Kesubos 60a

כתובות ס׳ ע״א

Ketubot 60a

Learn Kesubos 60a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

When a baby recognizes his mother, how long a child may nurse, and related laws of human milk and nursing

Overview

The גמרא asks how old a baby must be before we assume he recognizes his mother, so that a divorced mother cannot refuse to nurse him. רב says three months, שמואל thirty days, and רבי יוחנן fifty days, and the הלכה follows רבי יוחנן. רמי בר יחזקאל reports that שמואל actually set no age: it depends on whether this baby recognizes her. A story shows שמואל having a baby tested, and רב אשי explains that a blind baby recognizes his mother by smell and taste. A ברייתא then records how long a child may nurse: רבי אליעזר says twenty-four months, and רבי יהושע says even four or five years, and the הלכה follows רבי יהושע. The גמרא explains that human milk that has left the body is permitted, and only nursing directly at an older age is like a שקץ. Blood works the opposite way. Two related שבת rulings follow, where the רבנן did not forbid an unusual way of doing a מלאכה in a case of pain or loss. The גמרא sets a three-day break as counting for weaning, and it begins a ברייתא saying that a nursing widow may not remarry within twenty-four months.

Opening lines

The steps (29)

1. QuestionHow old must the baby be?
2. ResponseThree opinions: three months, thirty days, fifty days
3. ConclusionThe הלכה follows רבי יוחנן: fifty days
4. ChallengeCan a one-month-old really recognize his mother?
5. Resolutionשמואל never set an age: it depends on the baby
6. Proofשמואל has a baby tested in a row of women
7. ChallengeHow does a blind baby recognize his mother?
8. ResolutionThrough smell and taste
9. Statementרבי אליעזר: nursing only until 24 months
10. Statementרבי יהושע: even four or five years, unless he stopped
11. ChallengeContradiction: a ברייתא suggests human milk might be forbidden
12. StatementThe פסוק teaches that human milk and human blood are permitted
13. Statementרב ששת: not even a מצוה to stay away from human milk
14. ResolutionMilk that left the body versus nursing directly
15. StatementBlood works the opposite way from milk
16. ChallengeTwo quotes from רבי יהושע about nursing age
17. ResolutionBoth quotes describe the same age
18. Conclusionרב יוסף rules like רבי יהושע
19. StatementA sick person may suck milk on שבת
20. ResponseWhy sucking milk is allowed
21. Conclusionרב יוסף rules like רבי מרינוס
22. StatementCrushing weeds in a blocked drainpipe on שבת
23. ResponseWhy crushing the weeds is allowed
24. Conclusionרב יוסף rules like נחום איש גליא
25. StatementBack to the ברייתא: a child who stopped nursing and went back
26. QuestionHow long a break counts as stopping
27. Responseשמואל: three days
28. ResponseAnother version: the three days was a ברייתא taught before שמואל
29. StatementNew ברייתא: a nursing widow may not remarry yet