Ketubot 60a (ס.) — the Talmud in English

And the Gemara discusses:

How long

—of how many months must the infant be for us to say that he recognizes her and does not wish to nurse from another woman?

Rava said that Rav Yirmeya bar Abba said that Rav said:

A son of

three months.

And Shmuel said:

A son of

thirty days.

And Rabbi Yitzḥak said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan:

A son of

fifty days.

Rav Shimi bar Abaye said: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Yitzḥak, who said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan,

fifty days.

And the Gemara is astonished:

Granted, Rav and Rabbi Yoḥanan

hold that

each one—

according to his acuity—

according to his sharpness. There is an infant who recognizes his mother only after three months, and there is a sharper infant who recognizes his mother already after fifty days; they disagreed about the age at which an infant ordinarily recognizes his mother.

But as for Shmuel,

who says that he recognizes his mother already at the age of thirty days,

such a case,

in which the infant recognizes his mother after only thirty days—

can you find it?

Is there an infant so sharp that he recognizes his mother after thirty days, to the extent that he will not nurse from another woman?

When he came,

when

Rami bar Yeḥezkel,

the brother of Rav Yehuda,

said: Do not heed these

do not listen ]

rules that he formulated,

those rules that

Yehuda, my brother, stated in the name of Shmuel,

saying that an infant recognizes his mother at the age of thirty days.

Rather,

this is what Shmuel said: As long as

the infant

recognizes her,

his mother. There is no fixed measure for this; rather, the infant’s recognition of his mother is tested. If we see that he recognizes her, the husband compels his wife, and she nurses him.

That

divorcee

who came before Shmuel and did not wish to nurse her son—

she came before Shmuel ], and she did not want to nurse her son—

He said to

Shmuel

Rav Dimi bar Yosef: Go and test her whether the infant recognizes her.

go and test ] whether the infant recognizes her.

He went,

Rav Dimi bar Yosef went,

and seated her among a row

of women he seated the infant’s mother in a row of women,

he seated the infant’s mother in a row of women ],

and took her son and passed him before them he took the infant and passed him before them—

he took the infant and passed him before them ]—

When he reached

when he arrived with the infant

near her,

before his mother,

he was looking

the infant

at her face the infant was looking at his mother’s face—

his mother’s face [the infant was looking at her face]—

She lowered her eyes from him the mother lowered her eyes from the infant!

the mother covered her eyes from the infant ]!

He said to her,

Rav Dimi bar Yosef said:

Raise your eyes! Arise, carry your son! Raise your eyes and arise and carry your son, and nurse him, for he recognizes you.

lift your eyes and arise, carry your son ], and nurse him, since he recognizes you.

And the Gemara discusses: An infant who is

blind—

how does he know how does he know who his mother is, so that he nurses from her?

how does he know who his mother is, so that he nurses from her ]?

Rav Ashi said:

He recognizes his mother

by smell and by taste by the smell and taste of the milk.

by the smell and taste of the milk ].

The Sages taught: An infant may nurse and continue the infant is permitted to nurse his mother’s milk

An infant may continue to nurse [

until twenty-four months

of age.

From this point onward,

after twenty-four months, she is forbidden to nurse him, because from then on he is considered

like one who nurses from a repulsive creature,”

as though he were nursing something repulsive,

the words of Rabbi Eliezer.

Rabbi Yehoshua says:

An infant may nurse and continue

even for four or five years.

Four years for a healthy child, and five years for a frail child.

And only if

the infant ceased

nursing from his mother and stopped nursing from her

after twenty-four months, and then resumed

nursing, is he

like one who nurses from a repulsive creature.

The Master said: From this point onward—

after twenty-four months—

he is like one who nurses from a repulsive creature:

And we raise a contradiction

to the words of this beraita from the words of another beraita:

As it was taught in tractate Keritot [22a]:

Could it be that the milk of one who walks

on

two

[a woman’s milk] is

impure forbidden?

forbidden ]?

And it follows logically

that it should be forbidden:

And just as with an animal

that is impure, such as a camel,

with whose contact you were lenient,

since an impure animal does not convey impurity during its lifetime, but only after its death, nevertheless

you were stringent with regard to its milk,

which is forbidden—

A human being a woman

a woman ]

with whose contact you were stringent,

since she conveys impurity during her lifetime when she is menstruating,

is it not logical that you should be stringent with regard to her milk,

that a woman’s milk should be forbidden?

The verse states

in the passage concerning the prohibitions of eating impure animals [Leviticus 11:4]:

“The camel, because it brings up its cud,

it.”

The Torah added the word “it” in order to exclude, and to say:

It

alone—the camel, and likewise its milk—

is impure.

But

the milk of one who walks on two legs is not impure; rather, it is pure.

the milk of one who walks on two is not impure; rather, it is pure.

And the beraita continues:

Could I exclude

from the category of the prohibition only

the milk

of a woman, which alone would not be forbidden, because

the prohibition is not equal

with regard to milk

in all cases,

as the milk of a pure animal is permitted—

But

I would not exclude

from the category of the prohibition

the blood

of a human being and permit it, since

it,

the prohibition of blood,

is equal in all cases,

as even the blood of a pure animal is forbidden?

The verse states from that same verse, “The camel, because it brings up its cud,

from that same verse ] “The camel, because it brings up its cud—

it.”

The extra word “it” teaches us to exclude, and to say—

Only

it,

the camel, and likewise its blood,

is impure.

But

the blood of one who walks on two legs is not impure; rather, it is pure.

From a single verse we learn that both human milk and human blood are permitted.

And

And from one verse we learn that both human milk and human blood are permitted.

he said

about this beraita

Rav Sheshet: Even

the mitzva of abstention,

rabbinic in nature,

does not apply to it,

to human milk or to human blood!

But this permission stated in the beraita contradicts the earlier beraita, which says that an infant who nurses from his mother beyond the prescribed time is like one who nurses from a repulsive creature!?

And we answer:

It is not difficult:

This

statement in the beraita that human milk is permitted refers to a case

where it was separated,

where the milk had already been separated from the woman’s breasts into a vessel.

That

statement in the earlier beraita, which considers him “like one who nurses from a repulsive creature,” refers to a case

where it was not separated,

the milk had not been separated from her, as when an infant nurses from his mother’s breasts; in this manner her milk is forbidden by rabbinic law.

And the reverse—

the law is reversed

with regard to blood.

If the blood was separated from the human body, it is forbidden by rabbinic law; but when it was not separated, it is permitted.

As it was taught: Blood that

was separated

onto a loaf,

for example, when he bit the loaf of bread with his teeth and the blood is visible on the loaf—is

scraped off

from the loaf,

and he eats

the loaf.

But blood

that

was not separated from the person and is still

between the teeth

may be

sucked out,

and swallowed,

without concern

for the prohibition against eating human blood.

The Master said

in the beraita:

Rabbi Yehoshua says: An infant may nurse and continue

An infant may continue to nurse ]

even for four or five years.

And we challenge this:

But was it not taught: Rabbi Yehoshua says: Even

if the son grows until he can carry

his bundle on his shoulder,

he may continue nursing from his mother?

And we answer:

Both this and that—

are one measure.

They are all one measure: at the age of four or five, he is capable of carrying his bundle on his shoulder.

Rav Yosef said: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Yehoshua,

that an infant may nurse and continue until four or five years.

The Gemara now brings two additional statements with regard to which Rav Yosef ruled that the halakha follows their authors:

1.

It was taught: Rabbi Marinus says: One who groans whines from pain in his heart

crying out from pain in his chest ]

may nurse milk

of a goat

on Shabbat

for the sake of healing.

And the Gemara explains:

What is the reason

that it is permitted to do this on Shabbat?

Because

nursing

milk with his mouth is included in the labor of

“extracting” which is a derivative of the labor of threshing, one of the thirty-nine labors forbidden on Shabbat, performed

which is a derivative labor of threshing, one of the thirty-nine labors prohibited on Shabbat ], performed

in an unusual manner by means of a deviation. For people do not ordinarily nurse from an animal with their mouths; rather, they milk the animal into a vessel and drink the milk from the vessel. A labor performed in an unusual manner is forbidden on Shabbat only by rabbinic law.

by means of a change ]. People do not ordinarily nurse from an animal with their mouths; rather, they milk it into a container and drink the milk from the container. A labor performed in an unusual manner is prohibited on Shabbat only by rabbinic law.

And in a situation of pain when the sick person is in pain,

where the sick person is suffering ],

the Sages did not decree.

Rav Yosef said: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Marinus!

2.

It was taught: Naḥum of Galia the name of a place

the name of a place ]

says: A gutter a drain that channels rainwater from the roof,

a rainspout ] that carries rainwater from a roof,

in which debris has accumulated,

straw and grass that block and impede the flow of water through it, causing the water to spread across the roof and leak into the house beneath it—

It is

permitted to crush

the debris

with his foot discreetly on Shabbat,

so that it will not prevent the water from flowing,

without concern

for violating Shabbat, even though by doing so he performs an act of repair.

And the Gemara explains:

What is the reason

that it is permitted to do this on Shabbat?

Because

it is “repairing” in an unusual manner,

as he is performing the repair by means of a deviation, since he repairs it with his foot; it is forbidden only by rabbinic law,

and in a situation of financial loss the Sages did not decree

a prohibition.

And here too,

Rav Yosef said: The halakha is in accordance with Naḥum of Galia!

We learned in a beraita:

If he ceased the infant ceased nursing from his mother

the infant ceased nursing from his mother ]

after twenty-four months, and then resumed nursing, he is

nursing ], he is

like one who nurses from a repulsive creature:

The Gemara explains:

And how long

is the period of cessation that makes it forbidden for him to resume nursing?

He said

that he had ceased,

Rav Yehuda bar Ḥaviva said

in the name of Shmuel: Three days

is the measure of cessation; after he has ceased for this measure and then resumes, he is like one who nurses from a repulsive creature.

Some say:

It was not a statement of Rav Yehuda bar Ḥaviva in the name of Shmuel.

Rather,

Rav Yehuda bar Ḥaviva taught

a beraita

before Shmuel: The measure of cessation is

three days—

three days.

The Sages taught: A nursing woman whose husband died within twenty-four months

of the birth of her son,

may not become betrothed and may not marry—