Happy Memorial Day (San 107a)

Today I learned all kinds of new, intimate details about the story of David and Bat Sheva. For instance, have you ever wondered why Bat Sheva would be bathing naked in public? Turns out it was all a test. Basically, David was jealous that God tested Abraham, Isaac and Jacob so he asked God to give him a test. So, God says okay. Satan turns up as a bird and David shoots an arrow at the bird and instead of hitting the bird, he hits the חלתא cone* that was concealing Bat Sheva (107a1). This could teach a number of things. For one we know that Bat Sheva was not asking for it, David on the other hand cannot say the same thing.

One more mystery solved: Have you ever wondered why David's actions weren't considered adultery considering Bat Sheva was still married to Uriah? Turns out it was "customary in David's times for soldiers going out to battle to give their wives conditional bills of divorce, so that if any soldier failed to return from battle, his wife would be divorced retroactively from the time he came home." Others say that some soldiers even gave unconditional bills of divorce and then remarried their wives when they got back from war (107a2 footnote 19). If Uriah dies before he returns home (which he does), Bat Sheva's divorce works retroactively so that David wasn't committing adultery when he had sex with her. Though I understand that this was intended to serve as a protection for the woman so that she wouldn't acquire the status of an agunah, I cannot help but be disgusted by the custom and the way it is used to justify David's action.

In the spirit of Memorial Day weekend, I wonder what our world would be like if we encouraged soldiers to sign conditional or unconditional bills of divorce to their wives, husbands or partners before heading out to battle. Though I am not for a second pretending to know what it is like to be a military spouse, my gut feeling is that I would feel completely uncomfortable, saddened and horrified if someone suggested that I should divorce my spouse in case he didn't return. With the deepest respect and gratitude for those serving our country and their families, I hope that this snippet of gemara serves to remind us how far we have come as a society in the way we treat military families. We have a long way to go, particularly in ensuring that homosexual couples in the military receive the same rights as heterosexual couples, and I hope we will continue to work to honor all of our soldiers and their families.

*cone is probably not the best translation. According to Jastrow, חלתא is a loose wicker-work used for making bee-hives, strainers, for wine presses, or screens. So screens probably makes more sense. Don't know who came up with the word cone.