Why is There a Custom to Eat Dairy Foods on Shavuos?

The Rama on Orach Chaim 494:3 quotes a widespread minhag to eat dairy foods on Shavuos. The Mishnah Berurah (ibid. 12) proffers the following famous explanation for this custom: Bnei Yisroel, upon receiving the Torah on Shavuos, were unable to eat meat right after the Torah was given. There was no time to prepare and check shechitah knives, remove blood and cheilev (non-kosher fats) from meat, and kasher the utensils needed to cook and prepare hot meat. Thus, it was necessary on that first Shavuos to consume cold dairy foods. We therefore commemorate this event by also partaking of dairy dishes on Shavuos.

The Rama himself offers another rationale for eating dairy food on Shavuos: The korban (sacrifice) of Sh’tei Ha-Lechem, the “Two Breads,” is brought on Shavuos. We therefore eat both dairy and meat foods on Shavuos, as this will require us to have two different breads (because we cannot eat the same bread with dairy and meat foods). The two breads necessitated by serving both dairy and meat dishes, eaten on the table, which symbolizes the mizbei’ach (altar), commemorate the korban of Sh’tei Ha-Lechem (MB ibid. 14).

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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.