Ketubot 60 – Nursing a child

Abaye's sharecropper wanted to make an engagement with a woman whose husband had recently died and who was still nursing a child for the previous fifteen months. He came to Abaye to ask whether this was allowed. Abaye gave him many reasons why it was permitted.

Firstly, Rabbi Meir requires her to wait twenty-four months of nursing, but Rabbi Yehudah only needs fifteen months, and the law is always like Rabbi Yehudah against Rabbi Meir. Secondly, many other Sages also allow this. There were other reasons as well.

However, Rav Yosef, Abaye's teacher, corrected him: Abaye forgot another rule – when Rabbi Meir suggests a protective decree, the law always follows him. Abaye ran after his sharecropper for three miles, and some say – for one mile in the sand, but could not overtake him.

Abaye said: "This mistake happened to me because I should not have decided the law, even if it seemed obvious to me, in the vicinity of my teacher, for this is disrespectful."

And what is the reason for prohibiting such marriage? – If the woman becomes pregnant, the milk may become unfit for nursing, thus endangering the baby.

Art: Woman Nursing an Infant by Pieter De Hooch