23 May Shavuous Kashrus Questions WITH THE OU’S RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT

Why do we eat dairy on Shavuos?
The Rama on Orach Chaim 494:3
quotes a widespread minhag to eat
dairy foods on Shavuos. The Mishnah

Berurah (ibid. s.k.12) proffers the fa-
mous explanation for this custom: Bnei

Yisroel, upon receiving the Torah on
Shavuos, were unable to eat meat right
after the Torah was given. There was

no time to prepare and check shechi-
tah knives, remove blood and cheilev

(non- kosher fats) from meat, and kash-
er utensils needed to cook and prepare

hot meat. Thus, it was necessary on that
first Shavuos to consume cold dairy
foods. We therefore commemorate this
event by also partaking of dairy dishes
on Shavuos.

The Rama himself offers another ratio-
nale for eating dairy food on Shavuos:

The Korban Shtei HaLechem is com-
manded to be brought on Shavuos; we

therefore eat both dairy and meat foods
on Shavuos, as this will require us to
have two different breads (because we
cannot eat the same bread with dairy

and meat foods); the two breads neces-
sitated by serving dairy and meat dishes,

served on the table, which symbolizes

the mizbayach commemorate the Kor-
ban Sh’tei HaLechem. (MB ibid s.k.14)

There are some other, less-known ex-
planations as to why we eat dairy foods

on Shavuos:

• Moshe Rabbeinu was taken out of
the Nile on Shavuos and was thereafter

brought to be nursed, and he refused to

drink milk from non-Jewish women.

• The gematria of chalav is 40, corre-
sponding to the forty days that Moshe

was on Har Sinai. • One of the names
of Har Sinai is Gavnunim, similar to
the word gevinah – cheese. • The Chok
Yaakov (OC 494:9) quotes the Kol Bo (s.
52) that the minhag is to eat both hon- ey and milk on Shavuos, as the Torah
is compared to honey and milk (Shir
HaShirim 4:11).
The custom of eating dairy foods on
Shavuos, however, remains cryptic

and is not mentioned by many hala-
chic sources, and that is why there are

so many possible explanations. (Note
that the Rama explains the basis for the
custom with a partial conjecture, “and it
seems to me that the reason is…”, rather
than stating a definitive rationale, as this
minhag is of unclear background.)
The most common methods whereby
people fulfill the custom to eat dairy
foods on Shavuos are by having dairy
Yom Tov meals or by

serving dairy Mezo-
nos foods after making

Kiddush on Shavuos

morning (and con-
suming a regular Yom

Tov seudah later). This

latter method is sug-
gested by the Darchei

Teshuva (YD 89, s.k.
19) as the ideal way to
fulfill the minhag of
eating dairy foods on

Shavuos while partak-
ing of a most proper

Seudas Yom Tov. Each

of these approaches re-
quires a bit of halachic analysis.

Is one allowed to
partake in mezonos
food after kiddush?
There is a fundamental
principle of ain Kiddush
‘ela bim’kom seudah –
Kiddush may only be
made at the site of the
meal [1] . Regardless
of the rationale for the
axiom of ain Kiddush
‘ela bim’kom seudah, one who makes
Kiddush without a meal (i.e. he does
not eat a seudah after Kiddush, or he
recites Kiddush in a location other than
where he eats the meal) does not fulfill
the mitzvah of Kiddush and must make
Kiddush again when and where he eats.
The Tur and Shulchan Aruch (ibid. s.
5) quote the Geonim that one can fulfill
the mitzvah of Kiddush without actually
eating a full meal at the time and place
that he makes Kiddush. Rather, posit
the Geonim, a person can consume
a mere kezayis of bread or even drink
an additional revi’is of wine as his
Kiddush-time “meal”, so that he fulfills
the requirement of Kiddush bim’kom
seudah. The Magen Avraham (ibid. s.k.
11) and Aruch HaShulchan (ibid. s. 8)
explain that, according to the Geonim,
one can eat what we refer to as Mezonos
foods after Kiddush and satisfy the rule
of ain Kiddush ‘ela bim’kom seudah.
This interpretation of the Geonim’s
opinion has become widely accepted,
and many poskim permit partaking
of Mezonos foods after Kiddush but
advise against satisfying the mitzvah by
merely drinking an additional revi’is of
wine. (See MB ibid. s.k. 25.)
The overall position of the Geonim
is one of dispute, as the simple
interpretation of ain Kiddush’ela
bim’kom seudah is that one must
actually have his seudah – a full meal
with bread – upon making Kiddush, and
some therefore advise that one is best
not relying on the Geonim’s approach
[2] . However, the more prevalent
practice is to rely on the Geonim’s view
and make Kiddush followed by cake or
other Mezonos foods. [3] If one follows
common custom (the opinion of the
Geonim), it would seem that he can

satisfy the minhag of consuming dairy
food on Shavuos by eating cheesecake
after Kiddush on Shavuos morning.
However, it is not so simple.
The approach of the Geonim only
postulates that Mezonos food eaten
after Kiddush satisfies the requirement
of Kiddush bim’kom seudah when the
amount of Mezonos food is at least a
kezayis. (See MB 273: 21) The problem is
that many types of cheesecake have very
little flour, and one does not typically
consume a kezayis of the dough or
flour part of a slice of such cheesecake
in the requisite period of k’dei achilas
p’ras, “the time it takes to eat a piece
of bread” (which, according to Rav
Moshe Feinstein zt”l, would be under
3 minutes – Igros Moshe 4:41). Thus,
cheesecake with minimal dough/flour
content would not seem to qualify as
the Mezonos food to eat after Kiddush.
Additionally, even though the b’racha
rishona for cake and pie is Mezonos,
even when the majority of the cake
or pie consists of filling or fruit rather
than flour, there is an exception when
the flour or dough part of these desserts
serves merely to hold the filling or fruit
in place and is not intended to provide
flavor (OC 208:2). Some cheesecakes
are virtually all cheese, and they have
a paper-thin layer of tasteless dough
which merely keeps the cheese in place.
This situation would warrant reciting a
Shehakol and would likely not enable
one to consume the cheesecake directly
after Kiddush. (See OC 208:9 and MB
ibid. s.k.45.)
Should one wish to have cheesecake after
morning Kiddush,the solution would be
to either purchase a cheesecake that has
sufficient dough/flour (a kezayis worth
that will be consumed within the shiur
of k’dei achilas p’ras), or to also eat a
kezayis of another type of Mezonos food
(e.g. cookies, pastry or cake), making
sure to have a kezayis of the Mezonos
food in a period of k’dei achilas p’ras, as
above. In case one wishes to consume a
Shehakol cheesecake, he should first eat
a kezayis of Mezonos item right after
Kiddush prior to eating the Shehakol

cheesecake.