[Avodah] Waiting After Some Cheeses Before Eating Meat

[Professor L. Levine]

>From today's OU Kosher Halacha Yomis


Q. I know that we are supposed to wait after eating certain cheeses, before we can then eat meat. After which cheeses should one wait, and what is the basis for this practice?



A. The Rama (Yoreh Deah 89:2) writes that the custom is not to eat meat after eating hard cheese. The waiting time for this is equivalent to the amount of time that one waits after eating meat, before then eating dairy foods. (See Taz ibid. 89:4, Aruch HaShulchan ibid. 89:11, Chochmas Adam 40:13.)

There are two reasons that one needs to wait after meat before then partaking of milk; these two reasons apply as well to eating certain cheeses after meat.

The first reason is that of basar she’bein ha-shinayim – meat that gets stuck between the teeth – which takes a considerable amount of time to dislodge or disintegrate, before which one may not consume milk. (Rambam, Hilchos Ma’achalos Asuros 9:28) The second reason for waiting after eating meat is meshichas ta’am – an aftertaste left in the mouth, due to meat’s fattiness; only after a substantial lapse of time does this aftertaste dissipate, whereupon one may then consume milk. (Rashi in Chullin 105a s.v. “Assur”)

Poskim apply both of these reasons to cheese: Hard cheese, due to its firm and brittle texture, is like basar she’bein ha-shinayim, and is termed gevinah she’bein ha-shinayim – cheese that gets stuck between the teeth. One therefore needs to wait a considerable amount of time for such cheese to dislodge or disintegrate before then consuming meat. (Sifsei Da’as Yoreh 89:2) Also, cheeses that are very pungent and leave a noticeable aftertaste are like meat that has meshichas ta’am; one must wait for the aftertaste to dissipate before then eating meat. (Taz Yoreh Deah 89:4)

Although some classical poskim argue as to whether one or both of the above rationales for waiting apply to cheese, contemporary poskim rule that both apply. The next installment of Halacha Yomis will discuss further details.

View OUKosher's list of Aged Cheeses<http://links.mkt3536.com/ctt?kn=12&ms=MjA2NzkzOTcS1&r=MjM3MTAxNzY3NzIS1&b=0&j=MTI0NDAxNTQ3NwS2&mt=1&rt=0>.


YL
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