Milk & Meat - Aged Cheese

QUESTION: Is one required to wait after eating aged cheese before eating meat?

ANSWER: The Issur V’Heter (40:10) writes that it is “midos chasidus” (exemplary behavior) for one who ate cheese that was aged for more than six months to not eat meat afterwards, because aged cheese has a strong flavor which lingers. However, one cannot forbid someone from eating meat afterwards since the lingering taste of cheese is subtle. Only the lingering taste of meat is considered meat. The Rema (YD 89:2) follows this ruling and writes that the custom is to require waiting after eating hard cheese before eating meat, similar to as one would wait after meat before eating cheese. Though one may not protest against those who are lenient, it is proper to be strict. Rav Yaakov Meir Stern (M’Beis Levi yr. 5755) writes that since waiting after aged cheese is only an extra stringency, in cases where there is a doubt as to how long the cheese has been aged, one may be lenient.

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