And if the woman be not defiled but she is pure, and she be proven innocent she will bear seed.

Rashi:

And if the woman be not defiled. [by]this act of being alone (hidden)[1]: but she is pure. from [sinning with any] others: and she be proven innocent. From the waters of bitterness, and not only this, rather she will bear seed, if [previously] child birth was difficult now it will be easy, if [previously] she bore dark-skinned [children], she will [now] bear fair-skinned children (Sotah 26).

Question:

Rashi says that, “if [previously] she bore dark-skinned [children], she will [now] bear fair-skinned children”, it cannot be that God does not like dark-skinned children, what is Rashi saying?

A Possible Answer:

There are several possible answers to this question. We will examine one answer that occurred to me as I was studying this question.

The Talmud in Sota 26 (http://mechon-mamre.org/b/l/l3504.htm) gives an example that Rashi did not quote, “if [previously] child birth was difficult now it will be easy, if she [previously] bore short children, [now] she will bear tall children[2], if [previously] she bore dark skinned children [now] she will bear light skinned children”.

What does all of this mean? Does it mean that tall is better than short, dark than light? Absolutely not, the woman who undergoes the test of Sota is doing it to prove her innocence to others (mainly her husband) regarding the act of adultery.

There is a flaw in this test. If the husband has committed acts of adultery in the past then the Sota waters will have no affect on the woman. If this is how things were left then we would not know if she had committed adulterous acts or not, and her name would never be cleared. Meaning, if an innocent woman took the test and passed, but nothing happened to her then we would have two possible answers. First, it could be that she is innocent. Second, it could also be that the husband has committed adultery in the past and even though his wife is currently guilty of committing adultery, the Sotah waters lose their power because of his sins.

Therefore, to prove that the Sota waters worked and the woman is completely innocent (of any wrong doing) God gave signs to prove her innocence. The woman who undergoes the test of Sota and passes it absolutely means that not only has she not been defiled by this man, but she is completely clear of all acts of adultery. Although the husband suspected her of having relations with one man, it could be that she did not have relations with him but with another man in the past. By passing the Sota waters she demonstrates that she has never committed an act of adultery. When the woman passes the Sota test she demonstrates that she is the opposite of what she was accused of being (an adulteress). She is not just “not defiled”, but she is pure, thus the repetition of “she is not defile” and “she is pure” (repetitious in the sense that each separate statement communicates the same idea—that she has not had forbidden relations).

Since her innocence (i.e. her faithfulness) is the opposite of the crime she is accused of (being unfaithful) the sign of her innocence is that she will give birth to children with opposite qualities from her previous children (even the quality of her labor will be different). If she previously gave birth to short children she will give birth to tall children, if she previously gave birth to dark-skinned children, now she will give birth to fair-skinned children. Presumably the opposite could be true. If she previously gave birth to fair-skinned children now she will give birth to dark-skinned children, if she previously gave birth to tall children now she will give birth to short children.

It is impossible to think that the authors of the Gemara in Sota 26 would have a problem with dark-skinned children as the Jewish people living in Israel at this time were dark-skinned themselves! Knowing this it is easy to understand what Rashi is not saying and come up with other possible answers that clear away the problems that our modern mindset create.  

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