We have seen a number of reasons to eat milchigs on the yom tov of Shavuos, and I would like to share some more reasons that the poskim mention:
1) Jews Ate Dairy When They Received the Torah
The Mishnah Berurah (495:12) quotes another reason. Before the Jews received the Torah, they were permitted to partake of meat that did not have a proper shechita. But after they received the Torah, they had to implement all of the laws of shechita (i.e., using a kosher knife, etc.), and keep all of the other rules and regulations of kashrus properly (e.g., salting, removing fats, etc.) before being able to eat fleishigs. In addition, all of their utensils were now treif and unfit for use. They were, therefore, unable to eat meat until they koshered all their utensils. In the interim, they had to eat dairy, and we commemorate this by eating milchigs.
2) Refraining from Meat and Milk Together Corresponds to Shavuos
The Chidushei HaRim suggests another reason. There are 365 negative commands in the Torah. Each one corresponds to one of the 365 days of the year, and the mitzvah of refraining from having meat and milk together corresponds to the day of Shavuos. If a person doesn’t have any milk and meat, he does not fulfill the mitzvah. Only when he has both milk and meat and doesn’t have them together has he fulfilled the mitzvah. Therefore, we make sure to have both. We eat milk and then meat to be sure to be in accordance with the rules and regulations of this mitzvah, thereby fulfilling the mitzvah.
3) Siyum on the Mitzvah of Sefira
Another explanation is that the milchiga meal is a siyum, celebrating the completion of the seven-week mitzvah of Sefiras Ha’Omer. We do not have the conventional meat meal in order to emphasize that it is not just another yom tov meal but a special and unique meal. (Midrash Pinchas)
4) To Commemorate Moshe Rabbeinu’s Survival
The Torah tells us that Moshe Rabbeinu was born on the seventh of Adar and was placed in the Nile River three months later. That means he was put there on the sixth of Sivan, the very day that was to become the day of Kabalas Hatorah, which served as a merit for him to be saved.
Indeed, on that very day, he was taken out of the Nile by the princess Basya, the daughter of King Pharaoh. She tried to have him nursed by a non-Jew, but little Moshe refused to nurse because “the mouth that would converse with Hashem should not nurse ‘non-kosher’ milk.” She, therefore, gave Moshe to his own mother to be nursed. We, therefore, partake of milchigs to commemorate the miracle of Moshe Rabbeinu’s survival.
Summary of Reasons
- To commemorate the Sh’tei Halechem
- The sweetness of Torah
- Alluded to in the pasuk
- A merit to receive the Torah
- Cholov – 40 days of receiving the Torah
- Jews ate dairy when they received the Torah
- Shavuos corresponds to refraining from meat and milk
- Siyum on the mitzvah of Sefira
- To commemorate Moshe Rabbeinu’s survival
RABBI NACHUM SCHEINER
