Milk & Meat - Waiting Between

QUESTION: I know that there are various customs as to how long one must wait between meat and milk. Is waiting between meat and milk a Rabbinic obligation or is it just a custom?

ANSWER: The Torah says, “Do not cook a goat in its mother’s milk” (Shemos 23:19). Chazal understand from this pusuk that the only time that meat and milk become a violation on a Torah level is when the meat is cooked in milk. All other scenarios are only of Rabbinic nature.

The Gemara (Chullin 105a) states in the name of Rav Chisda that one who eats meat is forbidden to eat cheese afterwards, but one who eats cheese first may eat meat afterwards. Mar Ukva qualifies that when he would eat meat, he would not eat cheese until his next meal. There is disagreement among the Rishonim as to how to understand the ruling of Mar Ukva.

• Rambam (Ma’achalos Asuros 9:28) explains that Mar Ukva was teaching us that one must wait approximately 6 hours, the usual length of time between meals. Shulchan Aruch (Y”D 89:1) follows this view of the Rambam and quantifies it to precisely 6 hours.
• Tosfos (Chulin 105a L’seudasa) understood that Mar Ukva meant that once one eats meat, it is forbidden to eat cheese until after the conclusion of that meal. In the next meal, dairy may be had. This view is that the issur of dairy after meat is not bound to a specific interval of time, but rather to eating dairy only in a separate meal. A separate meal is defined by having concluded the first meal with a Brochoh Achrona. In addition to keeping the dairy to separate meals, one must also clean their mouth. The Rema (89:1) follows the opinion of Tosfos but adds that there is a minhag to wait one hour in addition to eating the dairy in a separate meal. The Rema does conclude that it is proper to wait the entire 6 hours. Interestingly, the common German custom is to wait only 3 hours.

Thus, while all agree that there is a definite Rabbinic obligation to wait between eating meat and milk, there are different opinions as to how long one must wait. For Sefardim who follow the ruling of Shulchan Aruch, waiting 6 hours is an absolute obligation. For Ashkenazim, who follow the ruling of the Rama, the obligation ends once one cleans out one’s mouth and recites a Brochoh Achrona. Waiting one hour, three hours, or six hours are different customs.

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