Avodah Zarah 26a — the Talmud in English

And further:

Rav Menashe was going

was going

to

a place whose name was

“Bei Torta.” Robbers encountered him

and met him.

They said to him

the robbers:

Where are you going

?

He said to them

Rav Menashe:

To Pumbedita!

When he reached

when they arrived

Bei Torta, he separated

Rav Menashe separated from them and turned toward Bei Torta.

They said to him

the bandits:

You are Judah’s student, the deceiver

—you are Judah’s student, from whom you learned this act of deception, and through your deception we are unable to rob you.

He said to them

Rav Menashe said to the bandits:

Do you know him,

do you know Rav Judah, that you call him by this derogatory name?

Rav Menashe continued:

May it be the will

may it be the will

that those people be

you be

in his ban

in Rav Judah’s ban, because Rav Judah was a great man, and his curse takes effect; Rav Menashe cursed them in the name of Rav Judah!

And once he had cursed them with Rav Judah’s ban,

they went and engaged in

they continued and carried out

robbery

robberies for

twenty-two years

twenty-two years,

and they did not succeed

they did not succeed in their robberies!

When they saw

that this was so,

they all came and demanded the release of their ban

they all came and demanded that the ban and excommunication imposed upon them be released.

And there was among them one weaver

there was among the bandits one weaver,

who did not come to have his ban released

who did not come to have his excommunication released.

And a lion ate him

a lion ate him! And the Gemara adds:

This is what people say

thus people say [as a proverb]

“A weaver who does not blush but acts brazenly loses a year from his years.”

a weaver who is not ashamed but acts brazenly—one year is subtracted from his years of life.

The Gemara adds:

Come, see

come and see.

What

the difference

between

the robbers in Babylonia,

and

between the

bandits of the Land of Israel.

The robbers in Babylonia, who plotted against Rav Menashe, insulted a great man—Rav Judah.

Whereas the bandits in the Land of Israel [although bandits are harsher than robbers], who plotted against the students of Rabbi Akiva, recounted his praise! \-

To relate the praise of the Land of Israel!

Mishna:

This Mishna is a kind of continuation of the preceding Mishna, adding to teach matters from which one must distance oneself from gentiles because of the danger. And, generally, within the obligation to distance oneself from them, one must avoid assisting idolatry. This is the law of the Mishna before us, that it is forbidden to deliver a child for idolatry.

A Jewish woman may not deliver the gentile woman

who worships the stars,

because she delivers a child for idolatry! But a gentile woman who worships the stars may deliver a Jewish woman’s child. A Jewish woman may not nurse

the son of a gentile woman who worships the stars,

but a gentile woman who worships the stars may nurse the son of a Jewish woman

in her domain

that is, in her house and in the place of the Jewish mother of the infant. But the infant’s mother may not hand him over to a gentile woman so that she will nurse him in her house, lest she kill him!

Gemara:

We learned in our Mishna that a Jewish woman may not deliver a gentile woman’s child, and we find a dispute concerning this.

The Sages taught: A Jewish woman may not deliver the child of a gentile woman who worships the stars, because she delivers a child for idolatry.

And a gentile woman who worships the stars may not deliver the child of a Jewish woman, because they are suspected of bloodshed—

the words of Rabbi Meir.

And the Sages say: A gentile woman who worships the stars may deliver the child of a Jewish woman

only

when

other Jewish women

stand over her,

and supervise her so that she does not do any harm.

But not

may she deliver her

when she is alone with her

without the presence of other women.

And Rabbi Meir says: Even if

there are women

standing over her—

also not

it is forbidden for her to deliver even in this manner.

Because

sometimes

sometimes

the

midwife

places it

places her

hand on the forehead

on the infant’s forehead, at the place where an infant’s brain is soft—

and kills him, and it is not apparent.

She kills him, and it is not apparent that she indeed killed him, since his death can be attributed to another cause.

Like that incident involving a woman

and like the incident that occurred with a certain gentile woman,

who said to her companion

who said to her fellow midwife by way of a derogatory nickname:

“A Jewish-woman deliverer, daughter of a Jewish-woman deliverer.”

You deliver Jewish women, daughter of a Jewish-woman deliverer!

She said to her

that midwife

“Many evils will come upon that woman”

many troubles will come upon that woman who insults me, corresponding to the number of those souls of Jewish children

“from whom I have brought forth blood, like the foam of a river.”

that I killed and from whom I extracted blood, like the foam of a river ! And if so, we have no greater proof than this that gentile midwives are capable of killing!

And what will the Sages who permit delivery by a gentile woman when other women stand over her answer to this?

And the Sages said to him

they answer this:

“It is not so,”

one should not relate to the words of this woman. Since

she said it merely as a statement.

That midwife established it with words alone. It was nothing but empty boasting.

We learned in our Mishna:

A Jewish woman may not nurse the son of a gentile woman who worships the stars.

And in this matter too they disagreed—

The Sages taught: A Jewish woman may not nurse the son of a gentile woman who worships the stars, because she raises a child for idolatry.

And a gentile woman who worships the stars may not nurse the son of a Jewish woman, because she is suspected of bloodshed—

the words of Rabbi Meir. And the Sages say: A gentile woman who worships the stars may nurse the son of a Jewish woman when other women stand over her.

But not

may she nurse him

when he is

between the infant

and her

and they are alone.

And Rabbi Meir says: Even if

if

others stand over her, also

also

she may not nurse.

Sometimes

sometimes

she applies poison to the breast from the outside,

the gentile woman smears a poisonous substance on her breast externally—

and kills him

and kills the infant!

It must be understood why it was necessary to state the dispute between Rabbi Meir and the Sages regarding delivery as well—that Rabbi Meir forbids delivery by a gentile midwife and the Sages permit it—and also their dispute concerning nursing.

For since Rabbi Meir is concerned about danger, should one not be concerned in this way both with delivery and with nursing?

The Gemara resolves:

And it is necessary,

we need to state both of these disputes.

Because

if it had taught us

if they had taught us only their dispute concerning

a midwife,

and not their dispute concerning nursing, we would have said that only concerning a midwife

in that matter

in it

do the Sages say

the Sages said

that it is permitted

that it is permitted to have delivery performed by a gentile midwife, because

it is not possible

for her to kill the infant

because other women see her.

But

concerning

a wet nurse, for it is possible that she applies

smears

it

a poison

to the breast from the outside

on the breast outside the body

and kills him

and thereby kills the infant,

I would say

we would say that in this matter

they agree with him

the Sages agree

with Rabbi Meir,

and forbid nursing the infant by a gentile woman.

And if it had taught us

and if they had taught us only the dispute concerning

a wet nurse,

we would have said that only

in that matter

concerning nursing

does Rabbi Meir say that it is forbidden

to nurse by a gentile woman,

because she applies poison to the breast from the outside,

because she smears poison on the outside of her breast,

and kills him

and kills the infant. Therefore it is forbidden to allow her to nurse him.

But

concerning

a midwife, for it is not possible

for her to kill the infant

where other women stand over her, I would say

we would say that

he agrees with them

Rabbi Meir

with the Sages

that it is permitted to have delivery performed by a gentile midwife. \-

It is necessary!

Therefore we need to state both disputes.

A. We need the dispute between Rabbi Meir and the Sages concerning nursing, because it might have been said that the Sages agree with Rabbi Meir that it is forbidden to nurse by a gentile woman, since she can kill the infant with poison without anyone noticing; it teaches us that even in this case the Sages permit it when other women stand over her,

B. We need the dispute between Rabbi Meir and the Sages concerning delivery by a gentile midwife. Because it might have been said that Rabbi Meir agrees with the Sages that it is permitted to have delivery performed by a gentile woman, since she cannot kill him without all those standing over her noticing; it teaches us that even in this case Rabbi Meir forbids it.

We learned in our Mishna that a Jewish woman may not deliver the child of a gentile woman [and no one disputes this].

The Gemara raises an objection:

But we raised a contradiction

we find a contradiction to this law, for we learned in a beraita:

A Jewish woman

may deliver the child of a gentile woman for payment, but not for free.

And the Gemara answers:

Rav Yosef said—

for payment it is permitted

it is permitted to deliver her child

because of enmity.

Since if she refuses to deliver her child even for payment, this will increase hatred toward Israel, and for this reason it is permitted.

Whereas our Mishna is speaking of a prohibition against delivering her child for free, since this does not increase hatred, for the Jewish woman can say, “I need payment for my sustenance, and I do not perform these things for free”!

And likewise

Rav Yosef was inclined to say

to say:

To deliver the child of a gentile woman who worships the stars

on Shabbat

on Shabbat

for payment—

it is permitted

it is permitted,

because of

so that there will not be

enmity!

Abaye said to

Rav Yosef: There is no necessity that there would indeed be enmity if the Israelite woman were to refuse to deliver the gentile woman’s child on Shabbat. Since

she could

escape from the gentile woman and

say

to

her:

Our own

people

who guard Shabbat,

who observe Shabbat,

we desecrate it for them.

It is permitted for us to desecrate it for their needs in childbirth. However,

your own, who do not guard Shabbat

for you, since you do not observe Shabbat—

we do not desecrate it.

We do not desecrate Shabbat for you!

And this claim has a reason, and the gentile woman will accept it. And there will not be enmity on account of this.

Further,

Rav Yosef thought to say: nursing for payment

nursing the infant of an idolater for payment—

is permitted, because of enmity.

In order not to increase hatred.

Abaye said

to Rav Yosef:

she could

the Israelite wet nurse

say

to escape from the gentile woman and say to her: -

If she is unmarried

the Israelite woman, she should say as follows:

I desire to marry

I wish to marry, and for this reason I am not nursing.

And

if

if

she is a married woman

the Israelite woman, she should say to the gentile woman:

I am not becoming soiled

I do not wish to become soiled through this nursing [which sometimes leads to filth]

before a man—

before my husband! And since she can escape with these claims, there is no enmity in her refusal.

Further,

Rav Yosef thought to say: that which the beraita teaches

what we learned in the beraita, that

the idolaters

and the shepherds of small livestock [

Jews who shepherd small livestock—they are robbers, because they shepherd and feed their animals from the fields of others. ] who fell into a pit, the law is

that they are not brought up

and are not rescued from there.

But on the other hand:

they are not brought down

there, so that they should die. And that which we said, that they are not brought up from there,

bringing them up for payment—

is permitted

to bring them up from the pit in exchange for payment, it is permitted

because of enmity

because if the gentile sees that the Israelite refuses to rescue him even for payment, the hatred will increase.

Abaye said

to Rav Yosef: Even here,

he can

the Israelite can escape in a manner such that there will be no hatred on account of his refusal.

Since he can

say to him

the gentile:

My son is standing on the roof.

My son is presently on the roof, and if I do not bring him down, he may die. And it is preferable for me to rescue my son than to accept your payment.

Alternatively

another manner in which the Israelite can escape from the gentile is that he should say to him:

I have an appointed time for the royal court.

I have now been scheduled to go to the royal court. And if I do not go now, I will suffer a loss. And for this reason I forgo the payment that you offer me.

And in these two manners of escaping, there is no enmity.

He taught

he taught

Rabbi Abbahu before

before

Rabbi Yohanan: The idolaters and the shepherds of small livestock

who fell into a pit—

they are not brought up

from there to rescue them

and

also

they are not brought down

into the pit so that they should die.