in cases where she was widowed or divorced during the period she was nurs-
ing her child? As we shall see, these events were of central importance to me-
dieval Jewish society, and a topic of heated debate and change during the High
Middle Ages. The conclusions point to the wider implications of breast-feed-
ing for our understanding of Jewish-Christian relations and the construction
of gender in medieval society.
Ancient Foundations
Jewish Legal RulingsWe cannot approach this topic without a brief survey of the literature from pre–
medieval times. Most of the medieval Jewish sources that discuss breast-feed-
ing are legal sources that assume familiarity with the ancient discussions that
served as the basis for the medieval halakhic rulings. In addition, the Mishnaic
and talmudic rulings concerning nursing were not merely legal precedents that
served as the basis for the decisions of medieval rabbis; these sources also in-
struct us on medical theories about nursing as well as cultural understandings
of the obligations of wives and husbands toward each other.^19
Most of the ancient sources discuss the mother’s obligation to nurse her chil-
dren. The ancient sources see breast-feeding as a natural attribute of women:
“Whatsoever gives birth, gives suck.”^20. The general assumption was that all
women nurse and that women, naturally, want to breast-feed their children.^21
According to tradition, Hannah is presented as praying for a child as follows:
Sovereign of the Universe, among all the things that Thou hast created in a
woman, Thou hast not created one without a purpose: eyes to see, ears to hear, a
nose to smell, a mouth to speak, hands to do work, legs to walk with, breasts to
give suck. These breasts that Thou hast put on my heart, are they not to give suck?
Give me a son so that I may suckle with them.^22Nevertheless, despite the natural inclination to nurse that, it was assumed, all
women possessed, nursing was neither dependent solely on the desire of the
mother to nurse, nor was it understood as a mother’s obligation toward her
child. Breast-feeding is mentioned in the Mishna and the Tosefta as one of the
obligations women have toward their husbands:
These are the tasks that a wife must carry out for her husband: she must grind corn
and bake and do washing, cook and suckle her child.... If she brought him one
bondswoman, she need not grind nor bake nor wash; if two, she need not cook
nor give suck to her child.Furthermore, if she nursed her child herself, her other tasks were reduced.^23
This connection between biological attributes and social expectations was
part and parcel of all halakhic discussions of nursing. We can see how breast-