Milk and Meat - Waiting Start Time

QUESTION: I ate meat only at the beginning of my meal, but the meal did not end until two hours later. I wait 6 hours between meat and milk. Are these hours counted from when I finished eating meat, or from when I bentched?

ANSWER: There are two reasons given by the Rishonim as to why one must wait six hours. According to Rashi (Chullin 105a s.v. Assur), the need to wait is due to the residual aftertaste of meat that remains in one’s mouth. According to the Rambam (Hilchos Ma’achalos Asuros 9:28), the rationale for waiting after meat is due to the likelihood of meat getting stuck in one’s teeth (“basar bein ha-shinayim”). It would seem that according to both of these reasons it should be enough to wait 6 hours from when one actually finished eating meat, and it would not depend on when one bentched.

However, the Aruch Hashulchan (YD 89:4) infers from the wording of the Gemara (Chullin 105a) which states that one must wait from one meal to the next, that the entire waiting period must be between the meals. Furthermore, he writes that if one started a new meal before six hours had elapsed from the meat meal and began eating non dairy items in this meal, even after six hours do pass, one may still not eat dairy during that meal. Nevertheless, Rivevos Efrayim (5:513) quotes many poskim who disagree with the Aruch Hashulchan and hold that the six hours are counted from when one actually finishes eating the meat foods. The Badei Hashulchan (89:1 Bi’urim s.v. she’yishahe) as well proves that poskim did not accept this stringency.

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