Askmoses-A Jews Resource
Why didn’t the Jews organize armed resistance against the Nazis?
Browse our archives

The Scholar is ready to answer your question. Click the button below to chat now.

Scholar Online:

Type in your question here:

Does an infant need to wait between eating meat and dairy?

  

Library » Mitzvot » Education | Subscribe | What is RSS?

PRINT EMAIL COMMENT

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg: Welcome. I'll be with you in a moment...

Bridget: hello

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg: hi, how can i help you?

Bridget: i have a son who is 7 months old and wanted to find out if i give him chicken soup can i give him his milk formula right away afterards or is there some time to wait?

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg: as long as his mouth is clean from chicken soup residue, you can feed him dairy

Bridget: and until what age can this be done?

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg: as long as he is a toddler and has no understanding of these issues

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg: it isn't an exact age, every child is different

Bridget: i agree with you but i was just wondering dont they also have also have a soul that is affected by the negativity of that act regardless if they understand it or not.

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg: that is only with regards to actual non Kosher food

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg: this is two foods, both of which are kosher

Bridget: yes but when mixed become unkosher in a way

Bridget: for example a cheese burger of both kosher cheese and kosher meat its still not kosher

Bridget: even though the 2 items initially by themselves are kosher

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg: but the child is NOT eating them together, we are just waiving the wait time requirement

Bridget: that is a good point

Bridget: You just made it clear to me....makes sense.

Bridget: thanks

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg: i'm glad

 

 

All names, places, and identifying information have been changed or deleted in order to protect the privacy of the questioners. In order to preserve authenticity, the chat sessions have been posted with a minimum of editing. Please excuse typographical errors, missing punctuation, and/or grammatical mistakes which naturally occur in the course of informal chat sessions.

ADD A COMMENT

Please email me when new comments are posted (you must be  logged in).

COMMENTS

I thought it was ok for many more reasons than thoes mentioned

Posted by: Anonymous on Jun 28, 2006

First of all I thought a cheese burger was biblically kosher as long as the cheese wasn’t cooked with the meat. Secondly if you are waiving the rabbinic rules for a toddler then eating fowl such as chicken would not make a difference because that is also a rabbinic rule. Thirdly I thought that children that aren’t at the age to have a bar-mitzvah yet aren’t responsible to do any of the commandments and the obligation for them would be just to learn what the commandments.

Lastly I would like to know if anyone has to wait at all after eating just plain chicken broth without any meat. I think that if someone eats a pareve item became fleshic then he wouldn’t have to wait at all. So I think that the water has become fleshic when it was turned into broth. But it could be more than that because when something is boiled its essence transfers over, that is why if I boiled an orange I would say the same blessing over the water as I would over the orange.

Editor's Comment

1) Where in the article is it suggested that a parent may feed a child food which is rabbinically forbidden? 2) The child isn't obligated -- but the parents are obligated to educate him/her in the observance of mitzvot. And it is certainly forbidden to feed a Jewish child non kosher food. 3) Eating chicken broth renders one 100% "fleishig," and requires one to wait six hours before eating dairy. 4) The blessing recited over water in which an orange was cooked, and even pure orange juice itself, is NOT have the same as the blessing recited on an orange. A Ha'etz is recited on the fruit and a Shehakol is recited on the juice.

RELATED CATEGORIES

Mitzvot » Kosher » Meat and Dairy
Torah » Education
Kosher
Literally means "fit." Commonly used to describe foods which are permitted by Jewish dietary laws, but is also used to describe religious articles (such as a Torah scroll or Sukkah) which meet the requirements of Jewish law.