Formula companies dare not compete: "Breast is best." The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for at least the first 6 months of life, and encourages the mother to continue for up to one year. Numerous studies show that breastfeeding leads to healthier kids, but what about the spiritual side of breastfeeding?
Lessons in Love
King Solomon taught, "Listen my son to the advice of your father, and do not forsake the Torah of your Mother." What is the "Torah" of the mother? Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch answers that King Solomon is referring to "the nursing years". Rabbi Hirsh teaches in his book Yesodot HaChinuch:
"Mothers start worrying about the education of their children too late... In my opinion, the most important period for education is that time when true chinuch {, or education,} is most often ignored, a period of time when education is deemed not possible - the first years of the child's life - the nursing years."
Rabbi Hirsch does not mean for us to teach our newborns the story of Adam and Eve! Of course not! He is referring to lessons in love. When a baby is born, he is completely dependent upon others. Aside from physical needs, children also need to be loved. When people talk about children's physical needs, they tend to use the word "need", but when referring to their emotional needs, they use the word "want". For example, "He needs to be fed," as opposed to, "He wants to be picked up." The truth is that babies need to be held, carried and loved just as much as they need to eat and sleep.
When a mother nurses her child, she cares for her baby in the most special way possible. She is meeting his need for nourishment, and at the same time, she is providing physical affection. The mother is teaching her child how to love someone, and this is the essence of the Torah. As the sage Hillel explained to a potential convert, "Love your neighbor as yourself, all the rest is commentary."
Learning from Our Ancestors: Sarah and Chanah
Sarah, the mother of all Jews, gave birth to Isaac at the age of ninety years. After G-d performed this amazing miracle, Sarah lactated and nursed her son until the age of two years. G-d does not perform "extra" miracles, so why was it necessary for G-d to allow Sarah to also nurse her newborn son? "Perhaps the fact that Sarah resumed lactating and nursed her child was not an additional miracle 'in vain'..." writes Tehilla Abramov, "Nursing a baby is an intrinsic part of birth." In fact, the Hebrew word for baby is yonek, or "one who nurses."(Straight from the Heart, 36)
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