A Family Eating Meat and Dairy at the Same Table

OU Kosher

My family is eating dairy but I am eating a hamburger; we’re all eating at the same table. Is there some measure I need to take to prevent myself from eating their dairy food, or their eating from my hamburger?

Chazal prohibited serving both dairy and meat when people are eating on the same table (Y.D. 88:1). The concern is that, since both foods are kosher, someone might absentmindedly take from the other person’s food. If, however, an object (a heker) is placed on the table between the people to signal that the other person’s food is off-limits, they can eat together. Here are some common ways of doing this:

  • The person eating the hamburger eats on a placemat designated for fleishig (meat), and those eating dairy eat on placemats designated for dairy (Y. D. 88:2).
  • The person eating the hamburger eats on a tablecloth and those eating dairy eat without a tablecloth, or vice versa (ibid.)
  • A noticeable object which is not ordinarily on the table is placed on the table between the people eating the different types of food. The object should have some height; a key or coin would be inadequate (Badei Hashulchan, 88:25)

A food that either of them could eat from should not be used (Rama 88:2).

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.