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

pray to Jesus. This is merely one of many examples of a shared culture with
clear religious distinctions.
Not only were pregnant women protected during pregnancy, the rooms they
gave birth in were also prepared to safeguard them from harm. One of the main
threats from which the Jews believed women during labor and after birth must
be protected was the figure of Lilith. Amulets were hung around the lying-in
room and the parturient concealed an iron knife under her pillow. This knife
was supposed to protect her, by summoning the Matriarchs—Bilhah, Rachel,
Zilpah, and Leah (BaRZeLiron in Hebrew). Large bowls used for magic
were positioned at the entrance to the room. In addition, the midwives knew
and whispered biblical verses as well as mystical formulas such as the verse
from Isa. 51:14 “Quickly the crouching one is freed,” which was supposed to
expedite delivery. Notwithstanding the internal Jewish explanations given for
them, none of these protective measures was unique to medieval Jewish soci-
ety in Ashkenaz. Some of them may be found among Christians, whereas oth-
ers may be found in other Jewish communities.
The affinity between the Jewish and Christian customs related to birth is
evident in one additional issue related to midwives. As it seems that many med-
ical techniques were shared by Jewish and Christian midwives, we might in-
quire into the relations between Jewish and Christian midwives and between
Jewish parturients and Christian midwives. The issue of Christian practition-
ers attending Jewish women at birth is already raised in the Tractate Avodah
Zara. The Mishna states that a gentile woman may assist a Jewish woman dur-
ing childbirth, and the Talmud concurs, adding the further stipulation that the
gentile midwife not be left alone with the parturient. The same law states that
a Jewish midwife may not assist a gentile woman.^153 The reason given for this
prohibition is that in doing so, they would help in giving life to a child of idol
worshipers. Jewish women were not permitted to be alone with Christian
women because of the fear that the Christian midwife might kill the baby.
These laws and the reasoning behind them seem to indicate a deep suspi-
cion toward non-Jewish midwives. Some of the previous discussion in this
chapter can explain this suspicion. While the techniques the midwives (Jew-
ish and Christian) used were similar, the medical practice was accompanied
by many other actions with a distinct religious flavor. Calling out to the Virgin
Mary during birth was certainly encouraged by Christian midwives, just as the
prayers uttered by Jewish women were distinctly Jewish. Religious beliefs were
often part of the standard medical practice. This might have posed difficulties
for Jews and Christians in particular situations.
In fact, Jews did employ Christian midwives, as the ecclesiastical rulings of
the period demonstrate. The laws prohibiting the employment of Christian
midwives by Jews were reiterated several times. An examination of ecclesiasti-
cal legislation reveals, however, that unlike the prohibition against employing
Christian wet nurses, which was reissued regularly, the ban on employing

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