34
votes
Accepted
Understanding the reasoning of the woman who agreed with King Solomon to "cut the baby in half"
I generally understood the story based on the Malbim: obviously, everyone involved (including "Woman B," as you call her) knew that King Solomon's suggestion would result in the death of the child. ...
- 21.8k
17
votes
What is the source for: One shouldn't name a baby using names from before Abraham
Pitchei Teshuva YD 265:6
עיין בשו"ת תשובה מאהבה ח"א סימן ל"ה שאין להקפיד מלקרות שמות כשמות שהיה קודם אברהם אבינו ע"ה דלא כהמבי"ט ח"א סי' רע"ו שכתב דאין ראוי לקרוא ...
- 97.4k
16
votes
Understanding the reasoning of the woman who agreed with King Solomon to "cut the baby in half"
The Meiri asks and answers this question in Yevamos 17b:
והוא הענין שנאמר בהגדה על אותן שתים נשים זונות שבאו לדין לפני שלמה שהרי כשצוה שלמה לגזור את הילד החי והשיבה האחת תנו לה את הילוד החי והמת אל ...
- 1,203
14
votes
Accepted
Moshe and filicide
R. Avraham Ibn Ezra seems to say that she put him in the river not because that would save him but so that she shouldn't have to witness his death:
ויוכבד עשתה זאת כי אמרה אל אראה במות הילד
R. ...
- 49.1k
11
votes
Accepted
Did babies nurse in the wilderness?
Rashi (Bamidbar 11:5) explains why the manna did not assume the taste of those items enumerated in that pasuk:
אמר ר' שמעון מפני מה המן משתנה לכל דבר חוץ מאלו מפני שהן קשים למניקות אומרים לאשה אל ...
- 14.3k
7
votes
What things are done differently for an adult circumcision?
THe Gemmorah (Kiddushin 29 I think) says: "If father didn't Ccized him he's obligated to Ccze himself when he grows up" (it is not clear who's Mitzvah it is in the first place - חפצא or גברא).
It's ...
- 25.7k
7
votes
May a Jewish baby nurse from a non-Jewish woman?
The Chayei Adam in 66:14 writes a two sentence Halacha:
According to the letter of the letter of the law, one is allowed to have a non-Jew nurse a Jewish child, but if possible, one should avoid ...
- 6,753
6
votes
Understanding the reasoning of the woman who agreed with King Solomon to "cut the baby in half"
She was calling the king's bluff.
My understanding of the story goes against the universal one, but fits with the text and answers your question and a lot of others --
Woman A (the one holding the ...
- 1,827
5
votes
Jewish prayer for our doctor after baby delivery?
Mazal Tov!
I suggest Psalm 128:
שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת אַשְׁרֵי כָּל יְרֵא יְהֹוָה הַהֹלֵךְ בִּדְרָכָיו:
יְגִיעַ כַּפֶּיךָ כִּי תֹאכֵל אַשְׁרֶיךָ וְטוֹב לָךְ:
אֶשְׁתְּךָ | כְּגֶפֶן פֹּרִיָּה ...
- 47.8k
5
votes
Source of שלום זכר
See Gemara Baba Kamma 80a
מכי אתא רב לבבל רב ושמואל ורב אסי איקלעו לבי שבוע הבן ואמרי לה לבי ישוע הבן.
Tosfot:
לבי ישוע הבן. ...ור"ת פי' שנולד שם בן ועל שם שהולד נושע ונמלט ממעי אמו כדכתיב ...
- 22.7k
4
votes
Why isn't there a Shalom Zachor equivalent for newborn girls?
Note: All sources were from the shiur Shalom Zachar- What's the point? Why on Shabbos? Why that name? on YUTorah.
While the reason quoted in the Taz you brought above (as well as several reasons ...
- 6,753
4
votes
Halakhot of raising babies
R Simcha Bunim Cohen wrote a book called Children in Halacha (amazon reviews here) which (according to artscroll description)
takes the mystery out of the halachic responsibilities involved in
...
- 48k
4
votes
Why is a bris performed after death?
I have written about both of these issues (stillborn and uncircumcised adult). The stillborn practice is a custom that really depends on the feelings of the parents: they could choose to, or they ...
- 41
4
votes
Accepted
Mourning the death of an infant
On this topic, see the important article (Jewish Guidance on the Loss of a Baby or Fetus) by R Jason Weiner (senior rabbi at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles) in Hakirah vol. 23 (here). He writes
...
- 48k
4
votes
Accepted
Why can a baby get Tzaraas?
Negaim i.e Tzaraas skin disease - takes effect against our will whether we sin or not even without prior warning (despite the fact that sometimes one is warned as questioner assumes)Yalkut Shimoni ...
- 11.4k
4
votes
Accepted
By what standards does Judaism hold infants accountable for sin?
I think your question is based on an inaccurate assumption.
You are assuming that these Amalekite children are being killed-punished- for the sins of their ancestors.
That's not 100% correct.
In ...
- 2,961
3
votes
How would the 'split the baby in half' situation be resolved according to halacha?
In response to a question seeking Radbaz’s opinion as to what was so genius about King Solomon’s judgement (Resp. §1059), Radbaz considers from a halachic standpoint that one could advocate the ...
- 11.9k
3
votes
How would the 'split the baby in half' situation be resolved according to halacha?
According to two midrashim quoted in the Hebrew Wikipedia, the rabbis criticised Shlomo for judging this case without witnesses. (One opinion there assumes he actually intended to go through with ...
- 1,312
3
votes
Circumcision exceptions on the rule?
If it is a matter of the health of the infant, then the bris is delayed until he is "recovered" from whatever is wrong. It is not an automatic situation but determined by the mohel and the doctor.
...
- 42.9k
3
votes
Accepted
What sort of "food" did the midwives provide for the children (Rashi on Shemos 1 (17))?
The braitta (Sotah 11b) is suggesting that they provided for them even beyond their initial infancy, to the point where they could be self-sufficient (i.e. "וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ" suggests that "they enabled ...
- 17.7k
3
votes
May a Jewish baby nurse from a non-Jewish woman?
The Jewish Press explains:
The Gemara rules that a Jewish baby may nurse from a non-Jewish woman. It also rules (Yevamos 114a) that a Jewish baby may nurse from a non-kosher animal. As a result, ...
- 42.9k
3
votes
Ramifications of a Baby Switch
According to Jewish law, a person is only considered part of the Jewish people, if they were born to a Jewish woman, or they formally converted to Judaism.
Also according to Jewish law, a person who ...
- 4,892
3
votes
What do the pre-rabbinic and/or rabbinic authorities say about the nurse of Rebecca?
We later find out that this nurse was called Devorah as we learn about her death in Bereishis 35:38. The pasuk over there expressly calls her the nurse of Rivka.
It would make sense to assume that she ...
- 30.3k
2
votes
Understanding the reasoning of the woman who agreed with King Solomon to "cut the baby in half"
The following is a beautiful explanation by Rabbi Naftali Reich, on Torah.org (https://torah.org/torah-portion/legacy-5770-miketz/).
"Let us think for a moment about this celebrated ruling. Did ...
- 1,193
2
votes
Understanding the reasoning of the woman who agreed with King Solomon to "cut the baby in half"
The reason should be understood as the following:
Being creatures of dual, competing interests, there exists in some persons, such as myself, the ability for or a manifestation of a vindictive spirit,...
- 21
2
votes
Ramifications of a Baby Switch
The gemara in Gittin 42b discusses whether a slave owned by a Cohen that has been freed, but has not been given a formal document of freedom (גט שחרור) can still eat Terumah. The gemara attempts to ...
- 1,203
2
votes
Wishing someone Mazel Tov may turn out to be problematic
I don't think this is specifically a Hassidic custom. My rav and another in my neighborhood have told me a few times that when I hear that a boy was born, one should wait until after the brit to say ...
- 70k
2
votes
Mourning the death of an infant
I asked R Binyamin Tabady this question. His view is that one does mourn a baby who died within the first 30 days. He brought two different proofs, from a tshuva from R Kook and from the laws of twins ...
- 48k
2
votes
Are there any prohibitions on naming (baby/convert)?
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky is known for saying (as brought in ויקרא שמו בישראל) that certain "modern" names, such as Shira, are "not real names" and people with such names should have their names changed. ...
- 4,313
2
votes
Jewish prayer for our doctor after baby delivery?
Some people have given their doctors a nice framed copy of A Doctor's Prayer, commonly attributed to Maimonides. Here's an example.
- 131k
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