Our Gemara discusses various aspects of a unique kind of oath, known as Gilgul Shevua, which we can roughly translate as “A rolled-on Oath.”  When a defendant is obligated to make an oath to defend their claim, the plaintiff has the opportunity to levy additional accusations, compelling the defendant to take oaths on those matters as well. Remarkably, this applies even when the subsequent accusations lack substantial legal basis, or would otherwise be exempted from making an oath. This is derived from the repetition of "Amen" uttered by the Sotah, a woman accused of adultery. She too must swear oaths proclaiming her innocence, extending beyond the initial evidence and accusation (see Sorah 27b).

 

The Shalah (Torah Shebiksav, Bamidbar, Nasso, Beha'alotcha, Torah Ohr Nasso) makes a cryptic statement, which I will do my best to analyze so we can perhaps understand a small portion of his brilliant and holy words.  First I will simply translate it verbatim:

 

That we learn Gilgul Shevua from the Sotah, speaks of a secret mystical concept. Were it not for Adam's first sin that caused Eve to become perverted, as the serpent made her into a Sotah, there would be no sin and therefore no gilgulim (reincarnation). There would only be new souls. But due to our many sins they are gilgulim. This is the true gilgul shevuah, literally a repeated oath because before a person is born his soul swears before God that it will not sin (see Niddah 30b), and if he does sin, he may need to repeat his life to repair his past misdeeds. 

 

Let’s try to sort out what the Shalah really means. For starters, we should analyze what is the possible rationale for gilgul Shevua in the first place. Why would we allow the plaintiff to heap on additional oaths, if ordinarily he lacks sufficient evidence to make this claim? That is the key point, credibility. Normally, an oath can be seen as a counter response to a claim that has some legitimacy. That is why the person who partially admits, needs to make an oath as we discussed in yesterday’s daf. So, once one claim of the plaintiff seems to have some legitimacy, this lends additional legitimacy to the other claims, and the need for an oath as a response is triggered.

 

Symbolically, this is a gilgul. Reincarnation is an expression of an additional unresolved guilt and liability, as the additional oath is also an expression of a vague undefined claim. We might even say that the Sotah’s original oath stems from a vague, undefined claim, and thus she is the mother of all Gilgul shevuous. 

 

Furthermore, the Sotah ritual itself is not only the source for Gilgul Shevua, but it is an enactment of the drama of God’s creation of the world, and all of the challenges that resulted in sin, repair, and sin and repair. Be’er Mayyim (Bamidbar 5:19) explains that the Cohen placing the water and the earth in the vessel, is reminiscent of God placing the soul into Man’s body, and the Sotah’s oath is reminiscent of the oath that the soul makes to stay true and faithful to God.  

 

Oaths in general have an interesting source, as they are based on the power of speech to create a certain reality, and thus speech itself is sacred (Bamidbar 30:3).  Man, made in God’s image, is unique in his ability to craft reality with his words.  God, of course, created the world by his words alone, and his “word” is equated to action, as it states in Yeshaiyahu (55:11)

 

כֵּ֣ן יִֽהְיֶ֤ה דְבָרִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יֵצֵ֣א מִפִּ֔י לֹֽא־יָשׁ֥וּב אֵלַ֖י רֵיקָ֑ם כִּ֤י אִם־עָשָׂה֙ אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָפַ֔צְתִּי וְהִצְלִ֖יחַ אֲשֶׁ֥ר שְׁלַחְתִּֽיו׃ 

 

So is the word that issues from My mouth: It does not come back to Me unfulfilled,

But performs what I purpose, Achieves what I sent it to do.

 

Is it a coincidence that the Hebrew word for oath “Shavua” has the same root as “Seven - Sheva” the days of creation?

 

Putting all this together, this might be close to what the Shalah was hinting at. The sin of Man led to sensuality and the distortion that it causes, leading to sin. The Sotah is symbolic of the soul’s betrayal and unfaithfulness toward God, and its oath made before it was born to stay pure. This betrayal leads to a gilgul (reincarnation), as the soul must try again to correct its wrongs, and the Gilgul Shevua is a presumption of prior unresolved guilt for betrayals and dishonesties that have not been made clear now, but are in the background.  There is much that is still unclear here, such as, is it just a derash based on similarity of words, or does it represent something that is essential and fundamentally similar?  I don’t know, but this is at least part of the story.