Indecent Exposure - The discordant energies on Har Sinai match those of the Sotah, the to-and-fro, the פנים – עורף dichotomy (appears in ער"פה-רות, in ביאת אדם – ביאת בהמה, in פנו אלי עורף ולא פנים) which is the reason that Sotah is so definitive of all the issues in the Malchut and the Bet Mikdash, the root of all relationship crisis: differentiating between the mechanical/psychological/evolutionary-driven givens and the core issue of existential identity. The difference between Ruth and Orpah is that very bifurcation embodied in two physically different identities. The end result is Megillat Ruth, which delineates the core issue of identification of Self as a give which exists in isolation and thus can be protected, or the self as incorporative, as all other “discrete” elements of the universe (a play on words with “discreet” which is the expression of צניעות which is the sense of vulnerability this imbues). The deep questions of the astounding impact of the differing choices of the two women serves to illuminate the issues in the choices of those who טינא יש בלבם, the threats to the מלכות who are on the side of Orpah, to wipe out the legitimacy of Malchut Bet Dovid, and Dovid is attempting to escape them when he meets Orpah herself who attempts to kill him: דואג, אחיתופל, ירבעם בן נבט.
The core issue at the root of all existential choices is the personal experience of existence as בוששו, self-in-universe and thus endlessly and marvelously vulnerable, or the experience of ולא יתבוששו in which case everything is about the protection of self, of מי בראש, and the impossibility of risk. But risk is the essence of נעשה ונשמע and רות ובועז and a מלכות דלית ליה מגרמיה כלום. In order to be ישראל it is necessary to be the אדם שהתבושש and not continue the mechanical world of לא יתבוששו. This is why the סוטה ultimately is rewarded for recognizing that mechanics can only be destructive, and that all investment is meaningless if not issuing from לב. This is why the gemara traces the horrifying failure of the choices of ירבעם ואחיתופל ודואג to טינא היתה בלבם, and the dualism of רות-ערפה of אלי עורף ולא פנים becomes the essential expression of חירות and renewed הר סיני and why it specifically addresses the relationship between איש ואשתו which is הקב"ה וישראל and which is שמש ולבנה and מלכות ופרטים.
The parasha is replete with the issues of Shavuot: י"ב נשיאים who are the embodiment of the tikkun of בועז וה' עמכם, the סוטה which is the תיקון העגל, the story of מנוח (his relationship to אבצן) the restoration the קול בהר סיני, the גר as the new member of the מחנה ישראל, and amazingly the entire source of real identity: תשובה ווידוי! But the centerpiece is actually סוטה which stands at the roots of חנה שמואל ומלכות-בנין בית המקדש-הר סיני ועגל and most importantly as the test of the relationship between the תהום and the מלכות.
We make the mistake of believing that emotional commitment and passion and knowledge is somehow connected to the אדם as he or she is. But in reality, that is nothing but a higher order mechanics which can never satisfactorily impact the choices, which is why ירבעם fails, why אחיתופל is himself a סוטה who chokes to death. The Ruth vs Orpah issues are profound questions for human existence. The reason that the entire development of מלכות is linked to these borderline questions of יהודה ותמר- לוט ובנותיו – רות וערפה – אבישג השונמית – שמשון כאחד שבטי ישראל – לישועתך קויתי ה' ביעקב is because it is only the סוטה who achieves אפשיטנה ערומה to make the most basic choices of existential self: אלי or immortality and חירות.
Choice, Dualism and Sota: Splitting the confusion of Har Sinai into two completely separate individuals, רות וערפה, in order to get to the bottom of the nature of the choice for or against הר סיני וכפה עליהם הר כגיגיגת allows us to recognize that פנים ולא עורף is the question, which is a mode of intercourse, and this טינא is the answer both to רבי יהודה and to all those who give up.
Becoming a carrier: The central idea of עבודה לעבודה and carrying (משא-ישא במשא – נשיאים – שא ראש – עגלות לישא – אחיתופל וארון נישא בעגלה) is the challenge of accompaniment to a saga that spans existence as expressed in this universe, the only possibility of participation as an individual in the entirety of מלכות. This means that one’s own identity ultimately is tested as a סוטה—the test is not about what you loved or felt passionate about, but about your underlying reliability and faithfulness to the investment made in Existence. This was the power of Aharon and the nature of שמחה in the עבודה לעבודה which is the essence of לוי (see רבינו בחיי)
Shaul in the end challenges Dovid through בגד and שמחה, but is proven to be trustworthy as בוגדיו when all is stripped away—the ultimate test of Sotah.

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