Q&A: Waiting Between Poultry and Dairy
Waiting Between Poultry and Dairy
Question
Hello Rabbi, I asked myself how long one has to wait between poultry and dairy, as opposed to meat and dairy, and from what I searched on Google it seems they say you have to wait the same amount. Could you explain why there is no difference between them?
Answer
Why should there be a difference? Whatever the rabbis instituted, they instituted in the pattern of Torah law.
Discussion on Answer
Just to note that Nachmanides holds that for poultry one does not need to wait, because that would be a decree upon a decree.
Hello Rabbi,
If the rabbis instituted the prohibition of poultry and dairy, and the whole issue of waiting between meat and dairy is only lest some remain between the teeth (that is what I saw in Maimonides),
then why do you need to wait between poultry and dairy?
After all, it is only a doubt that pieces might remain in ones teeth, and in a rabbinic-level doubt we are lenient.
So why not simply make sure no piece of poultry was left behind and not wait, or alternatively, if there is a serious concern that something will remain in the teeth, then wait less time than for meat…
We do not derive practical distinctions from the reasons for decrees either. Once they decreed it, it is a halakhic prohibition regardless of its reasons.
Thanks for the reply!
But it says one must keep it from one meal to the next, not necessarily that one has to wait 3 or 6 hours.
So why not make a distinction here between Torah-level and rabbinic law?
There is an Iraqi custom to wait four hours after poultry.