Why Do We Wait Six Hours Between Meat and Dairy?

Hello Rabbi Daniel, 

Where does the Torah say that it is forbidden to eat dairy after eating meat? The Torah only states that one may not cook a kid in its mother’s milk — so where does the requirement to wait six hours between meat and dairy come from?

Thank you,
Roi

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Hello Roi,

We observe the commandments as they were given in the Written Torah together with the explanation provided in the Oral Torah. The Torah serves as our map, listing the commandments and their general framework, while the Oral Torah explains how to follow that map — how to fulfill the mitzvot in practice.

Anyone who examines the commandments in the Torah will quickly notice that they are presented very briefly, often in a way that is unclear on its own. Extremely practical commandments such as Shabbat, tefillin, mezuzah, and circumcision, are mentioned without explanation or detail, which proves that their meaning and application were transmitted orally. Otherwise, it would be impossible to observe them.

For example, how could we fulfill the mitzvah of tefillin when the Torah merely states, “And it shall be a sign upon your hand and as frontlets between your eyes”? How would we know what tefillin are, what is written inside them, how they are prepared, and how they are worn?

How could we fulfill the mitzvah of mezuzah when the Torah only says, “And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates”? On which side of the door is it placed? On the door or the doorpost? What text is written inside it?

Shabbat is one of the Ten Commandments, and its punishment is severe — yet the Torah does not list which activities are forbidden. How, then, could we know how to keep Shabbat? Is moving a wardrobe considered work? What about chopping a salad?

Even circumcision, one of Judaism’s most fundamental commandments, is not explained in the Torah — not how to perform it, nor even where. It is stated only as a general commandment, like the rest of the 613 mitzvot.

There is no doubt that the Torah was given together with an oral explanation, transmitted from generation to generation since the days of Moshe. In the Oral Torah — given by God, we are explicitly taught how to fulfill the commandments in practice: what is written in the tefillin, where the mezuzah is placed, the 39 categories of forbidden labor on Shabbat, and also the meaning of the verse “Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.”

The Oral Torah was eventually recorded in the six orders of the Mishnah, edited by Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and discussed in the 37 tractates of the Talmud, also known as the Gemara.

When the Torah states “Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk,” we must understand this verse as a foundational heading upon which all the laws regarding meat and milk are based. We are not meant to expect the full explanation to appear in the written verse alone, since the explanation was transmitted orally.

In the past, I once spoke with a Jewish skeptic who claimed: “The prohibition against eating dairy after meat is your personal interpretation. The Torah only forbids ‘a kid in its mother’s milk,’ and that’s all that must be observed. There is no way to derive everything else you do from the Torah.”

I responded by asking him: “Why do you think this law was given? Why would it matter to God if I cook a slaughtered kid in milk? Does the kid care? It’s already dead. Does the milk care what I cook in it?”

“It’s cruel to cook a kid in its mother’s milk,” he answered.

Indeed, Judaism explains that there is an element of cruelty in cooking a kid in its mother’s milk. Similarly, we are forbidden to consume blood. The Torah trains us to distance ourselves from cruelty toward animals, so that we do not become desensitized to creation.

“I agree with you,” I said, “but let me ask you something simple. The Torah forbids cooking a kid in its mother’s milk — specifically a kid. What about another animal? Does that mean it is permitted to cook a calf in its mother’s milk? Or to eat lamb cooked in sheep’s milk?”

“Of course it’s forbidden,” he replied. “For the same reason of cruelty.”

“But the Torah only mentions a kid,” I pressed. “If it meant to include a calf, it could have said so, just as it lists animals elsewhere in detail. We received the Oral Torah, which teaches us that this is a general rule — but without it, how would you know this is forbidden?”

After some thought, he admitted: “I see that the verse represents a general prohibition applying to all livestock, not just a kid.”

“Exactly,” I replied. “So we see that the Torah did not mean only goat meat. The verse serves as a heading for many laws related to the prohibition of meat and milk.”

“But not all meat,” he countered. “It only means animals and their mothers’ milk.”

“I must challenge you again,” I said. “The verse doesn’t say it’s forbidden to eat it — only to cook it. According to the plain text, if a non-Jew cooked meat in milk, it should be permitted to eat it, since the Torah only forbids cooking. Without the Oral Torah, you arrive at absurd conclusions like this.”

“Well, it’s obvious that if cooking is forbidden, eating is forbidden too,” he argued.

“Without the Oral Torah, one could still argue,” I replied. “The Torah could have written ‘Do not eat,’ but instead forbade the act of cooking. This implies, according to the literal text, that eating might not be prohibited.”

He paused. “All right. I agree the verse represents several laws forbidding cooking and eating meat and milk. But can’t all of this be understood from the plain meaning?”

“Not so fast,” I said. “Does ‘do not cook’ mean that mixing meat and milk without cooking is allowed? If the goal is to avoid cruelty, what difference does cooking make? Mixing meat and milk in a cheeseburger still combines them.”

He had no answer and suggested that perhaps the verse includes all these laws implicitly.

“The truth,” I concluded, “is that without the Oral Torah, you can never know these answers with certainty. Does the prohibition apply only to goat meat or all meat? Only to cooking or also to eating and mixing? What about utensils that absorb meat and milk?

“If you think about it, you’ve already acknowledged the existence of the Oral Torah. You’ve agreed that one short verse contains many laws not stated explicitly. You’ve accepted that the Torah intended to prohibit eating meat and milk together, even when not cooked. From there, it follows logically that utensils must also be separated — exactly as our sages ruled, based on the Oral Torah. The Written Torah and the Oral Torah were given together by God and complete one another.”

“I understand that,” he said, “but why wait six hours between meat and dairy? The verse only forbids eating them together.”

“That’s an excellent question,” I replied. “First, did you know that ‘Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk’ appears three times in the Torah? Why repeat it? God does not repeat Himself without purpose.

“Our sages taught that the three repetitions come to forbid: cooking, eating, and deriving benefit from meat and milk cooked together. This teaching comes from the Oral Torah, passed down since Sinai.

“From this, the sages understood that meat and milk should not coexist in the body. To safeguard this commandment, they established a fence: waiting until the meat has fully digested before consuming dairy. Digestion does not take longer than six hours, and therefore that is the waiting period we observe.”

I hope this answers your important questions.

Special thanks to Rabbi Binyamin Shmueli of the Q&A Department for his helpful comments.