Dairy or Meat Status of Bread

Q. Why did Chazal forbid Milchig or Fleishig bread?

A. The Gemara (Pesachim 30a-b) states that one should not knead dough with milk. If it was baked, it is forbidden to eat this bread because it may accidentally be consumed with meat. Additionally, the Gemara rules that an oven should not be greased with animal fat for the purpose of baking bread, and if done, the bread is forbidden. Shach (97:2) explains that Chazal forbade eating Milchig or Fleishig bread, because bread is commonly consumed with most other foods. Poskim use the expression, “man lives on bread” to refer to the importance of bread in our lives, since bread is typically eaten at every meal. The purpose of this restriction is to protect against accidental misuse, and not to punish the violator. For this reason, the Pri Megadim (Sifsei Daas 97:1) writes that even if the milk was added unintentionally to the dough, or the person baking the bread was unfamiliar with this prohibition, the bread may not be consumed. Also, for the same reason, Teshuvos Chasam Sofer (YD 107) writes that the bread is forbidden even if baked by a non-Jew.

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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.