Study Yevamot folio 42B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
דלמא איעברה ומעכר חלבה, וקטלה ליה. אי הכי, דידיה נמי! דידיה — ממסמסא ליה בביצים. וחלב דידה נמי, ממסמסא ליה בבצים וחלב! לא יהב לה בעל. (וליתבעיניה) [ותתבעינהו] ליורשים! אמר אביי: אשה בושה לבא לבית דין, והורגת את בנה.
therefore, one should be concerned that perhaps she will become pregnant and her milk will dry up during pregnancy, and the lack of milk will kill her newborn child. The Talmud asks: If so, even if his wife is pregnant with his own child, the same concern applies. The Talmud explains: For his own child, she will feed [memasmesa] him with eggs and milk as a substitute for the mother’s milk. The Talmud asks: Even if the child is not his, it is still the mother’s child, and for her child she will also feed him with eggs and milk. The Talmud answers: The husband will not give her money to procure food for a child that is not his. The Talmud asks: But she could sue her first husband’s heirs to provide subsistence for the child. Abaye said: A woman is embarrassed to come to court, and therefore she will not obtain enough sustenance for him. Consequently, she effectively kills her son as a result.
§ The Mishnah states: The requirement to wait 3 months before remarrying applies both to virgins and non-virgins, both to divorcées and to widows, and both to women who were married to their previous husbands and to women who were only betrothed. The Talmud asks: Which women are referred to as virgins and which are referred to as those who were betrothed? Although the two terms appear to be synonymous, since a virgin will be subject to levirate marriage only if she was betrothed, they must certainly refer to two different categories of women. Similarly, which women are referred to as non-virgins and which are referred to as married, as a married woman is always considered to be a non-virgin?