Halachic Confusion: Waiting Times for Dairy After Meat

Six Hours? Five Hours? One Hour? Three Hours? …& How These May Apply To Shavuos

April, 2023

Rabbi Moshe Taub

‘Let Them Eat Cheesecake’

       My daughter is seriously allergic to all dairy foods. Her younger sister once turned to her and said, “I’m so jealous of you!”.

 “Why?” she asked.

“Because you can never have milchigs”.

“Wait, you’re envious of me for the fact I can never have milk, or cheese or even pizza?!”

“Yes! Because that means that you never have to halachicly wait before eatinganything! That must be amazing!”

    We have all had that moment. We make the perfect coffee with cream, or that hot pizza arrives, and as we excitedly get ready to consume it we suddenly remember that we are fleishigs.

       The halacha of waiting after the consumption of meat is unique in many ways. Rare is such a common day-to-day halacha observed in so many ways. Some wait one-hour, other six, and still others at all points in-between.

     Further confounding matters is the surprising view of some poskim who posit that on Shavuos one need not wait as long they would the rest of the year!

      In honor of Shavuos, let’s bring some clarity and focus to this often-misunderstood subject.

      It will also help demonstrate to the reader how our poskim sail the deep waters of the yam hatalmud so to provide to us what appears as ‘simple’ halacha.

1. The Source

        ‘Not Eating Cheese After Meat’ is the Shulchan Aruch’s title (to siman 89). He opens, “One who eats any meat (even fowl) mustn’t have dairy after until six hours pass. Even if one waited this time, any meat found between one’s teeth must be removed…”. The poskim explain that one need not be concerned for meat in teeth unless there’s reason to assume it’s there (Darkei Teshuvah, et al.).

    Although this halacha as written seems pretty clear-cut, the original source is famously murky, leading to the many opinions we’ve all heard of.

     Rav Chisda states that while one may eat meat after eating cheese, one mustn’t eat dairy after meat (chullin 105a). Some understand this to mean that one simply needs to wash and clean out their mouth before having dairy (Rabbeinu Tam, et al.), while others explain that one must bentch and clear the meat meal first (Rif, Ramban, et al.).

      Chazal then share the view of Mar Ukvah who required waiting ‘till the next meal’ in order to have dairy after meat. This would seem to support the second view above, that all that is needed is a separate meal (and washing one’s mouth).

      However, most other rishonim see this second statement as instructing us in a novel facet to Rav Chisda’s original rule: one must wait the length of time between meals; namely between the day and evening meals (Rambam, Rashbah, Rosh, et al.). And, even then, one would still have to first bencth and clear the table from their meat meal before eating dairy (Yam Shel Shlmo, Taz).

1. Six Hours

    Now we understand why the Shulchan Aruch, whose goal was the simplified final halacha, just shares a timeframe.

    But how did he get to ‘Six Hours’ specifically?

      The Rambam is the first to give us this length, writing, “One who ate meat should not eat dairy until the length of a meal passes, which is about/approximately six hours” (hil. maachalos isuros, 9:28).

      Great, but where did the Rambam get this timeframe from? We all must remember -especially this time of year -that the Torah was only given once, and everything we do in our halachic lives must be based on a mesorah of Torah sh’bksav u’baal peh. The Vilna Gaon and Rav Yonasan Eibishitz demonstrate that the Rambam learnt this from chazal who had already alluded to six hours being the length between meals (at least for Torah scholars, see shabbos 10a and pesachim 12b with Pleisi 89:3).

       However, there are other opinions.

1. One Hour

The Rema comments right after the words of the Shulchan Aruch above by sharing the view of Tosfos -that so long as one cleared the table, bentched and rinsed and washed one’s mouth, dairy is allowed immediately!

      He then codifies the halacha as follows: “The basic minhag in these parts (Ashkanaz) is to wait one hour and to bentch (and also clean-out mouth, Taz; cf. Shach)…However, there are those who are careful to wait six hours after eating meat to dairy, and this is fitting to follow”.

        Because, generations ago, most readers’ grandparents accepted this latter view, it has become a true minhag, and the poskim offer harsh words to those who undermine it(Chachmas Adam, Aruch HaShulchan). However, in certain cases, like for someone ill, many poskim are lenient to allow a ‘six-hour’ person to wait just one hour.

      While it is unclear how the Rema came to the length of one hour (once he adopted the ‘bentching/washup’ view of Tosfos), most suggest that this hour was a protective measure(see Badei HaShulchan #21; cf. Biur HaGra).

     Many Dutch Jews still keep the one-hour timeframe.

1. Three Hours

    Many German Jews wait three hours after meat. Many are confounded as to the source of this length, as it is neither like the view of the time between meals, or the view of simply physically separating from one meal to the next.

       A likely source for this minhag is the Pri Chodosh (d. 1698) who posits something fascinating. Even if we accept the six-hour view, it was not referring to the universal sixty-minute hours (shaos shavos), rather seasonal hours (shaos-zemanyos).

      To explain, ever wonder where ‘sixty minutes to an hour’ comes from?

         Twice a year, during the equinox, every place on earth (save for the poles) experiences a day and night that’s of exactly equal length. Chazal taught us (and the world!) to divide that day’s light by twelve in honor of the shevatim (Pesikta Rabbasi 4:1). That is where sixty minutes come from!

   Shaos zemanyos, however, would demand that we ignore that twice-a-year ‘perfect day’s’ hour and rather divide each day’s own daylight by twelve, resulting in shorter ‘hours’ in the winter and long hours in the summer. This is what we do for zman krias shma and many other halachos.

       In Amsterdam, where the Pri Chodash lived, the shortest day (December 21) would only have a 38-minute hour or so, leaving us with a waiting time of 3-4 hours!

    However, some wonder if this would mean in the summer one would have to wait based off a 70-80 minute hour (see Pleisi)!

• Five/Five and Half Hours

The primary source for the six hours was the Rambam above. If one reads his words carefully, he states, “approximately six hours”. The Meiri even writes “six or five hours” (Magen Avos, inyan 9). Rav Ovadia Yosef reminds us that they didn’t have watches back then, so that these measurements certainly had to be approximations! (shu”t Yabia Omer, 1:end of 4).

      Rav Ahron Kotler set as Lakewood policy a five and half hour waiting period so as to allow the schedule to work (Pesakim V’Teshuvos, #19).

       Everyone must follow their custom, of course.

• Shavuos

   The Rema shares the minhag of eating dairy on Shavuos (in past years we delved into the many fascinating reasons). Many of our halachos above now may become activated. For instance, may one start a dairy meal (not hard cheese) and rinse-up and then serve meat without bentching? The Mishneh Berrura allows this (494:16), as the obligation to bentch is only after meat (new cloth/dishware would still be needed). Others disagree (see Shlah, shavuos, s.v. ‘shavuos’).

      But what happens if one is invited out on a second night of Shavuos and the host is serving dairy? The guest explains that it hasn’t been six hours from their meat seudah. The host explains that they only wait three hours! The Elyah Rabbah (d. 1712) and others bring from the 14^th century Kol Bo that on Shavuos one need not wait the full six hours.

      Some sefarim quote Rav Elyashiv as accepting this allowance if one slept and only ate poultry (Piskei Teshuvos, new ed. Siman 494, note #127 from shu”t Yisah Yosef, oh”c 2:119), whereas others quote him rejecting this allowance (Dirshu, ibid. end of note #20).