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Halakhic Logic for Waiting One Hour Between Meat and Dairy

I'll skip the usual apologies for neglecting the blog; I'm a "part time" Rabbi and I've always believed that real life takes precedence over virtual life. Actually I think I've fulfilled my "virtual" requirements quite nicely on my Twitter feed.¹ Case in point, one Twitter conversation discussed the halakhic topic of waiting to eat dairy foods after consuming meat. There are varying cultural traditions regarding the length one must wait ranging from one to six hours but the minimum time of waiting only one hour is the least commonly observed practice. The reason for this phenomenon is likely the result of social factors - a cultural affinity towards selective stringencies being one of many- than legal hermeneutic. (The support for longer waiting periods certainly has halakhic support with Rambam (Ma'achalot Assurot 9:28) and Shulhan Aruch (O.C. 89:1) stipulating a 5-6 hour waiting period but Ashkenazi Jews follow these authorities inconsistently). In this post I will argue that the minimum position of waiting one hour, typically not considered normative, maintains halakhic validity.

My 9:00am Sunday morning shiur at The Stanton St. Shul has been discussing as of late topics in Mahchsevet Hazal / Rabbinic Thought and Theology. In today's class we were discussing various sources regarding Gehenom / Hell (PDF) in the Rabbinic tradition and we came across a fascinating contradiction in the thought of one of the Sages.

It's been a while since I was asked to write Mt. Sinai's "Parsha Perspectives," and honestly I wasn't sure if being asked to do Vayakhel of all parshiyot was a compliment. At any rate it was a moot point since I just missed the deadline (one which I hadn't been told of beforehand). Still, here's what would have been printed in the short space allotted.

After revisiting and recounting the horrors of Jerusalem's destruction on 9 Av, we begin the process of healing and consolation. To this end, the sages instituted reading the seven haftarot of consolation beginning with Yeshayahu 40 and the appropriate introduction "nachamu, nachamu ami" commonly translated as "comfort ye, comfort ye, my people." But for those who have experienced tragedy, there is little apparent in this haftara which would be considered comforting. Most of the haftara praises God or extols God's superiority and might, which for those who experienced the hurban would be hesitant to deny, and few would turn to in times of crisis.

In this season of teshuva leading up to the yamim nora'im religious discussions primarily focus on personal change. We look to change our practices, ideally becoming more committed to Torah. We seek to change our religious perspectives, hopefully reconnecting with the Divine. For Rambam, this process of change is not simply behavioral, but existential. As we acknowledge and renounce our transgressions we also take measures demonstrating that we have changed to the point where we "are no longer the same person who committed these actions" (Hilchot Teshuva 2:4).

But what does it mean that we are no longer the same person? How does the process of teshuva effect a change so substantive that it alters our fundamental identity? In order to fully understand this transition we must tackle the philosophical question of what is the true essence of our personal identity - to find the essential determinant which makes us "us" such that changing this element constitutes a meaningful change in our identity. While this challenge may seem daunting to lesser minds, it is no match for the discerning duo of The Incredible Hulk...and an Oxford PhD.

While there is no shortage of Benei Yisrael being rebuked in Tanach for their various transgressions, one such indictment which seems imprecise and perhaps overly harsh is the comparison with the people of S'dom and 'Amorah. As we know, the legacy of S'dom and 'Amorah is one of unmitigated evil and a benchmark for immorality which is used to this day. Their sins were so complete and evil so absolute that Hashem does not simply cause the cities' destruction, but completely obliterates them with unparalleled divine wrath. And yet in Eicha we are told that "the sins of the daughter of my people is greater than that of S'dom" (Eicha 4:6), and in the Haftara of Hazon the Navi exclaims "Heed the word of Hashem you leaders of S'dom, listen to the words of our God's Torah you people of 'Amorah" (Yeshayahu 1:10). Were the sins of the Jews in fact as serious and complete to warrant such comparisons with S'dom and 'Amorah?