tian relations that has not yet been taken into consideration. If Jews in north-
ern France and perhaps, in a more limited fashion, in Germany, were sending
their children to non-Jewish homes to be nursed, we should see this as an im-
portant component in the daily contacts between Jews and Christians. If Jew-
ish infants spent time every day in Christian homes, then their parents, or at
the very least their mothers, were in these Christian homes on a daily basis and
were exposed, even if unconsciously, to elements of Christian daily routine. It
is not surprising that given the choice, Jews—like their Christian neighbors—
preferred employing wet nurses in their own homes. As discussed above, em-
ployment in the home ensured lower mortality rates and better supervision.^124
This was, however, also more costly, and I would suggest that economics played
a crucial role when families decided how and where to employ a wet nurse.^125
The sources examined reveal the creative interpretations the medieval ha-
lakhic authorities provided for the instructions given in tractate Avodah Zara.
The purpose of this reinterpretation was to construct a framework that fit the
medieval reality and its constraints. We should note, however, that tractate Avo-
dah Zara contains instructions regarding another relevant set of circumstances:
Jewish women were forbidden to serve as wet nurses for non-Jewish children
under any circumstances. The reason for their absolute and complete denial
of permission was theological—a Jewish woman who nursed the son of a gen-
tile idol worshiper was helping to raise a future idol worshiper, a practice no
Jew should abet.
Finding such cases in medieval sources is difficult. Considering all the prac-
tical problems that might arise from such a situation, it is hard to imagine a sit-
uation in which Jewish women would work in Christian homes. One can as-
sume that such women, if they existed, were on the margins of Jewish society.
Some Jewish women did work as wet nurses in the homes of other Jews^126 and,
given the legal guidelines discussed above, might have been preferred over
Christian wet nurses. An examination of the medieval sources, however, does
not reveal a single case of Jewish women who nursed Christian children. In
addition, the canonical sources that discuss the employment of Christian
women in Jewish homes do not make much mention of this possibility.^127 The
medieval Jewish sources that discuss wet nursing devote little attention to this
situation, and, with one exception, they quote the talmudic discussion without
any further comments or additions.^128
We do find one interesting exception to this rule, although it pertains less to
contracted wet nursing than to neighborly relations. Some medieval Jewish
sources discuss a problem that occurred on Sabbath. In some cases, Jewish
women suffered from a surplus of milk on Sabbath. The ruling in such a case
was to allow this woman to nurse as much as possible until the pain subsided.
On weekdays, these women often expressed the excess milk. But on the
Sabbath, expressing milk was forbidden. The halakhic ruling was that Jewish
women could nurse Christian children if such a necessity arose, in order to
rick simeone
(Rick Simeone)
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