Question:
BH
Thank you so much for your help.
My question deals with going to a meat restaurant after having dairy. If a few hours has passed since the dairy meal, and the person brushed their teeth in the interim, is there any issue of “contaminating” the meat restaurant silverware with “dairy” when using the forks and cups etc…I am a bit confused regarding this and any clarification is appreciated.
Thanks again.
Answer:
The rules regarding waiting between meat and milk are that we wait 6 hours after eating meat, chicken etc. After eating milk or soft cheeses however we don’t have to wait at all, and washing our mouth out and eating something in between them is sufficient. Some have the custom to also wash their hands, between milk and meat. If however one ate a hard cheese, (cheeses that are aged for six months or more, such a parmesan or Swiss cheese) then we also wait six hours afterwards before eating meat. The reason is because meat and hard cheese have a strong taste, which stays in the palate and throat, and because they can get stuck between ones teeth. The issue is not contaminating the restaurant with the meat, but that it should not mix together inside of us.
Therefore if the milk that you ate was not a hard, aged cheese, you are fine. It goes without saying that if your hands are indeed greasy from the milk (which I doubt is the case a few hours after eating the milk) then you should wash your hands as not to get milky grease on to the cutlery of the restaurant.
Best wishes
Sources:
Shulchan Aruch Y:D 89.
