עברית
Halachot and Customs
Wait Time Between Meat and Dairy
Question
Hello, we at home wait 6 hours between meat and dairy, but 3 hours between poultry and dairy. I heard that the 6-hour waiting period is a stringency, and therefore 3 hours is acceptable. Is that correct? I would love to know the lenient opinion.
Thank you!
Answer
To the questioner,
Our sages prohibited eating dairy after meat because the fat of the meat remains in the mouth even after eating, and there can be pieces of meat stuck in the teeth. When one drinks milk after eating meat, it is considered as if one has eaten meat and milk together.
This decree stands until the time of another meal. In their time, it was customary to eat twice a day, and they decreed that if one ate meat at the morning meal, they should not eat dairy until the evening meal. Hence, there is a dispute regarding how long one must wait for another meal—whether it is three hours or six hours. According to halacha, one must wait six hours. In practice, it is proper for each individual to adhere to the custom of their community, whether they are Sephardi, Yemenite, Ashkenazi, or German.
Kabbalistic sources explain that for all the decrees of our sages, there are also additional deeper and Kabbalistic reasons beyond the simple reason they revealed to us.
Best regards,
The Hidabrut Team
