Mothers and Children. Jewish Family Life in Medieval Europe - Elisheva Baumgarten

93. The practice of employing Christian women in Jewish homes is outlined fully in Jacob Katz,
    Shabbes Goy, where he discusses the specific halakhic issues raised by their employment on the
    Sabbath and holidays, rather than the general phenomenon. He notes (12, n. 4) that most of the
    cases in which the employment of Christian servants is mentioned have to do with these specific,
    problematic halakhic circumstances. By contrast, the employment of Christian wet nurses is men-
    tioned in everyday contexts, and very few of the sources discussing the wet nurses mention Sab-
    bath or holidays as an issue.


94. Grayzel, Church and the Jews, 1: doc. 25.


95. The Hebrew here states that the wet nurses argued between them and then indicates in the
    next sentence that their master was responsible for these arguments.
    96.SHP, no. 159. See also Parma manuscript of Sefer H·asidim no. 159, which differs slightly
    from the printed edition.
    97.SHP, no. 1439.
    98.Sefer Or Zaru’a, 2: no. 48, no. 279; R. H·ayim b. Isaac, Piskei Halakha shel R. H·ayim Or
    Zaru’a (Drashot Maharah·), ed. Isaac Samson Lange (Jerusalem, 1973), 155; R. Moses b. Barukh,
    Teshuvot, Minhagim uPesakim, 1: no. 95, 2: no. 131 and parallels; MS Cambridge Or. 548, no.
    106, fol. 30b–31a.
    99.SHP, no. 1139.


96. For example, R. Yeh·iel of Paris ruled: “And feeding a minor from the lard which is called
    bolieuthat is made from the h·elevof non-Jews, even if this is done by the hand of a Jewess, is per-
    mitted since the infant is like a sick person whose life is endangered,” R. Yeh·iel b. Judah of Paris,
    Piskei R. Yeh·iel miParis veHoraot meRabbanei Z·arfat, ed. Eliyahu Dov Pines (Jerusalem, 1977),
    no. 137. For an example concerning the laws of Sabbath, see: R. Moses of Couçy, Semag, Issur ve-
    Heter, rule 59, nos. 28–29: “And if the baby does not have what to eat he can tell a Canaanite to
    cook him pap on the Sabbath. And if the infant does not want to be fed by anyone but his mother,
    R. Samson of Couçy (d. 1221) replied that his mother is permitted to feed him, even from a broth
    of milk that was milked and cooked on the Sabbath by the Canaanite, since he is like a sick per-
    son whose life is in danger, as he does not want to eat from anyone else.”


97. R. Moses Parnas, Sefer haParnas, no. 162 and in a slightly different version in manuscript
    MS Oxford Bodl., Mich. 455 (146), fol. 15b, no. 125; SHP, no. 1073.


98. Shoham, Social Attitudes, 96 n. 287; MS Paris Héb. 1122 fol. 5b; MS Oxford Bodl., Opp.
    31 (271) fols. 88a–89b where the use of lard for a cream to ease the symptoms of a skin disease
    (Shh·in) is mentioned; Barkai, Les infortunes de Dinah, 99–104. I thank Dr. Ephraim Shoham for
    referring me to these sources.
    103.The word minmeans type (like a type of food) and is another name for heretics or, in many
    medieval texts, for Christianity. This passage plays with both these meanings.
    104.Sefer Or Zaru’a, 4: no. 146.


99. R. Meir b. Barukh, Teshuvot, Pesakim uMinhagim, 2: no. 131.


100. Grayzel, Church and the Jews, 1:107, 115, 199, 211, 307, 317, 321–23, 329, 331. Refer-
     ences to illicit relationships between Jews and their Christian wet nurses can also be found in other
     sources. For example: SHP, no. 19, which mentions a penance for someone who sinned with a
     Christian servant. See the comments of Goldin, “Beziehung der jüdischen Familie,” 220–22.


101. For Innocent’s accusation, see Grayzel, Church and the Jews, 1:114–15: “Faciunt enim
     Christianas filiorum suorum nutrices, cum in die ressurectionis Dominice illas recipere corpus et
     sanguinem Jesu Christi contingit, per triduum antequam eos lactent, lac effundere in latrinam.”
     For Henrici de Segusio, see Summa Aurea(Venice, 1581), 1514–1515: “Nam sunt qui, quod
     nephandum est dicere, nutrices christianas habentes non permittunt lactare filios, com corpore
     Christi sumpserunt, nisi primo per triduum lac effuderint in latrinam: quasi intelligunt quod cor-
     pus Christi incorporetur et ad secessum descendat.”


102. Rashi, Avodah Zara 26a, s.v. “Menikah benah shel Yisrael bir’shutah.”


103. R. Yeh·iel of Paris, Vikuah·R. Yeh·iel of Paris, ed. Reuven Margaliquot (Jerusalem, 1928),

NOTES TO CHAPTER 4 227