Halachot and Customs
Why do we wait 6 hours between meat and milk, and not less?
Question
Honorable Rabbi, I have several questions: 1. Why do we wait 6 hours between meat and milk, and not less?
2. If soup was cooked with meat and I do not eat the meat, do I still need to wait 6 hours?
3. If a pot of cholent contains meat and I ate only the potato and the egg, do I also need to wait 6 hours?
4. And if wheat is cooked inside the cholent pot, but it is separated by a bag/pot, is it also considered meat?
Thank you very much
Answer
Shalom u-vrachah.
1. The prohibition is not from the Torah, but rabbinic. The reasons for the prohibition are: a. Because of the meat remaining between the teeth, which is difficult to clean out, and if one eats dairy, we are concerned that one may eat a little of the meat together with the milk; therefore the Sages prohibited eating dairy until six hours have passed, when the meat between the teeth loses its importance. b. Because meat releases fat and leaves taste for a long time, and therefore the Sages prohibited eating dairy, so that the taste of the milk and the meat would not be felt together in the mouth.
2. One must wait six hours.
3. One must wait six hours.
4. If it is completely sealed, one may be lenient; however, usually this is not the case.
With blessings - Binyamin Shmueli
