Breastfeeding

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A child may go on nursing for twenty-four months, and from that time forward, he is like one who nurses from a non-kosher animal--these are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. Rabbi Yehoshua says: a child may go on nursing even until he is a child of five years, but if he ceased and then returned (to nursing) after twenty-four months, behold he is like one who nurses from a non-kosher animal. A woman is obligated to nurse her child for twenty-four months, whether her own or one who was given to her to wet-nurse…

Tosefta Niddah 2:2-3

Now the manna was like coriander seed, and in color it was like bdellium. The people would go about and gather it, grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar, boil it in a pot, and make it into cakes. It tasted like rich cream. When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall upon it.

The Gemara now discusses the next verse in Exodus: “Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter: Shall I go and call you a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?” (Exodus 2:7). The Gemara asks: And what is different that Pharaoh’s daughter would specifically want a nurse of the Hebrew women? The Gemara answers: This teaches that prior to this, they took Moses around to all the Egyptian wet nurses and he did not agree to nurse from any of them…

Sotah 12b:19-20

HALAKHAH: “What is an old woman,” etc. Rebbi Meïr says, the blood disappears because of the milk. Rebbi Yose says, the blood disappears because of the pain. You find a leniency and a stringency following Rebbi Meïr, and a leniency and a stringency following Rebbi Yose. A leniency following Rebbi Meïr, for if the baby was continuing to suckle for four ot five years, her timing continues exact. And a stringency, if she handed her child to a wet-nurse or it died, she [makes impure] for 24 hours…

Jerusalem Talmud Niddah 1:4:2

It was also said with regard to the manna: “And its taste was as the taste of a cake [shad] baked with oil [hashamen]” (Numbers 11:8). Rabbi Abbahu said: Shad means breast. Just as a baby tastes different flavors from the breast, since the taste of the milk changes somewhat depending on what foods his mother eats, so too with the manna, every time that the Jewish people ate the manna, they found in it many different flavors, based on their preferences…

“His sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter: Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” (Exodus 2:7).
“His sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, etc.” Why did Miriam say: “From the Hebrew women”? Was it prohibited for Moses to nurse from the milk of a gentile woman? That is not what we learned: A Jewish woman may not nurse the son of a gentile woman, but a gentile woman may nurse the son of a Jewish woman on [the Jewish woman’s] property (Avoda Zara 26a)…

Shemot Rabbah 1:25

Come and hear: A child may regularly suckle from a gentile woman; and a child may suckle from a non-kosher animal. And in both cases one need not be concerned that he might be considered one who suckles from a detestable creature. But one may not feed a child unslaughtered animal carcasses, or animals with wounds that will cause the animals to die within twelve months [tereifot], or repugnant creatures, or creeping animals. A child may suckle from all these, including the non-kosher creatures, even on Shabbat…

Yevamot 114a:8-12

“She nurses her baby.” Rebbi Ḥaggai said, is says only “her baby,” therefore not twins. Why does it say “her baby”? As it was stated: “A man cannot force his wife to nurse another man’s child, nor can a woman force her husband to let her nurse another woman’s child. If she made a vow not to nurse her baby, the House of Shammai say that one removes the breast nipple from his mouth, but the House of Hillel say, one forces her. If she was divorced, one cannot force her if [the baby] is not used to her, but if he is used to her one forces her and pays her wages to nurse her baby…

Jerusalem Talmud Ketubot 5:6:3

(Bamidbar 11:8) "The people would stroll out and gather it": I might think that they railed against Him because it was difficult to gather; it is, therefore, written (Shemot 16:4) "And the people will go out and gather it." One would sit at the door of his house and gather his share and the share of his household, and when the sun came out, it melted. "and they would grind it in a mill": Now (did we not learn that) it never "descended" to a mill? The intent is, rather, that it was converted for them to everything that is ground in a mill…

Sifrei Bamidbar 89:1

“But a Non-Jewish woman may nurse the child of a Jewish woman” as it is written, their kings will be your pedagogues and their princesses your wet nurses. It was stated: A baby nurses continuously from a Non-Jewish woman or from a non-kosher animal and one brings him milk from anywhere and does not worry either about abomination or because of impurity.

Jerusalem Talmud Avodah Zarah 2:1:11

MISHNA: A Jewish woman may not deliver the child of a gentile woman, because in doing so she is delivering a child who will engage in idol worship. But one may allow a gentile woman to deliver the child of a Jewish woman. Similarly, a Jewish woman may not nurse the child of a gentile woman, but one may allow a gentile woman to nurse the child of a Jewish woman while the gentile woman is on the Jewish woman’s property.

Avodah Zarah 26a:4

And signs of the transition between each of these watches in the upper world can be sensed in this world: In the first watch, the donkey brays; in the second, dogs bark; and in the third people begin to rise, a baby nurses from its mother’s breast and a wife converses with her husband.

§ The mishna teaches: The time of a nursing woman is sufficient until she weans her child from nursing. The Sages taught in a baraita (see Tosefta 2:1): With regard to a nursing woman whose child dies within twenty-four months of his birth, she is like all other women with regard to her impurity status after seeing menstrual blood, and therefore she transmits ritual impurity retroactively for a twenty-four-hour period or from examination to examination…

§ The Sages taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yosei HaGelili taught: At the time that the Jewish people ascended from the sea they resolved to sing a song of gratitude to God. And how did they recite this song? If a baby was lying on his mother’s lap or an infant was nursing from his mother’s breasts, once they saw the Divine Presence, the baby straightened his neck and the infant dropped the breast from his mouth, and they recited: “This is my God and I will glorify Him” (Exodus 15:2)…

The Gemara further discusses the baraita: It was taught that with regard to a woman who came in contact with one who was impure due to a corpse, the Sages permitted her to nurse her child, and her child remains pure and may therefore be fed teruma. The Gemara asks: Why is he pure? Once he nurses from the milk of his mother, he becomes impure from the milk. And if you would say that the mother’s milk was not rendered susceptible to impurity because it never came into contact with a liquid…

Keritot 13a:14-17

The Gemara cites a related baraita in which the Sages taught: There was an incident where one man’s wife died, and she left him a son to nurse, and he did not have money to pay the wages of a wet-nurse. And a miracle was performed on his behalf, and he developed breasts like the two breasts of a woman, and he nursed his son.

It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Natan says: Any woman whose breasts are larger than those of other women, this is a blemish. The Gemara poses a question: And how much larger must they be to be considered a blemish? Rabbi Meyasha, son of the son of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: If they are a handbreadth larger than the norm. The Gemara inquires: And is there a case like this? Is it possible for a woman to have such large breasts? The Gemara answers: Yes…

The Sages taught in a baraita: There was an incident involving a certain pious man who was groaning, i.e., suffering, due to a pain in his heart. Those caring for the man asked the physicians what to do for him, and they said: There is no other remedy for him but that he should suckle warm milk every morning. And they brought him a she-goat and tied it to the leg of the bed for him, and he would suckle milk from it every morning.

Bava Kamma 80a:4

He nursed from his mother’s breast, his third world, and he looked upon her bosom and said a song of praise, as it is stated: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His benefits [gemulav]” (Psalms 103:2). The etymological association is between gemulav and gemulei meḥalav, which means weaned from milk (Isaiah 28:9). We still must understand, however, what is meant by all His benefits? What in particular is praiseworthy in what God provided…

Berakhot 10a:15-17

In reference to Sarah having given birth to Isaac, the verse states: “And she said: Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah should nurse children?” (Genesis 21:7). The Gemara asks: How many children did Sarah nurse? Why does the verse use the plural form when she had only one child? Rabbi Levi says: That day when Abraham weaned his son Isaac, he prepared a great celebratory feast. All of the nations of the world were gossiping and saying to each other: See this old man and old woman who brought a foundling from the market and are saying: He is our son…

Bava Metzia 87a:12

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