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

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  1. This is also the wording in MS Moscow Günzberg 1390 fol. 94b. The Latin version of the dis-
    putatiom does not include this passage, nor does the Hebrew version cited by Wagenseil in his
    Tela Ignae Satanae. For the different versions of the disputation, see Loeb, “La controverse de
    1240,” REJ (1880): 1:247–61; 2:248–70; 3:39–57, and especially 1:248 54.
    110. Tosfot, Avodah Zara 26 a, s.v. “Ovedet kokhavim menikah benah shel Yisrael.”
    111. The phrase used to describe the supervision of the Jewish friends, “Yoz·e venikhnas” is a
    common phrase. See Rashi, Berakhot 34b, s.v. “Ke’eved.”
    112. R. Elh·anan b. Isaac, Tos’foth, ed. David Fränkel, (Husiatyn, 1901), 26a. R”i’s other stu-
    dent, R. Samson of Sens also agrees with this opinion: Tosfot R. Samson b. Abraham of Sens, Shi-
    tat Kadmonim al Massekhet Avodah Zora, ed. Moses Judah Blau (New York, 1969), 26a.
    113. R. Barukh was known in much of the literature as R. Barukh of Worms. Recently, Simh·a
    Emanuel has shown that he was from Paris (“Biographical Data on R. Baruch b. Isaac”). Tarbiz·
    69(2000): 423–40.
    114. Urbach, The Tosaphists, 347–54.
    115. R. Barukh b. Isaac, Sefer haTerumah, no. 152. This book was fairly popular during the Mid-
    dle Ages, and these instructions can be found in many thirteenth-century manuscripts: MS Ox-
    ford Bodl., Opp. 73 (640), fol. 15, no. 145; MS Parma 813, fol. 187, no. 21. For a slightly different
    version, see MS Oxford Bodl., Opp. Add. 34 (641), fol. 14d, no. 149. It is interesting to note that
    R. Barukh’s opinion opposes that of the other disciples of his mentor, R. Isaac of Damprierre, supra,
    n. 113.
    116. R. Moses of Couc ̧y, Semag, negative commandment no. 45.
    117. R. Jacob b. Judah H·azan of London, Ez·H·ayyim, 2:331, Hilkhot Avodah Zarah veGerim.
    See also R. Abraham b. Ephraim, Sefer Hamiz·vot, MS Paris héb. 392, fol. 41b, no. 165.
    118. This fear was certainly a valid one, as scholars have demonstrated over the years in dis-
    cussions on adolescent converts. There is a major difference, however, between the influence a
    Christian family could exert over adolescents, and their possible influence on infants. For adoles-
    cent conversion, see Ivan Marcus, “Jews and Christians Imagining the Other in Medieval Europe,”
    Prooftexts15(1995): 222; and, more recently, William C. Jordan, “Adolescence and Conversion
    in the Middle Ages: A Research Agenda,” in Jews and Christians in Twelfth Century Europe, ed.
    Michael A. Signer and John Van Engen (Notre Dame, 2001), 77–93; Alfred Haverkamp, “Bap-
    tised Jews in German Lands during the Twelfth Century,” in Jews and Christians in Twelfth Cen-
    tury Europe, eds. Michael A. Signer and John Van Engen (Notre Dame, 2001), 255–310.
    119. I attribute less importance to the fear that wet nurses would kill Jewish children than
    Goldin, “Jewish Children and Christian Missionizing,” who sees this as a central consideration in
    child rearing. While I do not doubt that this fear existed, I do not think it was as menacing or as
    all-encompassing as Goldin suggests.
    120. R. Barukh’s ruling seems to accord well with what Urbach defined as his tendency to find
    solutions for halakhic issues dealing with Jewish-Christian daily relations. See Urbach, The To-
    saphists, 350–51, especially since his opinion is different from that of some of his contemporaries,
    supra, n. 115.
    121. For example: R. Eleazer b. Joel haLevi, (b. 1140), Sefer RaHaviah Avodah Zarah, no. 1057.
    122. R. Eleazar b. Judah, Sefer Rokeah·, (Fano, 1505), no. 472. This ruling can also be found in
    MS Paris héb. 363, fol. 179b. This manuscript was copied by Sabbetai b. Joseph, also known as
    Bon Fish, in 1452. This text is not included in the modern printed edition of Sefer Rokeah·, and
    its omission may be a case of modern editing of a halakhic text.
    123.Sefer Or Zaru’a, 4: no. 145. Later German sources quote R. Barukh with few comments.
    For example: Hagahot Maimoniyoton Maimonides, Hilkhot Ovdei Kokhavim, 9:16; Mordekhai,
    Avodah Zara, no. 812.
    124. Supra, n. 14.
    125. Some scholars have suggested that the custom of employing a wet nurse was most preva-
    lent in France where the business of wet nursing flourished in the Middle Ages. In these coun-


228 NOTES TO CHAPTER 4
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