(Putting a booklet together for Shavuos without talking about cheese, would be like going through Shavuos without learning Torah. Therefore, I have decided to include a wonderful write-up I came across written by R’ Yehudah Spitz shlita, which talks all about cheese - primarily hard cheese. The following write-up is a shortened version, for the full version see details at the end of the write-up.)
One of the most famous associations with the Yom Tov of Shavuos is the time-honored traditional custom of consuming dairy products; a minhag that is actually codified in halachah by the great Rema, Rav Moshe Isserles, the authoritative decisor for all Ashkenazic Jewry. He cites the ‘prevailing custom’ of eating dairy items specifically on Shavuos (Orach Chaim 494: 3).
As Shavuos is the only Yom Tov with such a directive to eat dairy products, it has become almost customary to pontificate on the topic of the halachic prohibition of mixing meat and milk and the mandated waiting period between them. Commonly addressed is the issue of hard cheese, the one dairy item that requires a similar six hour wait after consumption. This article attempts to focus on this key issue, and hopes to clear up any confusion on the topic.
This prohibition, although not mentioned in the Gemara, nevertheless dates back to the days of one of the greatest Rishonim, the Maharam M’Rottenberg (Shu”t Maharam M’Rottenberg 615). It seems that a while after he ate a piece of hard cheese he reported that he still felt the residue of the cheese in his mouth. He concluded that hard cheese shares similar properties with meat, and therefore maintained that is proper to wait a corresponding amount of time after eating such cheese before partaking in a meat meal, as one normally would between meat and dairy.
Although some authorities, including the Maharshal (Chullin, Ch. 8:6 - who was extremely adamant that no one else has to wait due to the Maharam’s personal account), felt that the Maharam only mandated this for himself as a personal stringency, nevertheless, most decisors understood that the Maharam was introducing a new halacha, meant for all of Klal Yisroel. In fact, this is how the Rema rules (Yoreh Deah 89:2) and followed by virtually all later authorities that it is appropriate to wait a commensurate amount of time after eating hard cheese as one would wait after eating meat. However, it is important to note that the Rema himself qualifies that this halacha is intrinsically a chumra, and “one may not yell at anyone who does not follow it”.
Defining Hard Cheese
So, what exactly constitutes “hard cheese”, and thus necessitate a waiting period? As with many other halachic issues this is debated by the authorities. The accepted conclusion is that if one’s cheese fits into one or more of the following categories, then it would be considered “hard cheese” and thus requires a full waiting period:
- That it is aged six months (Parmesan would usually fit this category).
- It is “holey” as a result of production (As in “Holey Swiss Cheese!”).
- It is an extremely fatty and greasy cheese (Making the taste linger much longer).
- It is very strong and sharp (Limburger would be a good example of this).
Any cheese that does not meet at least one of these requirements, for all intents and purpose, is considered soft cheese and would only entail rinsing and cleaning of the mouth and hands before eating meat. This is the halachically mandated three-step process of kinuach - palate cleansing by eating a hard food item (ex. cracker), rechitza - hand washing, and hadacha - rinsing out of the mouth (Yoreh Deah 89:2).
There are also those who follow the standard understanding of the Zohar (Parshas Mishpatim pg. 125: 1; cited in Biur HaGra, Yoreh Deah 89: 11) and wait one hour after eating any dairy product. Others customarily wait a half-hour, even though there is no actual specific known source for this. There are different rationales offered to explain this, most based on the Talmudic dictum of 'M'Palga Karov Karu Lay', 'From halfway is already considered close', meaning by waiting at least a half hour, it is as if one waited an hour. Additionally, there are those who are also strict with making Birchas HaMazon between a dairy and a meat meal. This is a tremendous dispute among halachic authorities, whether Birchas HaMazon is required after eating dairy foods before being allowed to eat meat. However, everyone agrees that it is indeed required if one actually ate hard cheese.
American and Yellow Cheese
The standard everyday cheeses used for grilled cheese, cheese toasts and pizza etc., [American, Yerushalayim, Mozzerella, Achuza, Gush Chalav etc.] would not seem to fit any of the above criteria and would not require a waiting period. And, in fact, the majority of contemporary authorities including Rav Aharon Kotler, the Chazon Ish, Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, and Rav Moshe Feinstein rule that they are not considered halachic hard cheese. Rav Aharon related that most people nowadays do not know what real hard cheese is - a cheese that needs a “rib - eisen” (sharp grater) to cut off pieces. This would exclude our common cheeses, which can easily be pulled apart with our bare hands.
But if it’s so simple, why are there people who claim that one must wait after eating any sort of semi-hard cheese? Some even take this a step further and assert that it is Minhag Eretz Yisrael to wait a full six hours after eating pizza! What is the basis for such a position?
Minhag Eretz Yisrael?
The answer is based on a few enigmatic statements and Teshuvos by several contemporary Gedolei Eretz Yisrael - Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l and Rav Shmuel Halevi Wosner zt”l.
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach is quoted as ruling that one must wait the “full count” after eating the Israeli “Yellow Cheese” (Yerushalayim, Achuza, Gush Chalav, etc.). Rav Elyashiv and Rav Wosner both wrote Teshuvos asserting similarly, that although not fitting the “hard cheese” criteria established by earlier authorities, nevertheless, one should still wait after these cheeses. Following their lead, several other authorities rule stringently as well. Consequently, many people, especially in Eretz Yisrael, maintain that one should wait after eating these cheeses.
However, if one would properly and thoroughly analyse the actual Teshuvos of these Gedolim, he might conclude rather differently.
Finding out Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach’s authentic opinion is easier said than done. His opinion is quoted in no less than six separate sefarim (!) each relating conflicting and contradictory accounts of what his ruling actually was. The varied accounts include a lenient ruling on this topic, namely that these “yellow cheeses” are not considered hard cheese at all. It would therefore seem incongruous to be stringent exclusively on account of his reportedly machmir opinion.
Rav Wosner wrote his Teshuvah on this topic (Shu”t Shevet HaLevi vol. 2: 35) over forty-five years ago, stating that he personally was stringent, as (at the time) it was impossible to tell how long the cheeses were aged, since there was no manufacturer’s dating code printed on it. Since it was possible that the “yellow cheese” sold was aged for six months, he was machmir. However, nowadays, with the actual manufacturing date printed on every package, one can easily see if this cheese was aged for six months or not. In fact, more recent accounts of Rav Wosner’s opinion are that one does not have to wait after eating these “yellow cheeses”.
As for Rav Elyashiv’s Teshuvah (Kovetz Teshuvos vol. 1: 58, 2), he definitely does rule that one must wait after eating such cheese. But his reasoning has puzzled many. Rav Elyashiv writes that one must be stringent, for the taste of these “yellow cheeses” are charif v’chazak - “sharp and strong”, terms which many would only associate with such strong cheeses as Limburger, Gold Cheddar, and Roquefort. Several later authorities, including Dayan Yisrael Yaakov Fischer zt”l, Ra’ava”d of the Bada”tz Eidah Charedis of Yerushalayim, have been perplexed by Rav Elyashiv’s words, since “yellow cheese” as we know it is neither sharp nor strong tasting. Interestingly, Rav Elyashiv's talmid muvhak Rav Yosef Efrati shlit”a writes (Shu”t Yissa Yosef, Orach Chaim vol. 2:120) that Rav Elyashiv was stringent on “yellow cheese” only due to chumra and minhag, but held that m’ikar hadin one does not need to be stringent, and especially not in Chutz La’aretz. A similar sentiment was expressed by Rav Elyashiv’s son in law, Rav Ezriel Auerbach shlit”a (cited in Kuntress Sheilos U’Teshuvos Ketzaros B’Inyanei Issur V’Hetter pg. 20: 6), that even though m’ikar din one does not have to wait six hours for such cheeses, nevertheless, the minhag is still to wait.
Additionally, the Ben Ish Chai (Year 2: Parshas Shelach 15) over a hundred years ago, related that Minhag Yerushalayim is to be lenient with such “hard cheeses”. Moreover, as mentioned previously, the great Chazon Ish (cited in Orchos Rabbeinu vol. 3, pg. 77: 34 & Maaseh Ish vol. 5: pg. 22), final arbiter for much of Eretz Yisroel, ruled that nowadays, unless a cheese is aged for a full year, it is not considered “hard cheese”, and our “yellow cheeses” most definitely do not meet that criterion. In conclusion, although many in Eretz Yisrael are indeed stringent, the claim that the prevailing custom in Eretz Yisrael is to wait after “yellow cheese”, seems unsubstantiated. In fact, to quote mv"r Rav Yaakov Blau zt”l of the Bada”tz Eidah Charedis (to this author) on this topic, “to wait after yellow cheese is a chumrah bli ta’am”!
Quick Age?
One of the recent sevaros that some claim to be machmir is that nowadays, with modern day chemicals etc., cheese can be “aged as if 6 months” in a relatively short time, and therefore the common “yellow cheese” is considered as if it was already aged 6 months, and consequently is halachic hard cheese.
The only problem with this beautiful logic is that it turns out that it is not exactly true! Several years ago, this author visited Tnuva’s main cheese-making factory in Israel with three renowned kashrus and halachic experts, mv”r Rav Yonason Wiener, Rav Mordechai Kuber, and av”m Rav Manish Spitz. The Tnuva factory cheese specialists explained that this rationale does not hold water, and no additional chemicals or enzymes are used to “speed up” the basic cheese process, which is pretty much the same as it always was - sitting and ageing in a “saltwater bath” for varying periods of time.
This is echoed by renowned kashrus expert Rav Yisrael Halevi Belsky zt”l, who was also the chief Posek for the OU (Shu”t Shulchan HaLevi vol. 1, Ch. 22, 1, Appendix s.v. gam), who uses very sharp terms to disprove the claims of the machmirim based on this erroneous rationale.
The Tnuva expert also informed us that the “yellow cheese” average processing time is only 18 days! This was later confirmed to this author by Rav Yaakov Blau zt”l, who headed the Bada”tz Eidah Chareidis Hashgacha. He added that standard “yellow cheese” is not aged for more than 25 days; nowhere near the six month mark. So even if the standard “yellow cheese” continues to age in the fridge and store shelf, it still has a long way to go to reach six months. This is why Rav Blau zt”l called waiting after its consumption a “chumra bli ta’am”! A similar ruling is cited by Rav Yisrael Yaakov Fischer zt”l after he learned the actual ins and out of “yellow cheese” processing, that there is no requirement to wait 6 hours after its consumption.
A Cheesy Hetter
Pizza and other melted cheese favorites, actually have an additional consideration to be lenient, even if actual hard cheese is used. The Yad Yehuda (Yoreh Deah 89: Pirush Hakatzar 26) rules that if hard cheese is melted, then it no longer retains the status of hard cheese, and one is not required to wait after eating it. Although not unanimously accepted, (as the cheese’s taste remains unchanged even in its melted form), and there is some contemporary debate as to his exact intent, whether he was referring to cheese melted into or onto a food, nevertheless, several later authorities follow this ruling as well. They assert that one may definitely rely on this leniency regarding pizza since it is made with melted Mozzarella or “yellow cheese”.
In conclusion, although there are those who are stringent, on the other hand, there is strong basis for the generally accepted custom of not waiting six hours after grilled cheese and pizza. Yet, these days when it’s popular to use all types of exotic ingredients in gourmet cooking, it may be worthwhile to check your cheese packaging very carefully!
