And they shall send out of the camp all who have tzara’at, etc. After arranging all three camps, each person by his banner, therefore it immediately mentions the order of sanctity of these three camps: for the one with tzara’at is sent away from all three camps, the zav [one with a discharge] is outside of two, and one who is impure due to contact with the dead is outside the camp of the Divine Presence. And this order of sending away corresponds to the words of the Midrash (Naso 7:10) which says And they shall send out of the camp all who have tzara’at refers to idolatry, etc., and all who have a discharge refers to sexual immorality because it comes from emission of seed, and all who are impure due to the dead refers to bloodshed, etc. And it interprets this entire verse as referring to the exiles. This is difficult, for where are the exiles mentioned? Is it the opinion of this Midrash’s author to completely remove this verse from its plain meaning?

It appears that the intent of the Midrash’s author is to explain why this section is placed here. For it was stated on the first of Nissan, otherwise why would the impure individuals have come to Moses on the 14th of Nissan saying, We are unclean because of a dead person; why should we be excluded, etc. (Numbers 9:7)? If so, why was this section established here? Rather, certainly after arranging the Tabernacle in its place and causing His Divine Presence to dwell among them, He came to warn them not to cause the removal of the Divine Presence through these three primary sins that cause destruction. Therefore, He commanded to send out from the camp every person with tzara’at, every person with a discharge, and everyone impure from contact with the dead, because these three are distinctive signs that within them is either a trace of heresy of idolatry, which brings tzara’at, as it says regarding the Golden Calf, Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (Exodus 32:25). And our Sages said (Bamidbar Rabbah 7:4) that they became leprous, as it is written about the leper, his head shall be unrestrained (Leviticus 13:45). Due to this sin, the First and Second Temples were destroyed, for although they did not worship idols during the Second Temple period, nevertheless, they were guilty of the sin of baseless hatred and evil speech, which is equivalent to idolatry, as our Sages learned (Yalkut Shimoni, Psalms 656) from the verse, With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are with us; who is Lord over us? (Psalms 12:5). One who speaks evil speech is considered as if he has denied a fundamental principle of faith. The reason for sending the leper outside all three camps is to distance any trace of idolatry from all three. And if it is due to the sin of evil speech, he must dwell in isolation, just as he caused separation between people, and if he were not distanced from all three camps, he would not be dwelling in isolation. And everyone with a discharge — for his discharge is a sign that he is unbridled in matters of sexual immorality, and therefore he develops a discharge. He is sent out of the holy Divine Presence camp and out of the Levite camp, which also possesses holiness, as any place of holiness cannot tolerate matters of sexual immorality, in contrast to the Israelite camp, which does not have as much holiness. And everyone impure from contact with the dead — for this also indicates a wayward spirit within him, and that he is not careful about becoming impure through contact with a human corpse, thereby affecting the image of God, so to speak. Therefore, it is appropriate that he distance himself from the camp of the Divine Presence, as he damages the honor of the Divine Presence.

And since these three caused the destruction and removal of the Divine Presence, therefore He commanded to distance them from the camp so they would not defile their camps, because wherever they are present, the Holy One, blessed be He, removes His Divine Presence from there, as the place is “called impure, impure.” A hint to this matter is the letter tet [numerical value nine] in the word tamei [impure], which alludes to bloodshed [shefichut damim] of one who is born after nine months. For this reason there were six cities of refuge, and it is written you shall add three more cities (Deuteronomy 19:9). In total nine, no more, for the reason that has been explained. The letter mem [numerical value 40] in tamei alludes to sexual immorality [giluy arayot], as the flood waters were 40 days because they troubled their Creator to form bastards during the 40 days of fetal formation. The letter alef in tamei alludes to idolatry [avodah zarah], which affects the oneness of the blessed God that is hinted at in the letter alef. Therefore, King David called the evil inclination impure (Sukkah 52b) because it caused him to stumble in all three: sexual immorality with Bathsheba, bloodshed with Uriah the Hittite, and idolatry as they learned (in Sanhedrin 107a) from the verse When David reached the summit (Second Samuel 15:32) — he sought to worship idolatry, etc. And there is also impurity in them, because idolatry defiles like a menstruant woman, as it says You will cast them away like a menstruous cloth (Isaiah 30:22). Therefore, He alluded in the removal of these three impure people to the removal of these three cardinal sins that cause the removal of the Divine Presence. And He connected to this section a man or woman who commits any sin to indicate that the removal of the impure is also because of their sin, as mentioned.

“Any man whose wife goes astray, etc.” The connection of this section to the previous verse is explained by Rashi: “If you withhold the gifts of the priest, by your life, you will need to come to him to bring him your wayward wife.” An explanation for his interpretation: Because one who withholds gifts will come to poverty, as Rashi explained above (5:10), and the Sages said (Sotah 4b), “Anyone who has relations with a prostitute will eventually seek a loaf of bread and not find it, as it is said For on account of a harlot, one is brought to a loaf of bread (Proverbs 6:26).” And when the wife sees that her husband has come to poverty, she suspects him of becoming poor because he has been “shepherding prostitutes,” as it is written One who keeps company with harlots will lose wealth (Proverbs 29:3). Seeing that suddenly he loses his wealth in an unusual way, for this reason she too will stray from him, saying, “He [indulges] in immorality, and so will I” (Megillah 12a). Therefore it says, and she commits a trespass against him [bo, literally in him] — if his wife strays and commits a trespass, then in him — this trespass depends on him, because he caused her to want to act like him out of suspicion. And all this was caused by him trespassing regarding the priest’s holy things, by not giving the priest what is sacred, because through this he comes to poverty, and she suspects him of consorting with prostitutes which wastes wealth. And the truth will be clarified through the testing of the waters, for our Sages said (Sotah 28a), And the man shall be clear from iniquity — if he is clear from iniquity, the waters will test her, etc. That is, from an iniquity similar to hers — if he is innocent of what his wife suspected him of, then it is right that the waters should test her; but if he is not clear of this iniquity and her suspicion is true, it is not right that the waters should test her, since he himself was consorting with prostitutes and she has somewhat of an excuse. And regarding what is written, if she goes astray [tisteh] — a language of foolishness [shetut] — even though every sinner is called a fool, nevertheless it specifies to say that she is specifically clamorous and simple, and knows nothing (Proverbs 9:13), and did not know what caused his poverty, for she should have understood that withholding the gifts caused his poverty, as mentioned.

And according to the Sages (ibid. 2), that anyone who sees a wayward woman in her disgrace should abstain from wine, the term tisteh [stray/be unfaithful] is used because wine confuses a person’s intellect, as it is written Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away the heart (Hosea 4:11). And from the fact that they are placed adjacent to each other, we learn that wine accustoms one to immorality. Therefore, it is stated in Joel (4:18), The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, etc., and adjacent to it [is written], A spring shall issue from the House of the Lord and shall water the Valley of Shittim. This is because the Sages said (Bamidbar Rabbah 20:22) that the spring of Shittim grows adulterers, as it is said Israel settled in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab (Numbers 25:1). Since it says the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, meaning an abundance of wine, it needed to assure them that the abundance of wine would not harm them and would not bring them to habitual sin, because a spring shall issue from the House of the Lord and shall water the Valley of Shittim. For wherever you find a fence against immorality, there you find holiness. Therefore, the spring comes out from a holy place and heals the Valley of Shittim so that it will not bring them to habitual sin — it and its partner, namely, wine. For the Valley of Shittim is the source of Samael [Satan], which is a partner to the letters of “anavim” [grapes] in the Aleph-Bet [the letters of the second come after each letter of the first].

If I were not afraid to say a novel idea that the early commentators did not envision, I would say that “tisteh” with a tet is like “tishteh” with a tav, because the tet can be substituted for a tav in the letters “dalet, tet, lamed, nun, tav” as Rashi explains at the end of Parshat Miketz (Genesis 44:16) on the verse and how shall we justify ourselves [umah nitztadak]. This tet is in place of a tav, and similarly the word for “going astray” throughout Scripture is with a tav, but in the language of our Sages it is “to’eh” with a tet. It’s as if the verse is saying “if his wife drinks” [tishteh] wine and intoxicating drink which lead to immorality. According to the one who says it’s a language of foolishness [shetut], this is because wine takes away one’s heart until one cannot distinguish between holy and profane, as it is written Do not drink wine or strong drink… that you may distinguish (Leviticus 10:9-10). And as it is written Lest he drink and forget what has been decreed (Proverbs 31:5). This refers to the Torah, which is called “mechokek” [decree-maker] because it has the same numerical value as “chemer” [wine]. And just as they said (Eruvin 65a) “Wine enters, secret goes out,” so too “chemer enters, mechokek goes out” — the numerical value of this is the same as that, and each one is pushed aside by its counterpart. Wine is called “chemer” because through it a person becomes like a “chamor” [donkey] without understanding. Therefore it says “ki tisteh” [if she strays] — that she becomes foolish like a donkey, to the point where even if a donkey solicits her in the marketplace, she would submit to it (Ketubot 65a).

He shall not pour oil on it. Even though “minchah” [offering] is feminine, nonetheless it uses the masculine form “alav” [on it/him] because it refers to the flour which is masculine. And He commanded to take specifically flour because immediately after grinding it becomes flour, as it is written Grind flour (Isaiah 47:2). And we also find the language of grinding in this matter, as it is written And he was grinding in the prison house (Judges 16:21), and it is written Let my wife grind for another (Job 31:10). Therefore it says it is a meal-offering of jealousies — that is, the flour that comes after grinding, and this offering is a reminder of sin, meaning it reminds of the sin of the woman’s “grinding” [euphemism for infidelity]. And regarding what Ramban questioned about why it says here it/he is [masculine] a meal-offering of jealousies and afterward says it/she is [feminine] a meal-offering of jealousies, it seems there is no difficulty because here it speaks of the time when the offering is in the hand of the husband, as it says and he shall bring his offering, it writes “hu” [masculine] because in his hand is the rod of His anger (Isaiah 10:5). But afterward when it says “and place in her hands the meal-offering of remembrance,” it writes it/she is a meal-offering of jealousies because in her hand is the rod of her anger. And the simple explanation is that in this verse the flour is not mentioned, therefore it says “hi” [feminine] referring to the meal-offering.

“And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel.” At first glance, it seems to me that the matter of this examination is as follows: wherever you find a fence around sexual immorality, there you find holiness. Now, these waters that were sanctified in the basin, and in which the Name has been dissolved, certainly possess an extra measure of holiness. And since any liquid exits through the womb in urine, therefore, if she has been defiled and there was no fence of modesty there, it is not right that these holy waters should touch the place of nakedness that has been defiled. Therefore, her belly swells and her thigh falls away, for this is the natural course in all urinary diseases: when liquid is trapped inside a person and has no way to exit, it will cause one of two things, or both together. Namely, the belly swells because the excess remains in the belly with no way to exit, causing the belly to distend; or the liquid makes another path for itself by being absorbed into the flesh of the thigh, and since this is not its proper place, the flesh of the thigh necessarily falls away, and with the pieces of falling flesh, the liquid will also fall out that way. But if she is pure and that place has not been defiled, then the sexual organs are like the rest of the human organs, and they have no aspect of impurity at all. For before Adam sinned, it is written, And the man and his wife were naked and were not ashamed (Genesis 3:25). Because as long as they had no inclination toward sin, their sexual organs were to them like other organs, which cause no shame when exposed. Similarly here, when there is a fence of modesty, the liquid comes out normally and there is no concern. And because she sinned with the liquid of wine, she is therefore tested with the liquid of water.

And what they take from the floor of the Tabernacle and put into it [the water], is explained according to what I wrote above in Parshat Acharei Mot (18:25) on the verse And the land became defiled, and I visited its iniquity upon it. That in every place where there is sexual immorality, the earth is visited with the first sin that it committed with the fruit-bearing tree rather than the tree of fruit by which it gave coarse and thick matter to all creatures. And because of this, it also gave to man thick and murky matter that causes him to be particularly inclined toward harlotry, as Ramban explained in Parshat Genesis (2:9) that eating from the tree caused him to desire sexual relations. And it is known that Adam was created from the place of his atonement, from the place about which it is said, An altar of earth you shall make for Me (Exodus 20:21), meaning from the dust of the Tabernacle, and this matter was placed in all his descendants whose origin is from the first matter. And if so, the dust which is on the floor of the Tabernacle is the craftsman who made that vessel, namely, the human, and woe to the dough when the baker testifies against it. For that dust is able to testify about the vessel [the person] whether it gave it coarse and thick matter that causes sexual promiscuity or not, and the craftsman will come and testify about the vessel that he made, what its nature is.

And our Sages of blessed memory disagreed on whether these waters contained something bitter, because according to our Sages (Sotah 20) something bitter was placed in them, but Ramban’s opinion [differs] since it is not written and the bitter waters shall enter her to make her bitter. Rather, it is written the opposite: and the waters that cause bitterness shall become bitter. This implies that they did not contain anything bitter, but rather they became bitter in her mouth. Similarly, we find regarding the waters of Marah where it is said And they could not drink the waters of Marah for they were bitter (Exodus 15:23). It does not say “for they were bitter [in the past tense],” but rather that they were not [originally] bitter, but they became bitter in their mouths. Therefore it says for they are bitter meaning the Israelites [made them bitter]. And since the place was called Marah, suggesting that the waters there were always bitter, it therefore says therefore he called its name Marah. [It was named] after the incident that occurred there, where these waters became bitter in their mouths as a punishment.

And what seems closest to me to say about this. That the waters of Marah, and the waters of the sotah [suspected adulteress], and the matter of the [Golden] Calf, they are all one and the same, since our Sages have already said (Mekhilta Yitro, Ch. 8:13) that the Ten Commandments were five opposite five, and the commandment You shall have no other gods corresponds to You shall not commit adultery. For one who worships idols is as if he commits adultery against God, as it is said The adulterous wife, etc. (Ezekiel 16:32). And at Marah they were immersed in idolatry, as is found in the Mekhilta (Beshalach [Vayisa] 1:22) and brought in the Yalkut on Parshat Beshalach (15:254) on the verse And Moses led Israel. For they said there: “Let us make an idol for ourselves and it will lead us,” and lest you think they said this but did not do it, Scripture teaches And they refused to listen, etc. (Nehemiah 9:17), see there. And according to this Midrash, they were like an adulterous woman for whom sweet waters become bitter in her mouth. So too here, the waters became bitter in their mouths, and the Lord showed him a tree — He taught them the way of Torah, which is a tree of life that distances one from idolatry, and through this the waters were sweetened. This is the matter of the [Golden] Calf, about which it is said And he ground it until it was fine… and made the children of Israel drink it (Exodus 32:20). And our Sages said (Avodah Zarah 44a) that he intended to test them like suspected adulteresses, etc., both because idol worshippers are judged like adulteresses and because they also transgressed sexual immorality at that time, as they learned (Tanchuma Ki Tisa 20) from the verse And they rose to make merry (Exodus 32:6). And perhaps for this reason it says and he ground it — to test the sin of grinding, that is, sexual immorality, as explained above. And the Calf itself was a bitter matter, and impurity clung to it — the impurity of idolatry and the impurity of sexual immorality. Therefore, it specifically harmed all those who worshipped it, because “like found like,” but to those who did not worship it, it did not cause harm, because nothing of the banned object clung to them, and the ground gold was for them just like ordinary gold. And according to our Sages (Sotah 20a), something bitter was placed in the waters of the sotah, because it is said For the lips of a strange woman drip honey, etc., but her end is bitter as wormwood (Proverbs 5:3-4). And putting the water in an earthenware vessel was because an earthenware vessel never loses [its absorbed impurity] forever. Similarly, one who has relations with a forbidden woman and fathers a mamzer [illegitimate child] with her, it is called a crooked thing that cannot be made straight (Chagigah 9a).

And regarding what is written “The priest shall stand the woman before the Lord.” Even though it was already said that she was stood before the Lord, the commentators said regarding this that the first standing refers to the meal offering, and this is correct. And as for why sometimes the stomach is mentioned before the thigh and sometimes the thigh is mentioned first, it is because there was a miracle within a miracle here, for the cursed waters diminish the flesh, yet when her stomach swells it appears as if the flesh has increased. Therefore, in the two verses where the term cursed is mentioned, the swelling of the stomach is mentioned next to it. But in the first verse, where “cursed” is not mentioned, the thigh is mentioned first because it [the thigh] began with the sin.