DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Halacha is In Memory of
 Meier Ben Ester
""In memory of my grandfather who led by example, especially with his piousness and generosity""

Dedicated By
Anonymous

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
      
(File size: 664 KB)
Is It Permissible To Eat Fish and Meat Together Or Even Have Them On The Same Table

The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Dei'a 116:2) rules that one must ensure not to eat meat with fish, as doing so poses a medical risk. Specifically, the Shulchan Aruch mentions that eating meat and fish together increases the risk of contracting Tzara'at (a type of skin disease).

Therefore, one who eats fish must first rinse his mouth before eating meat, and vice-versa. Likewise, one must ensure to use different dishes and cutlery for fish and meat. At a buffet, for example, one must make a point of using different utensils and silverware for fish and for meat.

When it comes to the prohibition against eating milk with meat, Halacha establishes that two friends or acquaintances may not eat together on the same table if one eats meat and the other milk. The Rabbis were concerned that the two might share each other's food, and they therefore forbade two friends or acquaintances from eating meat and milk together at the same table. When it comes to fish and meat, however, Chacham Ovadia Yosef rules (in Yabia Omer, vol. 6, Yoreh Dei'a section, 9) that this provision does not apply, and two friends or acquaintances may eat fish and meat at the same table. He explains that since eating fish and meat together is forbidden due to a health concern, people exercise particular care in this regard, and so it is unlikely that a person eating fish will forgetfully take some of his friend's meat, or vice-versa. (This ruling also appears in Chacham Yitzchak Yosef's work Issur Ve'heter, p. 70, Halacha 2.)

It is permissible to cook fish in a pot that had been used for cooking meat, or vice-versa. So long as the pot is clean and has no actual fish or meat on its surface, one may use it for cooking either fish or meat, even if the pot had been used with the other less than twenty-four hours earlier. See Taz (commentary on Shulchan Aruch written by Rabbeinu David HaLevi 1586-1667) on Yore Deah, Siman 95, Seif Kattan 3.)

Summary: One may not eat meat and fish together; after eating meat or fish, one must rinse his mouth before partaking of the other, and he must ensure to use different utensils and cutlery. Nevertheless, two people may sit together at the same table, one eating fish and the other meat. A utensil that had been used for cooking fish may be used for cooking meat, and vice-versa, provided that it is clean.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
The Prohibitions of Misleading or Insulting Another Person
Is it Permissible to Study Secular Philosophy?
When is it Appropriate or Inappropriate to Report Bad Tidings?
Is It Permissible To Wear A Wool Tzitzit Under A Linen Shirt or Is It A Violation of Shatnez
Announcing a Fast Day in the Synagogue on the Preceding Shabbat
Barech Alienu for Travelers to and From Israel
Traveling on Ereb Shabbat
Maintaining Peace in One’s Financial Dealings
Birkat Ha'gomel: The Meaning of the Words, and Whether a Child Recites the Beracha
Reciting Tefilat Ha’derech
Hanukah – If One Does Not Have Enough Oil For All the Candles
Hanukah – Lighting a Menorah That Has a “Back”
Is Birkat Ha’gomel Required After Taking a Cruise on the Kinneret?
Synagogue Decorum and The Prohibition Against Speaking During Torah Reading – In the Wake of the Har Nof Tragedy
The Status of Pasteurized Wine
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found