Shabbat 136: The Significance of 30 Days

Warning: Infant mortality. In the world of the Talmud, a baby was viable if carried to term at 9 months, and also viable at 7 months, but not those delivered at 8 months. Also, 2 stories of rabbis who mourned their babies, even though they seemed to have died within the first 30 days after birth. Both sages insist that the child was born to term, and they each mourn, despite those who raise questions on their doing so. And: The question of yibum in a case where a father died, and then his baby dies before 30 days. Plus: The case of the "androgynous" - a hermaphrodite - is the brit milah done on Shabbat, or is it too great of a question? Noting the very modern sensibilities of Chazal in this case, with no hesitation in treating the complex case. What's What: Erkhin.