; we saw a reversed version in the name of Rabbi Eliezer, and the practical conclusion that nowadays a man should not warn his wife not to seclude herself with so-and-so.