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DAAT · LEVEL 1 — INTRODUCTION

Siman פ״ט · Waiting between meat and milk

The six hours, meat between the teeth, the milk→meat order — to discover and understand

יורה דעה · סימן פ״ט

שלא לאכול גבינה אחר בשר

🌱 Introductory Level · מתחילים

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A first approach to Siman 89: the 4 seifim of the Mehaber and the glosses of the Rama, Hebrew text and a clear English translation. Why do we wait six hours after meat? What should we do about meat left between the teeth? May one eat meat right after cheese? And why two knives?

Topic: Waiting between meat and milk, and separating the table
Source: שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן פ״ט

Compiled by: הרב יוסף חיים סממה
DAAT · daattorah.com

📑 Study outline

1. The text of the Mehaber: the 4 seifim, translated

2. Context: why we wait after meat and not after milk

3. The key concepts of this siman explained simply

4. The two reasons for waiting: lingering taste and meat between the teeth

5. The Shach and the Taz: who they are, a few key entries

6. The gloss of the Rama (הגה) — the one hour or the six hours

7. Modern practical cases: mixed meal, hard cheese, two knives

8. Summary of the rules to remember

9. Comprehension questions

1. The text of the Mehaber — the 4 seifim

Siman 89 bears the title שלא לאכול גבינה אחר בשר ("Not to eat cheese after meat"). After Siman 88 (not placing meat and milk on the same table), the Mehaber (Rabbi Yossef Karo) deals here, in 4 seifim, with separation in time and on the table: how long to wait, what to do about meat stuck between the teeth, the reverse order (milk then meat), and the utensils. The Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserles) adds his glosses (הגה) for Ashkenazi practice.

Seif 1 — Waiting after meat

One who has eaten meat — even from a wild animal (חיה) or fowl (עוף) — shall not eat cheese after it until he has waited six hours. And even if he has waited the required time, if meat remains between his teeth, he must remove it. And one who chews [meat] for [feeding] a child must [also] wait.

Gloss of the Rama: if he later finds meat between his teeth and removes it, he must rinse his mouth before eating cheese. And some say that there is no need to wait six hours: as soon as one has cleared the table and recited the Birkat ha-Mazon, it is permitted by means of rinsing (kinu'ach) and washing out (hadachah). The widespread custom in these lands is to wait one hour after meat and then to eat cheese — provided one has also recited the Birkat ha-Mazon after the meat. And some are scrupulous to wait six hours after meat before cheese, and this is the proper way to act.

The central idea in one sentence: after meat, one does not move straight on to cheese. The Mehaber sets six hours. The Rama reports more lenient customs (one hour, after the Birkat ha-Mazon), but his conclusion leans toward six hours: "וכן נכון לעשות" — "and this is the proper way to act." Why six hours? Two reasons, detailed in section 4.

Seif 2 — Meat after cheese

One who has eaten cheese may eat meat immediately afterward, provided he inspects his hands that no residue of cheese clings to them; and he must rinse his mouth (kinu'ach) and wash it out (hadachah). "Rinsing" consists of chewing bread and wiping the mouth well with it — or any other food, except flour, dates and green vegetables (which stick and do not clean well). Afterward, one rinses the mouth with water or wine. All this applies to the meat of cattle and wild animals; but for eating fowl after cheese, neither rinsing nor hand-washing is required.

Gloss of the Rama: some are strict even for meat after cheese; and the custom is that, for any hard cheese (גבינה קשה), one does not eat meat after it — even fowl — just as [one waits for] cheese after meat. Others are lenient… but it is good to be strict.

The rule is asymmetric: after milk, one may eat meat right away (with rinsing + inspecting the hands). Why this difference from meat? Because the two reasons for waiting (the lingering fatty taste, the bits between the teeth) do not exist after ordinary cheese. Exception: hard cheese, whose taste lingers — one waits after it as after meat.

Seif 3 — Cooked dishes and hand-washing

One who has eaten a meat dish (without pieces of meat — a dish with the taste of meat) may eat after it a cheese dish; the hand-washing between the two is only optional (some require it). But if he comes to eat cheese itself after a meat dish, or meat itself after a cheese dish, the hand-washing is obligatory.

Gloss of the Rama: meat fat has the same status as meat itself. The custom nowadays is to be strict and not to eat cheese after a dish of meat, just as after meat itself (i.e. with a waiting period). However, if the dish contains no meat but was merely cooked in a meat pot, one may eat cheese after it.

Distinguish three things: meat itself (full waiting period), a dish with the taste of meat (the Rama's stringent custom treats it like meat), and a dish merely cooked in a meat pot with no meat in it (no waiting requirement).

Seif 4 — The table, the tablecloth, the knives

One who has eaten cheese and wishes to eat meat must clear from the table the crumbs of bread eaten with the cheese; and it is forbidden to eat cheese on a tablecloth that was used for meat (and vice versa). All the more so is it forbidden to cut cheese, even cold, with a knife regularly used for meat; and even the bread meant for cheese must not be cut with a meat knife.

Gloss of the Rama: and the reverse is likewise forbidden; however, by thrusting the knife into hard ground (ne'itzah), it is permitted. But all of Israel have already adopted the custom of having two knives, marking one of them so as to have a distinguishing sign — the custom is to mark the dairy one — and one must not change the custom of Israel.

The source of the two knives of every kosher kitchen. The deeper principle: a "meaty" knife retains a little of the meat's taste, which transfers to the cheese (especially with a hot or "sharp" food). Thrusting the knife into the ground "cleans" it in theory, but the ruling is settled: one knife for meat, one for dairy, and one does not change the custom of Israel.

2. Context — why we wait, and why only after meat

Everyone knows the "meat-milk separation": one waits a certain amount of time between a meat meal and a dairy product. Where does this delay come from, and why is it one-directional (after meat, but not after milk)?

The Talmudic source

The sugya is found in tractate חולין (Chullin), in the chapter כל הבשר ("Kol ha-Bassar," referred to in the Shach as "פכ״ה"), page 105a. It reports the conduct of Mar Ukva, who said of himself:

"אֲנָא... אִי אָכֵילְנָא הָאִידָּנָא בִּשְׂרָא, לָא אָכֵילְנָא גְּבִינָה עַד לִמְחַר עַד הַשְׁתָּא"

"As for me… if I eat meat now, I do not eat cheese until tomorrow, until this same hour."

From here comes the idea of a delay after meat. The Talmud does not explicitly impose "until tomorrow" on everyone; the Rishonim (the early decisors) derived from it the practical measure of six hours — roughly the time that separates the midday meal from the evening meal.

A one-directional rule

The Gemara speaks of waiting only after meat. After milk, one may eat meat immediately — that is seif 2. The reason lies in the very causes of the waiting: what "lingers" after meat (the fat and the fibers) does not exist after ordinary cheese.

This siman does not establish a new prohibition of meat-and-milk (that is Siman 87). It organizes the practice of the meal: how long to wait, how to clean oneself, and how to separate the dishes. This is everyday halakhah.

3. The key concepts of Siman 89

A few Hebrew terms recur constantly in this siman. Master them, and you understand all the rest.

שש שעות — Shesh sha'ot: "six hours." The measure of waiting after meat adopted by the Mehaber. The Pitchei Teshuva (s.k. 3) specifies, in the name of the Knesset ha-Gedolah, the Kreti u-Pleti and the Chochmat Adam, that these are ordinary hours (60 min) and not "seasonal hours" (proportional to the length of the day) — וכן המנהג.

בשר שבין השינים — Bassar she-bein ha-shinayim: "meat between the teeth." Small pieces of meat can stay stuck. Even after the six hours, if any remain, one must remove them (seif 1).

קינוח והדחה — Kinu'ach ve-hadachah: the "rinsing" and the "washing out" of the mouth. The kinu'ach consists of chewing a firm food (bread, for instance) that "wipes" the mouth; the hadachah is then rinsing with water or wine (seif 2).

גבינה קשה — Gevina kasha: "hard cheese." An aged cheese whose taste is persistent. The Shach (s.k. 15) indicates that a cheese six months old is generally considered "hard." After it, one waits before meat as after meat (Rama, seif 2).

נטילת ידים — Netilat yadayim: hand-washing. Between certain dishes (cheese itself after a meat dish, or vice versa), washing is obligatory; between two dishes it is only optional (seif 3).

נעיצה — Ne'itzah: "thrusting" the knife into hard ground to clean it. The Rama (seif 4) admits that this "works" in theory for cold foods, but concludes that one follows the custom of the two knives.

A word on "clearing and blessing": סילק ובירך (silek u-verach). According to the lenient opinion (Tosafot), what "closes" the meat meal and permits moving on to cheese is having removed the food from the table and recited the Birkat ha-Mazon — which turns what follows into "another meal." The Shach (s.k. 5) stresses that without this Birkat ha-Mazon, even waiting all day would not suffice according to this opinion.

4. The two reasons for waiting — and their consequences

Why six hours? The Rishonim give two distinct reasons, and the halakhah takes both into account. This is one of the most important points of the siman, because each reason entails different consequences.

Reason	Source	Consequence
① The lingering fatty taste "the meat gives off fat and draws out taste for a long time" (הבשר מוציא שומן ומושך טעם עד זמן ארוך)	Tur, in the name of Rashi (Shach s.k. 2; Taz s.k. 1)	One who did not eat but only chewed meat for a baby would not have to wait — he has no taste in his mouth.
② The meat between the teeth the stuck pieces are "like meat" until six hours	Rambam (Shach s.k. 2; Taz s.k. 1)	One who chewed for a baby must wait (he had meat in his mouth, so perhaps between his teeth).

The halakhah takes both reasons into account at once. The Tur says so: "וטוב לאחוז כחומרי שני הטעמים" — "it is good to hold by the stringencies of both reasons" (cited by the Shach s.k. 2 and the Taz s.k. 1). That is why the Mehaber writes in seif 1 that one who chews for a baby must wait (reason ②) — while also keeping the reason of taste (①).

The link with meat between the teeth: if the reason were only the taste, waiting would suffice. But because of reason ② (the stuck meat is "meat"), seif 1 adds that even after six hours, if meat remains between the teeth, one must remove it before cheese (and, says the Rama, rinse the mouth).

And the milk → meat order? Neither of the two reasons applies: ordinary cheese leaves neither a "lingering fatty taste" nor pieces between the teeth. Hence seif 2: meat right after cheese, with a simple kinu'ach + hadachah. Hard cheese, however, has a persistent taste — so it is treated separately (Rama, seif 2).

"Derabbanan" here too: this entire siman belongs to rabbinic conduct and custom (minhag), not to a Torah prohibition. That is why the Rama can report several customs (six hours / one hour) without any of them being "wrong" — these are levels of caution. The Pitchei Teshuva (s.k. 2) recalls, moreover, that the Bechor Shor "does not reprimand" those who follow the lenient opinion of the Rama, "for they have what to rely upon."

5. The Shach and the Taz — the great commentators

In Yoreh De'ah, the Shulchan Aruch is never read on its own. Two great commentaries accompany it on every page and structure all practical study: the Shach and the Taz. These are the foremost nosei kelim in Yoreh De'ah (along with the Pri Megadim and the Pitchei Teshuva).

The Shach (ש״ך) — an abbreviation of שפתי כהן, Siftei Kohen ("the lips of the Kohen"), by Rabbi Shabtai ha-Kohen (Lithuania, 17th century). It is the reference commentary on Yoreh De'ah, of great analytical depth.

The Taz (ט״ז) — an abbreviation of טורי זהב, Turei Zahav ("the rows of gold"), by Rabbi David ha-Levi Segal (Poland, 17th century). Often in dialogue — and sometimes in disagreement — with the Shach.

Two key entries of the Shach

Shach s.k. 2 — The two reasons for waiting

The Shach cites the Tur: within the six hours, even if there is no meat between the teeth, it is forbidden, because the meat gives off fat and draws out taste for a long time (reason ①). The Rambam, for his part, gave as the reason the meat left between the teeth (reason ②) — hence: one who chews for a baby must wait. And "it is good to hold by the stringencies of both reasons."

Shach s.k. 15 — What is a "hard cheese"?

A key entry of the Taz

Taz s.k. 1 — The two reasons and the conclusion

The Taz sums up: there are two reasons. The first (the fatty taste) would mean that one who only chews for a baby would not have to wait. The second, of the Rambam, is the meat between the teeth — which is "considered as meat" until six hours. And the accepted halakhah is to be strict according to both reasons.

Here one sees the method: the Shach and the Taz do not repeat the Mehaber — they explain the reasons and draw out the practical consequences. On the two reasons for waiting, they agree: both are taken into account.

6. The gloss of the Rama (הגה) — the one hour or the six hours

On seif 1, the Rama adds a long gloss reflecting the Ashkenazi practice of his time. It presents several levels, from the most lenient to the most strict.

The three levels of the Rama

Level	What is required	What it relies on
Lenient (י״א)	No need to wait: as soon as one has cleared the table and recited the Birkat ha-Mazon, it is permitted (with kinu'ach + hadachah)	Tosafot, Mordechai, Ra'avya
Widespread custom (המנהג הפשוט)	Wait one hour after meat, and have recited the Birkat ha-Mazon	The custom "in these lands" (per the Aruch and the Hagahot Sha'arei Dura)
Scrupulous (יש מדקדקים)	Wait six hours after meat	"וכן נכון לעשות" — the Rama's conclusion

The Rama reports the lenient customs, but his own conclusion is clear: "וכן נכון לעשות" — "and this is the proper way to act," that is, to wait six hours. The Shach (s.k. 8) adds, in the name of the Maharshal, that this is the conduct of "לכל מי שיש בו ריח תורה" — "anyone in whom there is a fragrance of Torah."

Note a point of order: for the "one hour" opinion, the Rama specifies that there is no difference whether one waited the hour before or after the Birkat ha-Mazon — what matters is that there was a Birkat ha-Mazon. Without a Birkat ha-Mazon, says the Shach (s.k. 5), waiting one hour accomplishes nothing: as long as one has not "closed" the meal with the blessing, it is not "another meal."

The Rama's gloss on seif 2 — hard cheese

On seif 2, the Rama adds that for a hard cheese (גבינה קשה), one does not eat meat afterward — even fowl — just as one waits for cheese after meat. The Taz (s.k. 4) clarifies that this stringency aims above all at "worm-eaten" / heavily aged cheese (מתולעת), whose sharp taste persists, and that there is no reason to extend it further without need.

Hard cheese is therefore the exception to the asymmetry: normally, after milk → meat right away; but after a hard cheese, a delay is required, because its taste "lingers" like that of meat.

7. Modern practical cases

Case 1 — Burger at noon, café au lait at 3 p.m.?

According to the Mehaber (seif 1), one must wait six hours after meat before any dairy product — including a café au lait, cheese, or yogurt. Three hours are not enough for the practice that follows the Mehaber. (Some Ashkenazi communities follow a shorter wait — three hours, or "one hour" according to older customs; see Level 4.) For the exact duration you should observe, consult your Rav.

Case 2 — Cheese pizza, then chicken right after?

After ordinary cheese (the mozzarella of a pizza, for example), one may eat meat right away, after having rinsed the mouth (eating a little bread, drinking water) and checked the hands (seif 2). But if the cheese was hard / heavily aged (aged parmesan, for example), the custom (Rama) is to wait as after meat. For the halakhah le-ma'aseh, consult your Rav.

Case 3 — The two knives and the cutting board

Seif 4 is the source of separate utensils: one knife for meat, one for dairy, marked so as to tell them apart. Even cutting a cold cheese with a meat knife is forbidden. This is the foundation of the kosher kitchen with two sets (boards, knives, dishes). For cases of accidental mixing, consult your Rav.

The common thread of the three cases: knowing the rule does not replace the concrete ruling. The siman gives the principles (how many hours, how to clean oneself, how to separate); the Rav applies them to your community and your situation.

8. Summary of Siman 89

The essentials of Siman 89 in a few sentences:

After meat (even fowl), one waits six hours before cheese (Mehaber, seif 1).
Two reasons: the lingering fatty taste and the meat between the teeth — both are taken into account.
Even after six hours, remove the meat stuck between the teeth and rinse the mouth (seif 1 + Rama).
After milk, one may eat meat right away, with kinu'ach + hadachah and inspection of the hands (seif 2).
Exception: hard cheese (≈ 6 months) — one waits after it as after meat (Rama, seif 2).
A dish with the taste of meat is treated like meat (Rama, seif 3); a dish merely cooked in a meat pot is not.
Always two knives, separate dishes, clear the table and the tablecloth (seif 4).

Memory table

9. Comprehension questions

Situation	What to do
Steak, then cheese	Wait 6 hrs (Mehaber); remove meat between the teeth
Chicken, then cheese	Wait 6 hrs as well ("even fowl," seif 1)
Ordinary cheese, then meat	Right away, with kinu'ach + hadachah + hands
Hard cheese, then meat	Wait as after meat (Rama)
Cutting cheese with a meat knife	Forbidden — two separate knives

Check your understanding:

How long does the Mehaber require one to wait after meat before cheese?
What are the two reasons for this waiting? Who gives them (Rashi/Tur, Rambam)?
Why must one who chews for a baby wait, according to the 2nd reason?
Why does one not wait after milk before eating meat?
What are the קינוח and the הדחה? With what does one do the kinu'ach, and what must be avoided?
What is a hard cheese (גבינה קשה)? From when is it so (Shach)? What must one do after it?
What are the three levels of the Rama in the gloss on seif 1? What is his conclusion?
For the "one hour" opinion, is the Birkat ha-Mazon indispensable? What does the Shach (s.k. 5) say?
What is the difference between a dish with the taste of meat and a dish cooked in a meat pot (seif 3)?
Why do we have two knives? What does the Rama say about ne'itzah (thrusting the knife) in seif 4?

To go further

If you want to delve deeper into this siman:

📚 Level 2 — Lamdan: the pilpul, the sugya of Chullin 105a, the two te'amim, the machloket on the one hour and the Birkat ha-Mazon, the Zohar, the Shach / Taz / Pitchei Teshuva debates, chakirot and nafka minot
✨ Level 3 — Synthesis: the comparative tables (six hours / one hour / immediate), the golden rules and quick memorization of the 4 seifim
⚖️ Level 4 — Halakhah le-ma'aseh: the practical ruling (Shach, Taz, Pri Megadim, Pitchei Teshuva) and the contemporary poskim (Sephardi and Ashkenazi)

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DAAT · הרב יוסף חיים סממה
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יורה דעה · סימן פ״ט · Level 1 — Introduction
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