We know that if a woman drinks the water and is innocent she will receive all sorts of Brachos.
Are any of these Brachos recognizable immediately? If not, then how long does it take?
I ask because in the machlokes between Rav Sheshes and R' Yosef, and in the Mishna there are instances where the water, even if drunk has no power.
I would assume that there would have to be some sort of sign that a woman is innocent, because, if not, how would you know what her status is? Is she innocent, was the mayim toleh because of her zechusim (R' yosef) was she really guilty but the water didn't work because of one of the reasons listed in the mishna or because of the fact that eidim exist that COULD testify conclusively about her status?
Please advise.
Thanks.
Ari, USA
I found that the Rambam in Hilchos Sotah 3:22 writes that if a woman drank the water and was in fact innocent, she becomes stronger and her countenance shines. The "Sources and References" to the Frankel edition points out that Targum Yonasan Bamidbar 5:28 also writes that her face will shine. The Rambam also writes that if she had an illness this will disappear, which presumably means this is recognizable immediately. However the other Berachos she receives appear to take effect later on (easier births etc. - see below 26a).
However I think your question can be answered even without the above explanation. Tosfos 6a DH IM asks on Rabbi Shimon - how can he say that they would speak badly about the innocent women who drank the water, since there is a difference between the innocent and the guilty because the health of the guilty deteriorates after the drinking even though their merits may save them from instant death? Tosfos answers that the onlooker women may make a mistake because they do not see the deterioration immediately and therefore do not discern quickly enough the difference between the guilty and the innocent and may start speaking badly. (Tosfos appears to disagree with the above Rambam because according to the Rambam it should be obvious immediately from the shining countenance that she is a Tzadekes, or conversely if her face did not shine this should prove on the spot that she is guilty).
One sees therefore from Tosfos that in fact we do not always know immediately if the woman is guilty or not. This is applicable according to the Tana'im who disagree with R. Shimon (ie. Rabanan in Mishnah below 20a, that merits delay the punishment, and Rebbi in Mishnah below 22b). However according to R. Shimon if she is guilty she dies on the spot and there is no such concept as "Zechus Toleh".
In summary, to answer your question.
1. According to Targum Yonasan and Rambam one sees immediately from her shining face that she is pure.
2. According to Tosfos
(a) In R. Shimon's opinion one also sees from the instant punishment that she was guilty.
(b) According to the other opinions one does not necessarily see immediately what her status is and it may be a short while before one sees that she is getting weaker, but this delay does not seem to bother Rabanan and Rebbe.
In the case where there are witnesses overseas it seems that nothing happens as a result of the water test. However the Gemara states (below, at top of 7a) that this is an unusual scenario and Rashi 7a DH LO writes that consequently people would not suspect that if an innocent lady drank and nothing happened to her, that this is because there are witnesses overseas and the woman is really guilty.
KOL TUV
D. Bloom