It may seem paradoxical to talk about noticing female presence in a tractate titled after a category of woman: the sotah, a woman accused of having sex with a man other than her husband. Yet this theoretical assumption of women's presence, combined with my decision to study the entire tractate rather than only the sections concerning the sotah ritual, proved surprisingly productive. It enabled me to notice and theorize female presence and absence; to see how the sotah and the sotah ritual help conceptualize Bavli Sotah as a literary whole; and to acknowledge the brutality and care that pervade the tractate.I noted the publication of Beyond Brutality here.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
