Women
Shabat Naso addresses the issue of a jealous husband; one who thinks his wife is unfaithful.The parasha describes in detail the process the woman must undergo.
While the dusty, "inky" water may have made anyone - man or woman - ill, I doubt that the woman's thigh (ירכך) would fall off. Her belly might swell and she might otherwise be physically upset, but her thigh falling off? Hardly.
There is nothing in these paragraphs of Naso to even suggest that the jealous husband had to being two witnesses to his wife's wanton behavior.
If the woman's thigh fails to separate from her body, her "reward" will be the ability to conceive - presumably impregnated by her accuser. The jealous husband will suffer no damage - neither financial or otherwise. There is no suggestion that he should/must divorce his wife nor that she has grounds to divorce him.
Let's jump to "today" and what is happening in U.S. courts.
If a plaintiff brings suit against someone and loses, normally the plaintiff pays court fees and attorneys' fees for both sides. In some cases, a judge will rule that the suit is without merit - that it is frivolous - and punish the plaintiff for taking up the court's time by even filing the action.
There IS a punishment for the plaintiff if the defendant prevails.
By Torah law, the jealous husband gets off "scot free."
There is a footnote on Page 592 of the Hertz/Soncino Humash that reads: "The rabbis, however, inferred that the Ordeal proved ineffective is the husband was himself guilty of immorality." About the only "immorality" that the husband could do was to lie with a married woman or an animal.
I know times "were different then," but I also know that Judaism protected women in many ways and insisted on protections for all people accused of wrong-doing. Here, all the protections are absent. Why is a "jealous husband" exempt from bring any evidence of this claim?
גרים
The portion also talks about גרים. It does NOT specify if the גר is a ger tzdek (convert) or a ger toshav (resident alien).
The senior rabbi where I hang my kippa went with the first option: ger tzdek/convert. The associate rabbi went with the ger toshav/resident alien.
The LAW in both cases is the same - the property of a ger who dies sans Jewish kin goes to the state in the form of the cohanim.
The senior rabbi took the opportunity to tell us that a ger tzdek is actually on a higher level than "born" Jews. Like a naturalized citizen, the convert - at least in traditional circles - had to study and practice the way of life of the culture to which he/she intends to adapt.
There are several problems for converts.
Number 1: A lot of "born Jews" simply won't accept converts as Jews, regardless of the conversion process. These people usually don't accept immigrants as countrymen, either, and usually they are the ones willing to build mental hospitals and prisons in someone else's back yard.
Number 2: The rabbis, especially Israel's far right haridim, expect the convert to be more observant than the "born Jew" and at least as "observant" as their own followers (when they are "out in public".) Failing to be as observant as the rabbis demand of converts - never mind the poskim (authorities) who rule otherwise - and these rabbis will cancel the conversion. So much for "once a Jew, always a Jew."
