Two seifim: what a non-Jewish woman does not do for a Jewish woman, and what a Jewish woman does not do for a non-Jewish woman
יורה דעה · סימן קנ״ד
דיני מיילדת עובדת כוכבים וישראלית
🌱 Introductory level · מתחילים
✦ ❖ ✦
Siman 154 consists of two seifim — the Shulchan Arukh announces it itself: ובו ב׳ סעיפים. Two symmetrical situations and two fears that are not. In one direction, the delivery and nursing of a Jewish child by a non-Jewish woman: the fear is danger, and the siman answers it with conditions of presence. In the other, a Jewish woman delivering or nursing for a non-Jewish woman: the fear is entirely different, and so is the answer — enmity, which permits here what it does not permit there.
Subject: Source: שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן קנ״ד
Compiled by: הרב יוסף חיים סממה DAAT · daattorah.com
📑 Plan of the study
1.The text of the Mehaber: the two seifim
2.Context: the mishnah and sugya in Avodah Zarah (26a), the Tur, the Beit Yosef
3.The key concepts: מיילדת, מינקת, בינה לבינה, אחרות עומדות על גבה, יוצאים ונכנסים, מומחית, איבה, מגדלת בן לעבודה זרה
4.The summary table: the two directions, and their conditions
5.The Shakh (4 ס״ק), the Taz (5 ס״ק), the Ba’er Hetev (4), the Pit’hei Teshuvah (2) and the Nekudot HaKesef (1) — the whole apparatus
6.The Rambam: where is this rule codified, and under what reason?
7.Modern practical cases
8.Summary and comprehension questions
1. The text of the Mehaber — the two seifim
The siman reads in both directions. (1) A non-Jewish woman with a Jewish woman: she does not deliver alone with her, even if expert, and does not nurse in her own house even under watch; but in a Jewish house both are permitted if others are present or come and go — and never alone with the child at night. (2) A Jewish woman with a non-Jewish woman: she does not nurse her child, even for pay, and does not deliver — unless she is known as a midwife, and then only for pay and on a weekday.
Seif 1 — the non-Jewish midwife and wet-nurse, and their conditions
דיני מיילדת עובדת כוכבים וישראלית. ובו ב׳ סעיפים: עובדת כוכבים לא תיילד לישראלית בינה לבינה ואפילו אם היא מומחית וכן לא תניק לבן ישראל בביתה ואפילו אחרים עומדים על גבה אבל בבית ישראל מותרת ליילד ולהניק אם אחרים עומדים על גבה או יוצאים ונכנסים והוא שלא יניחנו עמה לבדו בלילה:
Title of the siman:the laws of the non-Jewish midwife and of the Jewish one; and it contains two seifim.
A non-Jewish woman shall not deliver a Jewish woman alone with her, even if she is expert; and likewise she shall not nurse a Jewish child in her own house, even if others stand over her. But in a Jewish house she is permitted to deliver and to nurse if others stand over her, or come in and go out; and provided he does not leave him alone with her at night.
The Mehaber does not write the reason — and that is the first thing to note. The Tur, his source, writes it in so many words: מפני שחשודה על שפיכות דמים. The seif keeps only the conditions. Three of them, and they should be counted: others present, in a Jewish house, and never alone at night. The Taz will show that the first two hold together, for delivery as for nursing.
Seif 2 — the Jewish woman with a non-Jewish woman, and the lever of enmity
ישראלית לא תניק לבן עובד כוכבים אפילו בשכר (אא״כ יש לה חלב הרבה ומצערת אותה מותרת להניקו) (מרדכי ואגודה ר״פ אין מעמידין) ולא תיילד לעובדת כוכבי׳) אלא אם כן היא ידועה למילדת שאז מותר ודוקא בשכר ובחול (אסור ללמד לעובד כוכבים אומנות) (הגהות אשיר״י שם וירושלמי):
A Jewish woman shall not nurse the child of a non-Jewish woman, even for paygloss:(unless she has much milk and it pains her, in which case she is permitted to nurse him) (Mordekhi and Agudah, beginning of chapter Ein Ma‘amidin) and she shall not deliver a non-Jewish woman, unless she is known as a midwife, in which case it is permitted; and only for pay, and on a weekday.
Gloss:(it is forbidden to teach a non-Jew a craft) (Hagahot Asheri there, and the Yerushalmi).
Seif 2 is not the converse of seif 1. Here the fear is not danger but, according to the Beit Yosef, מגדלת בן לאליל — raising a child for idolatry. And because the fear is different, so is the lever: enmity permits delivery for pay, and does not permit nursing — the Gemara explains why, and the Taz sums it up.
A remark of reading, which the Taz will pick up: in seif 1 the Mehaber writes בינה לבינה for delivery and בביתה for nursing — apparently two different conditions. The Taz explains that both hold for both, and that the wording is simply due to a woman ordinarily giving birth at home.
2. Context — the mishnah, the sugya, the Tur and the Beit Yosef
The mishnah in Avodah Zarah lays down the two directions in four clauses, and they must be read together: it forbids in one direction and permits in the other.
summary : a daughter of Israel shall not deliver the non-Jewish woman, because she brings forth a son for idolatry; but a non-Jewish woman delivers a daughter of Israel. A daughter of Israel shall not nurse the son of a non-Jewish woman; but a non-Jewish woman nurses the son of a Jewish woman in her domain.
The mishnah gives one reason, and only one. It explains why a Jewish woman does not deliver a non-Jewish woman — מפני שמילדת בן לעבודה זרה — and says nothing of the converse reason. It is the baraita that supplies it, and the Tur takes it up.
The baraita and its discussion: Rabbi Meir forbids absolutely, the Sages permit on condition of presence, and Rabbi Meir replies that presence does not suffice.
summary : and a non-Jewish woman shall not deliver a daughter of Israel, because they are suspected of bloodshed — the words of Rabbi Meir. And the Sages say: a non-Jewish woman delivers a daughter of Israel when others stand over her, but not alone with her. And Rabbi Meir says: even when others stand over her, not either — for sometimes she places her hand on the fontanelle and kills him, and it is not seen. […] But the nurse, where she might smear poison on the breast from outside and kill him…
Then the sugya turns to the second direction, and there the lever of enmity appears — with its two limits, Shabbat and nursing:
summary : and they raise an objection: a Jewish woman delivers an Aramean woman for pay, but not for free! Rav Yosef said: for pay it is permitted, because of enmity. […] Abaye said to him: she can answer her — ours, who keep Shabbat, we desecrate it for them; yours, who do not keep it, we do not desecrate it. […] Abaye said to him: she can say, if she is unmarried — “I wish to marry”; if she is married — “I do not wish to make myself repugnant before my husband”.
Enmity is not a master key. The Gemara retains it for delivery for pay, and sets it aside twice: for Shabbat and for nursing. In both cases the reason is the same — an excuse is available, and where one can refuse without giving offence, there is no enmity to fear.
The Tur gives the material almost in the Mehaber’s order, with two things the Mehaber will not take over as such: the reason, and the Rashba’s specification of what a “known” midwife is.
« נכרית עובדת כו״ם לא תיילד לישראלית בינה לבינה מפני שחשודה על שפיכות דמים » (טור יו״ד קנ״ד)
« ואפי׳ היא מומחית וכן מטעם זה לא תניק לבנו של ישראל בביתה » (טור יו״ד קנ״ד)
« אבל אם אחרים עומדין על גבה או יוצאין ונכנסין מותר לילך ולהניק בבית ישראל אבל אין להניחו עמה לבדו בלילה » (טור יו״ד קנ״ד)
« ולא תיילד לכנענית עובדת כו״ם בחנם אבל בשכר מותר » (טור יו״ד קנ״ד)
« במה דברים אמורים בחול אבל בשבת אסור אפי׳ בשכר » (טור יו״ד קנ״ד)
« וכתב הרשב״א הא דשרי בשכר דוקא במילדת ידועה שמתעסקה בכך שאז יהיה לה איבה אם לא תעשה » (טור יו״ד קנ״ד)
« אבל אשה שאינה רגילה בכך אפי׳ בשכר אסור דליכא איבה דמצי למימר איני בקיאה בכך » (טור יו״ד קנ״ד)
summary : a non-Jewish woman shall not deliver a Jewish woman alone with her, because she is suspected of bloodshed, and even if she is expert; and for this same reason she shall not nurse a Jew’s son in her house. […] But if others stand over her or come and go, it is permitted to go and nurse in a Jewish house; but he shall not be left alone with her at night. […] And she shall not deliver a non-Jewish woman for free, but for pay it is permitted. When does this apply? On a weekday; but on Shabbat it is forbidden even for pay. And the Rashba wrote: what is permitted for pay applies only to a known midwife who regularly does this, for then there would be enmity if she did not; but a woman not accustomed to it, even for pay it is forbidden, for there is no enmity — she can say: I am not skilled at this.
The Beit Yosef adds three decisive things: the condition of domain, the reason an expert does not suffice, and the Rosh’s leniency about one who comes and goes.
« ואפילו אחרות עומדות ע״ג לא שרינן אלא ברשות ישראל דוקא כמ״ש רבינו בסמוך אם אחרים עומדים ע״ג וכו׳ מותר לילד ולהניק בבית ישראל » (בית יוסף יו״ד קנ״ד)
« כלומר דלא דמי לרופא שאם הוא מומחה מתרפאין ממנו משום דלא מרע נפשיה וטעמא דלא אמרינן הכי גבי מיילדת כיון דשכיחי נפלים אפילו תמיתם לא יאמרו שהמיילדת המיתה את הולד אלא נפל היה » (בית יוסף יו״ד קנ״ד)
« וכתב הרא״ש מכאן שיש ליזהר שלא תניק כותית בנה של ישראלית כי אם ברשותה ואחרות עומדות ע״ג דליכא למימר דאחרות עומדות ע״ג דהיינו ברשות העכו״ם דהא מסתמא ברישא דבעי עומדות ע״ג במיילדת היינו ברשות ישראל וה״ה לענין הנקה ומיהו נראה דנכנס ויוצא דמותר דודאי מרתתא » (בית יוסף יו״ד קנ״ד)
« וטעמא מפני שמגדלת בן לאליל » (בית יוסף יו״ד קנ״ד)
summary : and even if others stand over her, we permit only in a Jew’s domain specifically […]. That is, it is not like the physician: if he is expert one is treated by him, because he would not ruin his own reputation; and the reason we do not say the same of the midwife is that stillbirths are frequent — even if she killed them, they would not say the midwife killed the child but that it was a stillbirth. […] And the Rosh wrote: from here that one must take care that a non-Jewish woman nurse a Jewish woman’s son only in her domain and with others present […]; but it seems that one who comes in and goes out is permitted, for she surely fears. […] And the reason is that she raises a son for the idol.
What is the fear of seif 1? Bloodshed — but it is the Tur who writes it, not the Mehaber.
And that of seif 2? Raising a son for idolatry, per the mishnah and the Beit Yosef.
Why does an expert not suffice? Because her reputation would not be damaged: stillbirths are frequent.
Where does enmity permit, and where not? It permits delivery for pay; it permits neither Shabbat nor nursing, since an excuse is available.
3. The key concepts of this siman
מְיַלֶּדֶת — the midwife. The subject of the first seif in one direction and of the second in the other. The siman speaks not of a profession but of a situation: two women alone and a child being born.
מֵינֶקֶת — the wet-nurse. The other half of seif 1, and the Taz shows that she is governed by the same conditions as delivery, despite wording that seems to distinguish them.
בֵּינָהּ לְבֵינָהּ — alone with her. The situation the seif forbids: no third party, no passage. The phrase comes from the Gemara, where it is the Sages’ formula against Rabbi Meir.
אֲחֵרוֹת עוֹמְדוֹת עַל גַּבָּהּ — others stand over her. The first condition. It does not suffice by itself: the Beit Yosef adds that it must also be in the Jewish domain.
יוֹצְאִים וְנִכְנָסִים — they come in and go out. The Rosh’s leniency, taken into the seif: passage suffices, without continuous presence — דודאי מרתתא, for she surely fears.
מֻמְחִית — expert. What would suffice for a physician in the next siman, and does not suffice here. The reason is given by the Beit Yosef: her reputation would not be damaged. The Shakh writes on this point וצ״ע.
אֵיבָה — enmity. The lever of seif 2: it permits delivery for pay, and permits neither Shabbat nor nursing, because an excuse is available there.
יְדוּעָה לְמְיַלֶּדֶת — known as a midwife. The seif’s condition, drawn from the Rashba by the Tur: if she is not accustomed to it she can decline, and so there is no enmity to fear.
מְגַדֶּלֶת בֵּן לַעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה — she raises a son for idolatry. The mishnah’s reason for the second direction, taken up by the Beit Yosef. It has nothing to do with the fear of the first.
בְּשָׂכָר — for pay. What, in seif 2, turns the prohibition into a leniency — because the refusal would then be felt as a refusal, and not as an inability.
4. The summary table — the two directions and their conditions
The situation
What the Shulchan Arukh says
The verdict
What governs it
A non-Jewish woman delivers a Jewish woman, alone
בינה לבינה
אסור
Even if expert
… with others present, in a Jewish house
אחרים עומדים על גבה
מותר
Two conditions together
… with people coming and going
או יוצאים ונכנסים
מותר
The Rosh’s leniency
A non-Jewish woman nurses in her own house
לא תניק לבן ישראל בביתה
אסור
Even with others present
The child left alone with her at night
שלא יניחנו עמה לבדו בלילה
אסור
No exception in the seif
A Jewish woman nurses a non-Jewish child
אפילו בשכר
אסור
Enmity does not apply
… but she has too much milk and it pains her
מותרת להניקו
מותר
The Rama’s gloss
A Jewish woman delivers a non-Jewish woman, for free
לא תיילד לעובדת כוכבים
אסור
No enmity to fear
… for pay, and she is known as a midwife
שאז מותר
מותר
Rashba, reported by the Tur
… on Shabbat
ודוקא בשכר ובחול
אסור
Abaye’s answer
Teaching a craft to a non-Jew
אסור ללמד לעובד כוכבים אומנות
אסור
The Rama’s gloss, from the Yerushalmi
One row of the table deserves rereading — that of nursing in the non-Jewish woman’s house: it is forbidden even if others stand over her, whereas for delivery that presence suffices in a Jewish house. The Gemara gives the reason: the nurse has a means the midwife does not.
5. The Shakh, the Taz, the Ba’er Hetev, the Pit’hei Teshuvah and the Nekudot HaKesef
The apparatus is given here in full: the Shakh has four ס״ק, the Taz five, the Ba’er Hetev four, the Pit’hei Teshuvah two and the Nekudot HaKesef one. Two questions take up nearly all of it: the expert midwife, and the exact scope of the conditions of presence.
The Shakh — four entries
ס״ק א — the expert, and the Shakh’s צ״ע
« כלומר ולא אמרינן דלא מרעת נפשה כדלקמן סימן קנ״ה ברופא מומחה ב״י וכ״כ הפרישה וב״ח » (ש״ך יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
« וכתב הטעם דמיילדת יכולה לומר נפל היה וכה״ג » (ש״ך יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
« ותמיה לי דבירושלמי פרק אין מעמידין קאמר כי היכי דברופא אומן מותר ה״ה במיילדת חכמה » (ש״ך יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
« וכן בשום פוסק לא נזכר דבמיילדת מומח׳ אסור וצ״ע » (ש״ך יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
summary : that is, we do not say that she would not ruin her own reputation, as below in siman 155 concerning the expert physician — so the Beit Yosef, and so wrote the Perisha and the Bach; and he wrote the reason: the midwife can say it was a stillbirth, and the like. But this astonishes me: in the Yerushalmi, chapter Ein Ma‘amidin, it says that just as a skilled physician is permitted, so too a wise midwife; and in no decisor is it mentioned that an expert midwife is forbidden — and the matter requires study.
The Shakh does not dispute the halakhah: he disputes its reason. He does not say the expert is permitted; he says the stated reason does not stand against the Yerushalmi, and that no decisor wrote the prohibition as such. A צ״ע from that hand is an open difficulty, not a leniency — and the Pit’hei Teshuvah will answer it.
ס״ק ב, ג, ד — the scope of the clause, a cross-reference, and enmity
« אמיילדת נמי קאי » (ש״ך יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ב)
« שהוא יודע שהיא מיילדת דאז משום איבה שרי בשכר » (ש״ך יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ד)
summary : (ב) on “even if others…”: this applies to the midwife too. — (ג) he refers to siman 81, seif 6, in the gloss. — (ד) on “unless”: that he knows she is a midwife, for then it is permitted for pay, because of enmity.
The Taz — five entries
ס״ק א — the two conditions hold for both acts
« מבואר הוא דהנקה והולדה שוין ובתרווייהו בעינן תרתי דהיינו שיהיו אחרות עומדת על גבם ויהיה בבית ישראל » (ט״ז יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
« משום שסתמא כל יולדת יולדת בביתה ולא אזלת בבית עובדת כוכבים להוליד שם משא״כ בהנקה » (ט״ז יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
« ואם כן צריך שלא להניח ישראלית ההולכת חוץ לעיר את בנה יחיד ביד מינקת עובדת כוכבים אם אין ישראלית בעיר יוצאת ונכנסת שם תמיד ואפי׳ הכי מזמן שכיבה ואילך אסור להניחו יחיד » (ט״ז יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
« משמע דביוצא ונכנס סגי אפילו בבית עובד כוכבים » (ט״ז יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
« ותימה על הב״י שלא הביאה לחלק על דעת הרא״ש » (ט״ז יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
summary : it is clear that nursing and delivery are equal, and that in both two things are required: that others stand over them, and that it be in a Jewish house. And if it was written about delivery, at the start, that she not be alone with her, without writing there too that it be in a Jewish house, it is because ordinarily every woman gives birth at home and does not go to a non-Jewish woman’s house to give birth — which is not so for nursing. And the Tosafot wrote: therefore a Jewish woman who goes out of the city must not leave her son alone in the hands of a non-Jewish nurse, if there is no Jewish woman in the city who continually comes and goes there; and even so, from bedtime on it is forbidden to leave him alone. It emerges from this that coming and going would suffice even in a non-Jewish house — and this is astonishing of the Beit Yosef, who did not bring it to set against the Rosh’s view.
ס״ק ב, ג, ד, ה — the expert, enmity, the reason, and Shabbat
« ול״ד לרופא סי׳ קנ״ה דהכא לא מרעית חזקה שלה שתוכל לומר נפל היה » (ט״ז יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ב)
« וליכא כאן משום איבה דאי פנויה היא יכולה למימר בעינ׳ לאנסובי ואם אשת איש היא יכולה למימר לא קא מזדהמנא באפי גברי » (ט״ז יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ג)
« אמר רב אסי הדא אמרה שאסור ללמדו אומנות » (ט״ז יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ג)
« דקא מיילדת בן לעבודת כוכבים » (ט״ז יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ד)
« משום איבה ובשבת ליכא איבה דיכולה לומר נשי דידן דמנטרן שבתא מחללין עלייהו שבת דידכו דלא מנטרי שבתא לא מחללין בשבילייכו » (ט״ז יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ה)
summary : (ב) it is not like the physician of siman 155, for here her reputation is not damaged: she can say it was a stillbirth. — (ג) and there is no enmity here, for if she is unmarried she can say “I want to marry”, and if she is married “I do not want to make myself repugnant before my husband”; […] Rav Assi said: it follows from this that it is forbidden to teach him a craft. — (ד) because she brings forth a son for idolatry. — (ה) because of enmity; and on Shabbat there is no enmity, for she can say: our women, who keep Shabbat, we desecrate it for them; yours, who do not keep it, we do not desecrate it for them.
The Nekudot HaKesef — one entry, and it defends the Beit Yosef
« לק״מ די״ל דהתוס׳ מיירי בבית ישראל. ועוד דכיון דהרא״ש מחמיר לא חש להביא סברת התוס » (נקודות הכסף יו״ד קנ״ד)
summary : there is no difficulty at all, for one may say that the Tosafot speak of a Jewish house; and moreover, since the Rosh is strict, he did not trouble to bring the Tosafot’s view.
Two answers in one line, and they do not bear on the same thing. The first denies the Taz’s premise — the Tosafot would be speaking of a Jewish house, so there is no divergence. The second grants it and sets it aside — even if there is a divergence, the Beit Yosef need not have reported it, since he follows the Rosh. The reader should retain that the question stays open: does coming and going suffice outside a Jewish house?
The Pit’hei Teshuvah — two entries, and the second is long
ס״ק א — the answer to the Shakh’s צ״ע
« ועיין בתשובת בית יעקב סימן ק״ד שכתב דמ״ש הטור וש״ע דאסור במילדת אפי׳ היא מומחית איירי באינה מומחית רק למילדת ולא לדברים אחרים מש״ה מרע נפשה » (פתחי תשובה יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
« כנראה מדברי התוספות בעבודת כוכבים דף כ״ז דאפילו הוא מומחה לחולה אם אינו מומחה לדברים אחרים אסור דמרע נפשיה וכן הדין במילדת » (פתחי תשובה יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
« והלכך ל״ק מה שהקשה הש״ך מההיא דירושלמי דבמילדת חכמה מותר דהתם מיירי שהיא מומחית גם לדברים אחרים » (פתחי תשובה יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
« וכ׳ עוד דכמו שאמרו בגמרא דאדם חשוב מותר להתרפאות ה״ה גבי מילדת נמי הדין כן דאם היא אשה חשובה שרי » (פתחי תשובה יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
summary : and see the responsum Beit Yaakov, siman 104, who writes that what the Tur and the Shulchan Arukh wrote — that a midwife is forbidden even if expert — refers to one who is expert only in midwifery and not in other things; for that reason she would ruin her reputation, as appears from the Tosafot on Avodah Zarah, folio 27, that even if he is expert for a sick person, if he is not expert in other things it is forbidden, for he ruins his reputation; and the same law applies to a midwife. Therefore the Shakh’s difficulty from the Yerushalmi no longer stands, for there it deals with a woman expert in other things as well. And he wrote further that, just as they said in the Gemara that an important person may be treated, so too for the midwife: if she is an important woman it is permitted.
ס״ק ב — the Chatam Sofer, and a Jewish midwife under a licensing regime
« ועי׳ בתשובת ח״ס סימן קל״א על אודות פקידות השר בארץ תוגר על כל העירות והכפרים להשכיר להם מילדת בקיאה אשר למדה לפני חכמיהם דווקא » (פתחי תשובה יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ב)
« והשיב מאחר שיש להם כמה חיות בקיאות בלא״ה פשיטא דשרי » (פתחי תשובה יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ב)
« וא״כ בנ״ד מותר אפילו בשבת במאי דלית ביה חילול שבת דהיינו ביושבת על המשבר שכבר עקר הולד » (פתחי תשובה יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ב)
« ואמנם לחתוך הטבור שהוא מלאכה דאורייתא תצוה לעובדת כוכבים הבריאה העומדת על צדה לחתוך » (פתחי תשובה יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ב)
« ואם יש באיבה זו חשש סכנת נפשות יש להתיר אפילו מלאכה דאורייתא » (פתחי תשובה יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ב)
summary : see the responsum of the Chatam Sofer, siman 131, concerning the governor’s order in the Turkish lands to all towns and villages to engage only a skilled midwife who has studied before their scholars […]. And he answered: since they have several skilled midwives in any case, it is obvious that it is permitted, even without the argument of enmity […]. Therefore in our case it is permitted even on Shabbat, in what involves no desecration of Shabbat, that is, when she is on the birthing stool and the child has already been dislodged […]. But to cut the cord, which is a labour forbidden by the Torah, let her instruct the healthy non-Jewish woman standing at her side to cut it; and if in this enmity there is a risk to life, there is ground to permit even a labour forbidden by the Torah.
This ס״ק is the most contemporary in the siman. It changes the frame: when the profession is regulated and skill is plentiful, the question of enmity arises differently — and the Chatam Sofer permits without even invoking it. Then he comes down to detail: what in a birth is a forbidden labour on Shabbat, and what is not.
The Ba’er Hetev — four entries
« מבואר הוא דתרתי בעינן גבי הולדה ג״כ דהיינו שיהו אחרים עומדים ע״ג ויהיה דוקא בבית ישראל » (באר היטב יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק א)
« ולא אמרינן דלא מרעה נפשה כדלקמן סי׳ קנ״ה ברופא מומחה » (באר היטב יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ב)
« וכן בשום פוסק לא נזכר במילדת מומחית דאסור וצ״ע עכ״ל הש״ך » (באר היטב יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ב)
« כ׳ הט״ז וליכא כאן משום איבה דאם פנויה היא יכולה למימר בעינן לאנסובי ואי א״א היא יכולה למימר לא קא מזדמנא באפי גברא » (באר היטב יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ג)
« אבל לא בשבת דליכא איבה דיכולה לומר נשי דידן דמינטרי שבתא מחללין עלייהו שבת דידכו דלא מינטרי שבתא לא מחללין בשבילייכו » (באר היטב יו״ד קנ״ד ס״ק ד)
summary : (א) it is clear that for delivery too both are required: that others stand over her, and that it be specifically in a Jewish house — Taz. — (ב) and we do not say she would not ruin her reputation, as below in siman 155 for the expert physician […] and in no decisor is an expert midwife mentioned as forbidden, and the matter requires study — these are the Shakh’s words. — (ג) the Taz wrote: there is no enmity here, for if she is unmarried she can say “I want to marry”, and if she is married “I do not want to make myself repugnant before my husband”. — (ד) but not on Shabbat, for there is no enmity: she can say, our women who keep Shabbat, we desecrate it for them; yours, who do not keep it, we do not desecrate it for them.
The Ba’er Hetev here only transmits — the Taz at ס״ק א, ג and ד, the Shakh at ס״ק ב, including his וצ״ע. He does not report the Pit’hei Teshuvah’s answer, which is later than him: a reader with only the Ba’er Hetev would hold the Shakh’s difficulty to be unresolved.
6. The Rambam — where is this rule codified, and under what reason?
The question deserves checking rather than guessing. The previous siman split its material between two treatises; this one occupies only one — and it is not that of preserving life, even though the fear of the first seif is bloodshed. The Rambam files the whole siman in הלכות עבודה זרה וחוקות הגויים, chapter 9, in a single halakhah.
« בַּת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא תֵּינִיק אֶת בְּנָהּ שֶׁל עוֹבֶדֶת כּוֹכָבִים מִפְּנֵי שֶׁמְּגַדֶּלֶת בֵּן לַעֲבוֹדַת כּוֹכָבִים » (רמב״ם הלכות עבודה זרה וחוקות הגויים פרק ט׳ הלכה ט״ז)
« וְלֹא תְּיַלֵּד אֶת הַנָּכְרִית עַכּוּ״ם אֲבָל מְיַלֶּדֶת הִיא בְּשָׂכָר מִשּׁוּם אֵיבָה » (רמב״ם הלכות עבודה זרה וחוקות הגויים פרק ט׳ הלכה ט״ז)
« וְהַנָּכְרִית עַכּוּ״ם מְיַלֶּדֶת אֶת בַּת יִשְׂרָאֵל וּמֵינִיקָה אֶת בְּנָהּ בִּרְשׁוּתָהּ כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא תַּהַרְגֶנּוּ » (רמב״ם הלכות עבודה זרה וחוקות הגויים פרק ט׳ הלכה ט״ז)
summary : a daughter of Israel shall not nurse the son of a non-Jewish woman, because she raises a son for idolatry. And she shall not deliver the non-Jewish woman; but she does deliver for pay, because of enmity. And the non-Jewish woman delivers a daughter of Israel and nurses her son in her domain, so that she should not kill him.
The Rambam writes the reason where the Mehaber is silent, and he writes it twice. For the Jewish woman: מפני שמגדלת בן לעבודת כוכבים. For the non-Jewish woman: כדי שלא תהרגנו — so that she should not kill him. It is the second reason that explains the treatise’s title: the first is indeed a matter of foreign worship, and the Rambam filed the two together because they form a single halakhah in the mishnah.
A difference of wording not to be missed. The Rambam writes ומיניקה את בנה ברשותה — in the Jewish woman’s domain — without mentioning the condition of “others present”. The Shulchan Arukh writes both: the domain and the presence. It is precisely this double requirement that the Taz stresses, and that the Beit Yosef had already drawn from the Rosh.
7. Modern practical cases
Case 1 — A delivery conducted by a non-Jewish person
This is seif 1. Two conditions must be met according to the Taz: others present, and the Jewish domain; the seif adds a third for afterwards — never alone with the child at night. Expertise does not exempt, and the Shakh himself writes וצ״ע on the reason for this strictness. The Pit’hei Teshuvah answers in the name of the Beit Yaakov. A question for one’s Rav.
Case 2 — A child entrusted to a carer, a nursery, a wet-nurse
The seif forbids nursing in the non-Jewish woman’s house, even if others are present there — so the requirement of domain is stronger here than for delivery. The Tosafot, cited by the Taz, ease for one who comes and goes; the Nekudot HaKesef reply that they may be speaking of a Jewish house. And the night clause remains in every case. A question for one’s Rav.
Case 3 — A Jewish midwife and a non-Jewish patient
The seif permits, on three cumulative conditions: that she be known as a midwife, that it be for pay, and that it be on a weekday. The Rashba, reported by the Tur, gives the reason: without professional habit she can decline, and so there is no enmity. The Chatam Sofer, in the Pit’hei Teshuvah, takes up the question for a regime in which the profession is regulated. A question for one’s Rav.
Case 4 — A delivery on Shabbat
The seif writes ודוקא בשכר ובחול, and the Gemara gives the reason through Abaye: an excuse is available, so there is no enmity. The Chatam Sofer works precisely on this point: he distinguishes what in a delivery involves no desecration, directs that the cutting of the cord be given to a non-Jewish woman, and goes as far as permitting more if the enmity raises a fear of danger to life. This is grave and technical matter. A question for one’s Rav.
Case 5 — A Jewish woman nursing a non-Jewish child
The seif forbids it even for pay, and the Gemara explains why enmity does not apply: two excuses are available, depending on whether she is married or not. The Rama lays down a single exception, and it concerns her: if she has too much milk and it pains her. A question for one’s Rav.
Case 6 — Teaching a craft
The Rama’s gloss closes the siman with a sentence apparently unrelated to the midwife: אסור ללמד לעובד כוכבים אומנות. Its source is the Yerushalmi, and the Taz shows the link — Rav Assi derives it from the very sugya of nursing. A question for one’s Rav.
8. Summary of Siman 154
In one sentence: this siman sets face to face two situations that resemble each other and two fears that do not — danger on one side, a child raised for idolatry on the other — and from that asymmetry everything else follows: conditions of presence in one direction, a lever of enmity in the other, with its two exceptions, Shabbat and nursing.
Memory table
What the siman says
In Hebrew
Remember
The basic prohibition, in one direction
עובדת כוכבים לא תיילד לישראלית בינה לבינה
The fear is danger
And expertise?
ואפילו אם היא מומחית
The Shakh writes צ״ע; the Pit’hei Teshuvah answers
Nursing in her house
ואפילו אחרים עומדים על גבה
Stricter than delivery
What permits
אם אחרים עומדים על גבה או יוצאים ונכנסים
Two conditions per the Taz
The night clause
והוא שלא יניחנו עמה לבדו בלילה
No exception
The prohibition in the other direction
ישראלית לא תניק לבן עובד כוכבים אפילו בשכר
The fear is different
The Rama’s exception
יש לה חלב הרבה ומצערת אותה
It is she who suffers
The Jewish midwife
אלא אם כן היא ידועה למילדת שאז מותר
Rashba, via the Tur
And its limits
ודוקא בשכר ובחול
Neither for free nor on Shabbat
Comprehension questions
Why does the Mehaber not write the reason for seif 1, and where is it found?
What are the two conditions the Taz draws from the seif, and why does the wording seem to distinguish them?
Why is an expert midwife forbidden where an expert physician is permitted? Summarise the reason, the Shakh’s difficulty, and the Pit’hei Teshuvah’s answer.
Where does enmity permit in this siman, and why does it permit neither nursing nor Shabbat?
On what exactly do the Taz and the Nekudot HaKesef disagree?
In which treatise does the Rambam codify this siman, and what reasons does he write there?
To go further
If you wish to go deeper into this siman:
📚 Level 2 — Lamdan: the chakira on the conditions of presence, the expert midwife against the expert physician, the Taz against the Nekudot HaKesef on the Tosafot, and the geography of enmity
✨ Level 3 — Synthesis: the tables, the golden rules, the mnemonic and the classic pitfalls
⚖️ Level 4 — Halakhah lema‘aseh: the practical ruling and contemporary cases, including the Chatam Sofer on Shabbat
The sources of this level may be consulted on Sefaria:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ DAAT · הרב יוסף חיים סממה
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