Breastfeeding Part I: Insights from the Torah and Sages

in coming back to this world was to nurse, and now, his soul would be able to rest in the heavens. "So," the Baal Shem Tov explained, "You have merited to nurse this special child."

Nursing a child is one of the most important decisions a mother, Jewish or not, will ever make. Unfortunately, some women and babies are unable to breastfeed for medical or emotional reasons, G-d forbid. Since G-d is in control of everything, there is a reason He placed both this mother and particular child together, and He knew that breastfeeding would not be an option. A mother who is unable to breastfeed can hold her baby close while bottle-feeding, stroke his head or arms and make eye contact. At home, a mother can take her shirt off and bottle-feed her baby clad in just a diaper to nurture the need for close contact.

Breastfeeding effects our child's physical, emotional and spiritual health. Their very essence, their neshamah is effected in ways we can not claim to understand - isn't it worth giving it a try?

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