Commentary for Avodah Zarah 51:10
וצריכא דאי אשמעינן מילדת בההיא קאמרי רבנן דשרי דלא אפשר משום דאחרות רואות אותה אבל מניקה דאפשר דשייפא ליה סם לדד מאבראי וקטלא ליה אימא מודי ליה לרבי מאיר
And both cases are necessary; for if we were told about a midwife only [we might have thought that] only in that case do the Sages permit for others see her, but in the case of nursing, where it is possible for her to apply poison to the breast beforehand and kill the child, they might agree with R. Meir.
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
The Talmud now explains why we need both baraitot. If we only had the source about the prohibition of midwifery, we might have thought that the rabbis agree with R. Meir that it is prohibited for a non-Jewish woman to nurse a Jewish child, because she might be able to surreptitiously kill the child. The sages would permit midwifery because it is easier to supervise.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy