Our Gemara on Amud Aleph tells us:

 רַבִּי אוֹמֵר לָמָּה נִסְמְכָה פָּרָשַׁת נָזִיר לְפָרָשַׁת סוֹטָה לוֹמַר לָךְ שֶׁכׇּל הָרוֹאֶה סוֹטָה בְּקִלְקוּלָהּ יַזִּיר עַצְמוֹ מִן הַיַּיִן

Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: Why is the portion of a nazirite (Numbers, chapter 6) placed adjacent to the portion of a sota (Numbers, chapter 5)? This was done to tell you that anyone who sees a sotah in her disgrace as she undergoes the rite of the bitter water should renounce wine, as wine is one of the causes of sexual transgression, for it loosens inhibitions. For the same reason that the Torah teaches these passages one after the other, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi arranged these tractates one after the other.

Peri Tzaddik (Nasso 13) makes a remarkable observation. Although we interpret the juxtaposition between the ritual of Sotah and Nazir in the Torah, and juxtaposition of the Mesechta of Sotah and the Mesechta of Nazir to teach us the same idea which we saw above, the order is reversed. In the Torah, we first have the laws of the Sotah and THEN the Nazir. But in the Gemara, Maseches Nazir comes BEFORE Maseches Sotah. He asks, how do we understand the difference in order?

Peri Tzaddik gives an answer that brilliantly highlights the difference between the Oral Torah of the Talmud and the written Torah of scripture. Scripture is more explicit in a certain sense, at least what it says, it says so directly. However, the whole point of Oral Torah is analysis, extrapolation, and reading between the lines. Therefore, Oral Torah will have more subtle points to make. The difference in the way in which the Sotah’s situation is comprehended by the biblical protagonist versus the Talmudic protagonist is profound. The biblical protagonist has to actually see the disgrace of the Sotah, so to speak, to be hit over the head with the facts in order to bring about personal introspection. That is why the laws of Sotah precede the laws of Nazir, because he has to see it first in order to become humbled, introspective, and aroused toward repentance. On the other hand, the protagonist of the Talmud is already introspective. He is constantly delving into deeper meanings and implications. He does not have to actually see the disgrace of the Sotah. All he needs to do is to study and reflect on the laws, and he will automatically realize how to apply these ethics to his life, and he could become aroused to repent and become a Nazir even if he never saw one.

This is a powerful lesson about the Torah Shebaal Peh but also a strong rebuke. We don’t have to let things happen to us first in order to take matters to heart and see the error in our ways. If we are introspective, we can simply study Torah, and extrapolate what we need to know, without having to go through all the anguish and the suffering.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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