The Shape of Dairy Bread

Q. Shulchan Aruch writes that it is permissible to bake Milchig or Fleishig bread if it is made in an unusual shape. What is the explanation of this and when will this apply?

A. The Rif (Pesachim 8a) writes that if you bake a bread in a strange shape, this will serve as a “heker” (sign). The unusual shape will remind you that it contains dairy, and therefore it is permitted. The Rashba explains that this helps even for those who did not bake the bread. When others will see a loaf that is baked in a strange shape, they will ask why, and you will be reminded to tell them that the bread is dairy. Based on this, the Maharit (YD 2:18) writes that a bakery may not sell dairy bread, even if they bake it in an unusual shape. Visitors from out of town who are not familiar with the customs of the town will not know that this was baked in an unusual shape, and the baker might forget to inform them that it is dairy. This leniency only works in a home-type setting where the members of the household know how the bread usually looks. However, if one places a piece of cheese on top of the bread, or engraves in the bread the word dairy, so that it would be clear to everyone that the bread is dairy, then it would be permitted to sell the bread even in a store.

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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.