The Jewish child : its history, folklore, biology, & sociology / by W.M. Feldman ; with an introduction by Sir James Crichton-Browne.

  • Feldman, W. M. (William Moses), 1879-1939.
Date:
1917
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Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: The Jewish child : its history, folklore, biology, & sociology / by W.M. Feldman ; with an introduction by Sir James Crichton-Browne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    118 The Jewish Child [chap. of the mother; lastly, during the last three months they were thought to be good both for the mother and the child, because the child's birth is facilitated.^ Aris¬ totle holds a similar view.^ Religious Privileges and Legal Position of a Pregnant Woman. Religious Privileges.—As we have already seen, the Jews in the times of the Talmud superstitiously believed that a certain kind of stone called tekoumah (preserving), when carried by a pregnant woman, was a safeguard against miscarriage, and women were therefore allowed to carry that stone with them even on the Sabbath,® when one is forbidden to carry the slightest weight. For the mineralogical identification of that 8tone see Preuss, Bibl. talm. Medizin., p. 446.^ Further, the longings of a pregnant woman for food must, as we have seen, be satisfied even on such an exceedingly strict fast as the Day of Atonement,® and the dietary laws must be disregarded in her favour. If she has a special longing for pork, it must be given to her, because, says the Talmud, in such cases every x3ommandment may be broken except those forbidding idolatry, incest, and murder.® Legal Position—A. Criminal Law.—Special protec¬ tion was afforded a pregnant woman against violence (see p. 113). On the other hand, if a pregnant woman was sentenced to death, opinions differed as to whether ^ Nidah 31a. ^ Hist. Anim. vii., ch. 4, § 30. ® Sabbath 666. * According to some it is the eagle stone (Aetites), and accord¬ ing to others it is jasper. ® Yoma 82a. ® Ibid.