Halachot and Customs
Why is kashrut observed between meat and milk?
Meat and milk in halacha
Question
A friend asked me why one has to wait to eat dairy after meat for 6 hours. I answered him that it is because that is what the sages decreed, and also because the stomach digests the meat for six hours. Then he asked why, after dairy, one may immediately rinse the mouth and eat meat? Another question: In the Torah it says, "Lo tevashel gedi ba-chalev imo," and that is written three times. It refers to meat of domesticated and wild animals; it does not refer at all to poultry. So why must one also keep six hours after even a small piece of chicken? Even if the sages decreed for us years ago out of concern that we might confuse things, today it is not possible to make such a mistake. However, according to science and medicine, and as I also checked with professors, even non-Jews, who said that poultry is digested in the stomach within 3 hours, whereas meat takes 6 hours. So here is proof that one can eat dairy after poultry after 3 hours, no? And how did the Tannaim, with all due respect to their greatness, which I do not question, determine 6 hours if there was no clock then, or perhaps a clock like the one we use today...? I would be glad to receive not just a simple answer, but an interesting one. Something that will interest me and all my friends who are drawing closer. Thank you in advance
Answer
Hello and blessings
The Torah states that it is forbidden to cook meat with milk. This prohibition is written three times in the Torah, and from this the Oral Torah explains that it is written three times in order to prohibit eating meat that was cooked together with milk. This prohibition applies only to the meat of a domesticated animal with milk; however, the Sages prohibited cooking with milk anything that is called meat, including poultry.
The Sages also prohibited eating meat mixed with milk even if they were not cooked together.
The Sages further prohibited eating dairy after meat, because the fat of the meat is still felt even after eating, and also because some meat remains between the teeth, and when one drinks milk after eating meat, it is considered as though one has eaten meat and milk together.
It is permitted to eat meat after drinking milk, but one must rinse the mouth before eating and eat something that serves as a separation between meat and milk.
The Sages did not in fact set the number six hours; rather, they instructed one to wait and not eat until the next meal time, that is, one must wait from one meal to the next. In their time, they would eat at the third hour of the morning and eat again at the ninth hour of the day, and therefore we wait six hours. Indeed, our teacher Rabbi Ovadia Yosef wrote that there is no obligation to wait exactly six hours, since there was no clock in their time and the intention is approximately six hours.
With blessings - Benjamin Shmueli
