Question: May one taste some of the gravy from a meat dish that one is preparing without swallowing any of it and then drink milk afterwards?
Answer: We have already explained in the past that the Rishonim offer two reasons for why it is forbidden to eat dairy after eating meat. The Rambam writes that the nature of meat is to leave over some remnants in one’s teeth and thus, one must wait six hours after eating meat before eating dairy. The Rosh, however, writes that the reason is because the nature of meat is to leave a very strong taste in the mouth for a long time after it is eaten and thus, one must wait six hours for this taste to pass before eating dairy items.
Hagaon Harav Shlomo Kluger zt”l (head of the rabbinical court in Brody approximately two-hundred years ago) writes that if one tastes meat with his tongue and immediately spits out what he has tasted and does not swallow anything, he need not wait six hours before eating cheese. The Responsa Kapei Aharon (authored by Hagaon Harav Aharon Azriel zt”l) and Kaf Ha’Chaim rule likewise.
The reason for this is because when one does not chew or swallow the meat, one need not be concerned with the reasoning of the Rambam which is because of meat getting stuck in one’s teeth, for one has not chewed it or with the reasoning of the Rosh which is due to the meat giving off a taste in one’s mouth for a prolonged amount of time, for this only applies when one swallows the meat. Thus, one may taste a meat-based gravy or a piece of meat on Erev Shabbat and spit it out immediately after which one may eat dairy foods. Nevertheless, if one wishes to eat cheese immediately, one must rinse out one’s mouth and make certain that one’s hands are clean so that one does not transgress the prohibition of a milk and meat mixture.
Question: Is there any room for leniency with regards to feeding children dairy after having eaten meat? Similarly, what if one is in doubt whether or not one has eaten mean at all?
Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l has written (in a responsa from the year 5714/1954) that one may act leniently and allow children to consume dairy foods after having eaten meat even if six hours have not passed, as long as at least one hour has elapsed and they are no longer within the same meal. Nevertheless, one should one should certainly educate one’s children who have reached the age where they understand this matter in all Mitzvot, both Torah and rabbinic laws.
If one is uncertain whether or not six hours have elapsed since one has concluded eating meat and one wishes to eat dairy, the great Rishon Le’Zion, Hagaon Harav Yitzchak Yosef Shlit”a writes that one may act leniently and eat the dairy food as a result of the doubt.
