self—if she gave birth to an infant out of wedlock, or if she was a widow. Oth-
erwise, the father of the infant—whether husband or ex-husband—was sup-
posed to take care of these issues.^56
Research on wet-nursing practices in medieval Christian society has identi-
fied a number of guidelines regulating the terms of employment of wet nurses.
First of all, wet nurses were hired for a defined period of time and were ex-
pected to remain for the full allotted period. In addition, they were expected
not to become pregnant until the end of this time. To this end, part of the wet
nurse’s salary was withheld until the agreement had been fulfilled. The Jewish
sources prescribe the same set of terms when employing Jewish and Christian
wet nurses. For example, Ra’avan (R. Eliezer b. Nathan, c. 1090 –c. 1170) re-
ports the excuses a Jewish woman could offer to object to her employment in
a Christian home as a wet nurse, because of the implications of the promise
not to become pregnant.^57 Some of the monetary terms of employment are
specified in a case from medieval Germany:
Leah who lives in Ashkenaz hired [a wet nurse] to nurse her son for twenty dinar
plus expenses for half a year. After she had nursed the boy for four or five weeks,
she decided to go to France and demanded four dinars from Leah according to
the terms of her employment, which were twenty dinars plus expenses [for the full
period]. And Leah responded, “I hired you for half a year, and I won’t give you
anything [unless you serve] until the end of the period.”
Now, Rav said [in the Talmud] that a laborer is entitled to withdraw even in the
middle of the day.^58 So, if Leah can find another wet-nurse [who will work] until
the end of the period for sixteen dinars, she should give Rachel the four dinars.
But if she cannot find anyone who will work for the remaining time period for less
than twenty dinars, then she should not give her anything, since the employer has
the advantage.^59In this case, “Leah” has the advantage over “Rachel” and she must be satisfied
with the new wet nurse before “Rachel” can be released from her contract. It
is possible that “Rachel” was hired after a different wet nurse backed out of her
contract, as wet nurses were usually hired for twenty-four months or more, and
according to this source, she was hired for only six months.^60
Further illustration of the terms of employment can be found in a question
that appears in the responsa of R. Asher b. Yeh·iel:
“Rachel” was pregnant by “Reuven” and he married her and she gave birth to a
son [Baby A] and he gave the son to a wet nurse and left her and went to another
city and married another woman. And she [“Rachel”] hired herself out as a wet
nurse to a different master in order to support herself in the house of the infant
[Baby B] and she agreed to nurse him for a set time with a great forfeit [if she rup-
tured the contract], and eight or nine months have passed by, and the baby [B]