Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Daf Yomi Gittin 89a: On nursing in public

I saw an interesting source in today's daf yomi (Gittin 89a).It makes it fairly clear that nursing in public was not considered proper behavior by the Tannaim.

It reads:
אמר רבא יצא לה שם מזנה בעיר אין חוששין לה
כתנאי אכלה בשוק גרגרה בשוק הניקה בנה בשוק על כולן אמר ר"מ תצא רבי עקיבא אומר משישאו ויתנו בה מוזרות בלבנה אמר לו רבי יוחנן בן נורי א"כ לא הנחת בת לאברהם אבינו שיושבת תחת בעלה והתורה אמרה כי מצא בה ערות דבר ולהלן הוא אומר על פי שנים עדים או על פי שלשה עדים יקום דבר מה להלן דבר ברור אף כאן דבר ברור:
Rava said: If there was a report about her in town that she had illicit intercourse, we are not concerned with this.
This is a matter of Tannaitic dispute. 'If she ate in the market, if she quaffed {as per Jastrow; Rashi: walked with outstretched neck} in the market, if she suckled in the market -- upon all of them Rabbi Meir says she must leave {her husband}. Rabbi Akiva says: {She must leave} as soon as gossips who spin in the moon begin to talk about her. Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri said to him: If so, you will not leave our father Abraham a single daughter who can stay with her husband; ; and the Torah said {Devarim 24:1}
א כִּי-יִקַּח אִישׁ אִשָּׁה, וּבְעָלָהּ; וְהָיָה אִם-לֹא תִמְצָא-חֵן בְּעֵינָיו, כִּי-מָצָא בָהּ עֶרְוַת דָּבָר--וְכָתַב לָהּ סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻת וְנָתַן בְּיָדָהּ, וְשִׁלְּחָהּ מִבֵּיתוֹ. 1 When a man taketh a wife, and marrieth her, then it cometh to pass, if she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some unseemly thing in her, that he writeth her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house,
{and the word davar is there}
And elsewhere it states {Devarim 19:15}
טו לֹא-יָקוּם עֵד אֶחָד בְּאִישׁ, לְכָל-עָו‍ֹן וּלְכָל-חַטָּאת, בְּכָל-חֵטְא, אֲשֶׁר יֶחֱטָא: עַל-פִּי שְׁנֵי עֵדִים, אוֹ עַל-פִּי שְׁלֹשָׁה-עֵדִים--יָקוּם דָּבָר. 15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth; at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.
{and the word davar is there}
Just as elsewhere the "matter" {davar} must be clear, so too here the "matter" must be clear.
It seems pretty clear that the Tannaim did not look favorably on nursing in public.

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