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Sotah Chapter 3, Mishnah 2: The Mincha and the Bitter Waters

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Sotah, Chapter 3, Mishnah 2. This mishnah opens by listing the four actions performed with the sotah's minchah (meal offering):

  • "Heinif" - the waving of the minchah, as we mentioned in the previous mishnah.

  • "Higish" - hagashah means bringing near. Most menachos require hagashah, meaning that the minchah was taken and brought near the southwestern corner of the altar.

  • "Kamatz" - the kohen takes a kometz from the minchah, a handful taken in a particular manner, so that it may be burned on the altar.

  • "Vehiktir" - the burning of the kometz on the altar.

After these four actions: "Vehashe'ar ne'echal lakohanim" - the remainder, after the kometz has been removed, is eaten by the kohanim. This is the standard order of a minchah.

The order of the procedures - the minchah or the drinking of the water?

From here the mishnah discusses the order in which two procedures were performed: the offering of the minchah and giving her the bitter water to drink - which of them comes first.

According to the mishnah: "Hayah mashkeh ve'achar kach makriv es minchasah" - first they would give her the water to drink, and afterward they would bring her minchah. The assumption is that in such a case the punishment of the swelling would not take effect until after the minchah had been brought.

Rabbi Shimon disagrees and says: "Makriv es minchasah ve'achar kach hayah mashkeh" - first her minchah is offered, and only afterward is she given the water to drink. His reason is from the verse, as it says: "Ve'achar yashkeh es ha'ishah es hamayim" - and afterward he gives the woman the water to drink.

However, if the procedures were done out of order, that is, according to Rabbi Shimon, that he gave her the water to drink first and only afterward brought the minchah - "Im hishkah ve'achar kach hikriv es minchasah - kesheirah", after the fact it is valid.

In summary: In this mishnah we listed the four actions of the minchah - waving, bringing near, taking the kometz and burning it - and the eating of the remainder by the kohanim. We examined the dispute about the order of the drinking and the offering: according to the mishnah he gives her the water to drink and afterward offers the minchah, while according to Rabbi Shimon he offers her minchah and afterward gives her the water to drink, as the verse states, "Ve'achar yashkeh es ha'ishah es hamayim" - and we learned that after the fact, if he gave her the water to drink and afterward offered the minchah, it is valid.