Friday, May 17, 2013

May the Sotah take the bitter waters intravenously?

I was in a bit of a fun mood, so I posted the following question (and subsequent answer) at Mi Yodea:

May the Sotah take the bitter waters intravenously?
In Naso, we read (Bamidbar 5:32) that the kohen blots out the curses (which include Hashem's name) in the bitter waters and then gives for the woman to drink (5:24).
What if the woman is unable to swallow the waters due to their bitterness? Could she instead take it as an intravenous injection? Or do we insist that she swallow it?
After a few hours, I posted this response:

This is actually something explicitly prohibited by one of the Aseres Hadibros, namely commandment #3.
Devarim 5:10 states לֹא תִשָּׂא אֶת-שֵׁם-ה אֱלֹקֶיךָ לַשָּׁוְא, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Hashem your God in vein."
Alas, the answer was deleted as per their Purim Torah policy. It took a few hours, though, and first attracted a few answers. Poe's Law in action, I suppose. There are plenty of questions of this sort on the site, asked entirely earnestly. Right now the question still stands, as if I thought the question was really a good question.

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