The Holiness of Avoiding Milk/Meat Combinations

 Parshat Re'eh

by Rabbi Avi Billet

One theme of Parshas Re’eh focuses on the rules of what an Israelite may and may not eat. We see this first in chapter 12 when we are told about when we may come to eat from certain vows and offerings in “the place God will have chosen” (the place of the Temple in Jerusalem), such as during holidays or really throughout the year. The middle of the chapter speaks of eating meat as part of offering, the rules related to the (non)consumption of blood (12:16, 23-27), and how to eat meat outside of the context of offerings (12:20-22). 

Observing these rules, following a theme of Devarim, is למען ייטב לך (so it will be good for you) (12:28). A similar sentiment is conveyed at the beginning of chapter 14, that you are a holy nation, and you are God’s treasured people (14:2) – and this is the lead-in to the rules of Kosher, as in “which animals you may consume and which animals you may not consume.” Some animals are defined by certain characteristics (split hooves and ruminant is a kosher quadruped, fish need fins and scales), while there is a list of the non-kosher birds. Unfortunately the identity of the birds listed is debated, thus we only eat birds that have a tradition of being kosher. 

Towards the end of the rules of kosher animals, there is a rule that upon scrutiny, says less than we commit ourselves to: “Thou shall not cook a kid (baby goat) in its mother’s milk.” (14:21) This is the 3rd iteration of these words, as it also appears in Shmos 23:19 and 34:26 - where in both cases it is preceded by a law referencing how to prepare the Korban Pesach, and the specific verses enumerated both read: רֵאשִׁ֗ית בִּכּוּרֵי֙ אַדְמָ֣תְךָ֔ תָּבִ֕יא בֵּ֖ית יְקֹוָ֣ק אֱ-לֹהֶ֑יךָ לֹא־תְבַשֵּׁ֥ל גְּדִ֖י בַּחֲלֵ֥ב אִמּֽוֹ. I once heard it argued that because the previous verse references Pesach, and the first part of this verse references Bikkurim (first fruits), which is largely associated with Shavuos, that the idea of not cooking the kid in its mother’s milk relates to Sukkos, which always follows the dry summer season in Israel, when water reserves may be closer to being used up. The idea of reminding people in the context of Sukkos not to cook a kid in its mother’s milk is a way of saying not only that such a notion bespeaks of a terrible kind of cruelty, but that one should have faith that God will provide all the water you need, so there will be no need to resort to cooking the meat in the milk. 

Anyway, while the verse clearly says not to cook the kid in its mother’s milk, it does not say “if someone else (such as a non-Jew) cooks it, you may not eat it.” There is no mention of a prohibition against eating a combination of meat and milk! [See joke in the comments or at this link - sharing the link only for the joke]

Yet, every kosher-food consumer knows that we do not mix dairy and meat. And this is the source for that. How so? The Mishnah in Chullin (8:4) articulates the position that the repetition of the phrase is the source for the idea that not only is cooking forbidden, but benefiting from it, including eating from it, is also forbidden. (See Sifsei Chachamim on our Parsha, and his referencing Rashi in Mishpatim. See also Ramban on this verse 14:21) Baal HaTurim equates the gematria (numerical value of letters) of לא תבשל (“thou shall not cook”) – 763 – with the value of איסור אכילה ובישול והנאה (“the prohibition of eating, cooking, and benefiting”) – 764 (in gematria you can be off by one and it is considered equivalent) suggesting an allusion to the triple-prohibition in the words prohibiting the cooking of a meat/milk combination. 

 Interestingly, the Talmud makes it clear that this prohibition, according to the Torah, only applies to domestic farm animals (goats, sheep, cows), but not to wild animals (such as deer, gazelles) or birds. Rabbi Akiva extends it to the kosher quadrupeds who produce milk for their offspring (mammals) but not to birds, who do not produce milk. Thus the non-mixing of dairy with chicken or turkey is a later-than-the-Torah invention, primarily to avoid confusion in the ‘meat’ of creatures who are slaughtered. (And it is irrelevant in fish, who do not produce milk and are not slaughtered for consumption.) Which is why one of my kids has been campaigning to “Make Chicken Pareve Again.” For some reason, this has not caught on yet. 

The commentaries on the verse in our parsha touch upon much of this with added insights, particularly because the context here has nothing to do with the holidays and is a simple nod to the general notion of what it means to practice the laws of kosher eating: כִּ֣י עַ֤ם קָדוֹשׁ֙ אַתָּ֔ה לַיקֹוָ֖ק אֱ-לֹהֶ֑יךָ לֹֽא־תְבַשֵּׁ֥ל גְּדִ֖י בַּחֲלֵ֥ב אִמּֽוֹ, “for you are a holy nation unto God, don’t cook the kid in its mother’s milk.” 

Following the passage in Chullin 114a that compares the verse regarding not eating treifah animals, which is included with the verse ואנשי קדש תהיון לי (you shall be holy people unto Me), and the verse here regarding cooking the meat in the milk, which is included alongside כי עם קדוש אתה (“for you are a holy nation”), and concludes that both products are therefore forbidden for consumption (even though, as noted, we are not explicitly told regarding milk/meat that “you are forbidden to eat it), Torah Temimah notes how this is a much easier passage to learn the prohibition on eating a milk/meat combination than the 3 mentions of not cooking them together. 

But HaKtav V’Hakabbalah takes this comparison of the charges to "Bnei Yisrael to-be-holy" to another level.

Asking why in the context of Nevelah (a carcass that died in any manner other than a proper slaughter) the word used is Kadosh, and in the context of Tereifah (an animal that contained an internal wound in the heart or lungs) the word Kodesh is used, Rabbi Mecklenburg notes that the concept of Kedusha is emphasized in Parshas Kedoshim as being selective in how much one enjoys certain permissible life pleasures, such as: engaging in marital relations at the right times and intervals, minimizing one’s wine consumption, distancing oneself from becoming tameh to the dead, guarding one’s mouth and tongue from overeating and over-engaging in idle conversations, going above and beyond when it comes to one’s personal honesty when engaging in commerce with others… This is all considered the lower level (perhaps baseline) of what it means to live a life of Kedusha. 

 Taking things a level up, we have a person who elevates one’s personal holiness through disengaging from ALL physical pleasures. Meaning, even when engaging in the activities modified above, one is not ever participating in the physical activity for the sake of pleasure, but from a place that is intellectual and spiritual, focused solely on how to use that activity as a vehicle for serving the Almighty. 

 The lower level of Kedusha described here is measured in quantity. The higher level of Kedusha described here is measured qualitatively based on how the person disengages the spirit from any partnership with the physical. A person who exemplifies this quality is referred to as a Kadosh. As such, the phrase אנשי קדש uses the word Anshei, which is presumed to be a relatively small collection of individuals (rather than the words implying a group of a national level – such as עם or גוי) because the group that achieves that level of kedusha is presumably smaller. The phrase Anshei Kodesh is attached to the prohibition of the Tereifah because that particular prohibition includes a warning regarding Kodshim that they’re not to be taken outside of the Mikdash area, as if to tell the person to look and contemplate: an animal is a lower level in creation, and if you refer to it as Kodesh, the Kedusha imposed upon it (as a Korban) goes through its entire body, to the point that you can’t get any kind of benefit from it outside of the realm of its Kedusha, unless something happens that causes its desanctification (such as a wound rendering it a tereifah). 

And if that is the case with an animal, which has no inherent holiness unless we impose it upon the animal, imagine the human being, who is already imbued with holiness, how much more-so should we be aiming to spread and enhance our own kedusha through every fabric of our being… 

As to why there is a prohibition on eating even though the Torah isn’t explicit about that, Rabbi Mecklenberg goes on to distinguish between two goals of eating: the pleasure that comes from the actual eating – texture, taste, etc, and the benefit that comes from how the food is processed in the digestive system, spreading nutrients throughout the body. Noting that the way the body internally processes the food can be considered a kind of bishul (cooking), he suggests that the Torah doesn’t use the words “Don’t eat” in the context of mixing meat and milk because for some people (especially if they’ve worked on themselves), they might get no pleasure from the act of eating, but would want the benefits that come once the food has made its way to the stomach (he has an interesting suggestion that ואפשר דלשון אסטומכא הוא מלשון מצטמק ויפה לו – the word “Stomach” is related to mitztamek which is part of the process of cooking). Therefore the prohibition on “cooking meat in milk” can be actualized if the milk and meat were to go down into the stomach together, which is another “reason” why eating the mixture is prohibited. 

 Some people may identify with the image of the cruelty of cooking a kid in its mother’s milk (and by extension any meat in milk). Some people may think there is a health concern. For some, the attaching of a “charge to be holy” to the prohibition of combining milk/meat aims at helping us achieve holiness in a way we may or may not fully appreciate, but nonetheless raises our spiritual essence. 

 May we always either find meaning in our efforts, or nonetheless reap the benefits of holiness from our activities, especially when God (or Moshe) promises that the undertaking is למען ייטב לך – that it is for your benefit.