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A cicada sitting on a blade of grass in western North Carolina. (WerksMedia / iStock)
This week’s Torah reading juxtaposes two seemingly unconnected mitzvos. The Torah tells us about the Nazir – a person who took a particular oath and then needed to abstain from wine, from cutting their hair, and from any contact with the dead. Right next to all the laws, sacrifices and details of the Nazir the Torah tells about the Sotah. A Sotah is a woman who was suspected of infidelity and went through a miraculous, if somewhat strange, ceremony in the Beit HaMikdash in order to prove her innocence. The Talmud offers an explanation for the juxtaposition. “Anyone who saw the Sotah in her de