by Eliezer Brodt
In this post I would like to deal with tracing
the early sources for the minhag of
eating milchigs on Shavuos. A version
of this article was printed last year in the Ami Magazine (# 119). This
post contains a few corrections and additions to that version. A much more
expanded version of this article will appear in Hebrew shortly (IY"H).
Eating the vast array of customary dairy
delicacies on Shavuos including, of course, cheesecake, is a minhag that very few people find very
difficult. But what is the source of this minhag?
This minhag goes back at least to the times of
the Rishonim, and varied explanations for it also do. [1]
That the minhag
of milchigs on Shavuos was observed
widely in recent history is very clear. For example, in an informative
nineteenth-century Lithuanian memoir, the author describes the milk-based Yom
Tov atmosphere:
“And at home there was
again roasting and baking namely, many butter cakes! On this Holiday you
especially ate all milk and butter dishes. The traditional cheese blintzes with
sour cream, a kind of flinsed, were essential… On the second day of Shavuos… a
happy mood prevailed; we drank fine aromatic coffee and ate butter cakes and blintshikes.”[2]
In Yeshivas Volozhin, after staying up the whole
night, the whole yeshiva would take
part in a milchig kiddush at the Netziv’s house.[3]
We find the same thing in the Lomza Yeshiva; they had a kiddush after davening
with cheesecakes and the like.[4]
The question is, where did this minhag of eating milchigs on Shavuos come from? The Rambam, Tur, and Shulchan Aruch
do not make any mention of it.
In this article, I will trace some of the
earliest known sources that we have for this minhag and discuss some of the reasons that are given. This is not
an attempt to cover all aspects of this rich minhag, I hope to return this in the future.[5]
One of the earliest mentions of this minhag can be found in a Pesach
drasha from the Rokeach (1165-1240), which was printed from a
manuscript for the first time just a few years ago.[6]
Another one of the earliest sources is found in
the very interesting work Malmed
Hatalmidim from Rav Yaakov Antoli. Rav Antoli was born around 1194 in
Provence, in southern France. He married the daughter of Rav Shmuel Ibn Tibon,
the famous translator of the Moreh
Nevuchim into Hebrew. The Malmed
Hatalmidim was only first printed in 1866, with the haskamos of many gedolim,
but the manuscript form had been used before that by many Rishonim, most notably the Avudraham.
Rav Antoli writes that the custom is to eat milk
and honey on Shavuos. He explains that this is because Torah is compared to
milk and honey. Since milk is a very important food, so too, the mitzvos of the Torah are food for the
soul, he says.[7]
Another early source for eating milchigs is found in the work Even
Bochen from Rav Kalonymos ben Kalonymos (1286-1328)[8],
where he describes milchig breads
made with honey and formed into the shape of a ladder. (We’ll return to the
ladder-shaped breads shortly).
Yet another early source can be found in the
works of Rav Aharon Hacohen Miluneil (died around 1330) in his early work Kol
Bo and in his later work Orchos Chaim. He writes, like the Malmed Hatalmidim, that on Shavuos
people have the custom to eat milk and honey because Torah is compared to milk
and honey. Women also bake challos with four heads, he says, as a zecher to the lechem hapanim. He says that others dip matzahs left over from Pesach into the spice known as zefrin
since it causes happiness.[9]
Rav Avigdor Hatzorfoti (died 1275) brings a remez
(hint) from the Torah for the minhag. The passuk about Shavuos
says, “Ubyom habikurim bihakriyvchem mincha chadasha lashem beshivuaschem.”
The beginning letters of the last three words spell out chalav, milk.[10]
This minhag is also found in the
following early sefarim: the minhagim of the Maharam Merutenberg
(written by a talmid of his)[11],
Terumas Hadeshen[12],
Maharil[13],
Rav Isaac Tirina (born around 1380)[14],Meshivas
Nefesh from Rabbi Yochanon Luria (1382)[15],
Rama[16],
Seder Hayom (printed in 1599)[17],
Yosef Ometz (1570-1637)[18],
and the Shelah Hakodesh (1570-1635).[19]
Aside from the reasons already mentioned, many
additional reasons for this minhag have been given over the years.
Recently, close to 150 reasons were collected by Rabbi Moshe Dinin in a small
work called Kuntres Matamei Moshe.
Here are a few reasons and some interesting
points related to them.
Rav Elyakyim Horowitz says that we eat milchigs
because Dovid Hamelech died on Shavuos. The halacha is that when a king
dies, all of the Jews have the status of an onen and are not permitted
to eat meat.[20] This same
reason can also be found in the work of Rabbi Shimon Falk.[21]
Rav Avrohom Hershovitz brings the Mishna at the
end of Avos, which says that one of the 48 ways the Torah is acquired is
through not indulging oneself. Since meat is considered an indulgence, we eat
milk products during the chag of Matan Torah as a reminder that this is
the way to acquire Torah.[22]
Rav Mordechai Leib Zaks points out that in the parsha
of Bikurim it says that Hashem gave us the land of milk and honey. Therefore he
suggests that the custom is to eat milchigs on the Yom Habikkurim
to give thanks to Hashem for giving us the land of milk and honey and as a
reminder of the mitzvah of bikkurim, which only included the
fruits of Eretz Yisrael, the land of milk and honey.[23]
Rabbi Yeshuyah Singer in Zichron B’sefer
(printed in 1900) writes an interesting reason which he had heard. The Torah
was given on Shabbos. The meat they had prepared before learning the halachos
of shechita was assur to eat. It is not permitted to shecht
on Shabbos. Therefore Bnei Yisrael had to eat milchigs, as they could
not eat the food that they had prepared beforehand.[24]
The Mishna Berurah mentions a similar
reason that he heard in the name of “gadol echad.” Immediately after
Bnei Yisrael accepted the Torah, they were unable to eat anything but milchigs.
The reason for that is because the preparation of kosher meat is very involved.
A kosher knife and kosher utensils are necessary. Since this takes a long time,
they just cooked milchigs.[25]
Who is the “gadol echad” mentioned here? Rabbi Nachum Greenwald located
this idea in the work Toldos Yitzchak, first printed in 1868. This idea
is mentioned in the name of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak from Berditchev. It is
interesting that the Chofetz Chaim did not say the name of the person he heard
this idea from.[26] A similar
idea can be found in the work Geulas Yisroel first printed in 1821.
Rabbi Kapach says that the Jews in Yemen
expressed wonder at those who ate just milchigs on Shavuos. They did not
like the reason given (as we mentioned before) that the meat slaughtered prior
to Matan Torah would be neveilah afterwards, because they argued
that only the Erev Rav were unable to shecht before Matan
Torah. The rest of the Jews, they claimed, were shechting before Matan
Torah, just as we know that the Gemara says that Avraham Avinu kept all the
mitzvos of the Torah before they were given.[27]
However this statement is not so simple, because even if they were shechting
and doing mitzvos before it is heavily debated what that would be
considered, since their status as Jews may have changed during Matan Torah.
According to many it would follow that after Matan Torah they would need
to kasher the utensils and shecht new animals.[28]
Rav Yissachar Teichtal deals with a related
issue. He asks that since the Torah was given on Shabbos and they couldn’t shecht
and their prior shechita was not kosher, how did they fulfill the
obligation of eating meat on Shabbos?[29]
Rav Teichtal first mentions the answer of the Zichron Basefer quoted
above, which is that they didn’t eat meat that Shabbos. However, Rav Teichtel
disagrees. He has an interesting answer to explain how they did indeed have
meat on this Shabbos. Basing himself on various sources, he says that they had
meat created through the Sefer Yetzirah. The Gemara relates that there
were those who were able to create an animal via the Sefer Yetzirah; Rav
Teichtal says that that was done here.[30]
The Toldos Yitzchak, quoted above, from
Reb Levi Yitzchak Berditichever, gives another answer. There is a concept in
halacha called Hoiel v’ishtrei ishtrei, which means that if something
was permitted at one time, it remains muttar. It follows that they were
permitted to eat anything they had prepared beforehand and did not have to
throw out their dishes. Then he says that even though it was permitted, the Yidden
were stringent and didn’t eat the meat. Since they were accepting the Torah
that day, they wanted to be machmir.
A similar idea is found when Moshe Rabbeinu, as
a baby, didn’t nurse from a non-Jew even though it was permissible. It appears
that this idea is based on a concept found in numerous sources, called chinuch
shanei. It means that the first time we do something, we do it in the best
way possible, even if other ways are permitted. Moshe Rabbeinu could have been
nursed from a non-Jew, but since he was the one who was going to get the Torah,
he was kept from doing it. So too, here, the Yidden were machmir
by not eating what was entirely permissible.[31]
Speaking of Moshe Rabbeinu, an original reason
for this minhag is given by Rabbi Yitzchak Weiss, who says that Moshe
Rabbeinu was found by the daughter of Pharaoh on Shavuos. Since they tried to
give him milk from a non-Jew and he refused, we eat dairy to remind us of that.[32]
Cheesecake on the clock
Rav Dunner, in a recent article on the topic,
lists many gedolim who ate the milchig seudah at night, including
the Chazon Ish, Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Yechezkel Abramsky, and others.[33] It
is questionable whether or not there is an obligation to eat meat at night on
Yom Tov.[34]
In other sources, we see the opposite. There were people who specifically ate milchigs
during the day—for example, the Volozhin and Lomza yeshivas, which I mentioned
earlier, where there was a kiddush with cheesecake after davening.[35]
This is also what the Darchei Teshuvah suggests one should do to avoid
many different halachic issues.[36]
There is much discussion in the poskim
whether it is permitted to eat milchigs first during the day, and then
wait and eat meat. There’s also discussion about how long to wait. Some wait an
hour before eating meat. Other poskim deal with the question of whether
there is an obligation to bentch after the milchig kiddush.[37]
For example, the Knesses Hagedolah (1603-1673) writes that he ate milchigs and honey, then he benched,
and after he waited an hour, he ate fleishigs.[38]
However it's pretty clear that the Magen
Avrohom argues when he writes:
ועבי"ד סי' פ"ט דא"צ להפסיק בב"ה [בברכת המזון]
אם אינו אוכל גבינה קשה (סי' תצד:ו).[39]
What’s interesting is that certain mekubalim
did not eat milk the same day they ate meat products. Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas, author
of the Reishes Chochma (d. 1579), in his work Tosos Chaim writes
that one should wait 24 hours(!) after eating meat before eating milk.
According to this, it wouldn’t be possible to eat milk after meat on Shavuos![40]
The Yosef Ometz quotes the Shelah,
who says that he would wait 24 hours after meat to eat milk.[41]
But later on (in siman 854), he says that people were lenient about this
on Shavuos.
Interestingly enough, the Tzror Hamor
even says that one should not eat meat within 24 hours of eating milk, and vice
versa.
לפי קבלת
קדמונינו בא לאסור בשר בחלב. ואמר לא תבשל. ולא אמר לא תאכל. לרמוז לנו כפי חכמי האמת
כי אסור לאכול בשר ואחר כך חלב. וכן אסור לאכול חלב ואחר כך בשר. ואעפ"י שנתנו
חכמים שיעורים בזה. כבר כתב רשב"י ז"ל כי כמו שאסור חלב אחר בשר. כך אסור
לאכול בשר אחר חלב. ודינם שוה לענין השיעור שהוא עד שיתעכל המזון שבמיעיו. שהם כמו
שש שעות שהוא זמן מסעודה לסעודה. כי הבישול האמור כאן על בישול האצטומכא הוא. בענין
שלא יתבשלו הבשר והחלב באצטומכא בזמן אחד. ולפי שיש אצטומכא מאחרת העיכול. ליראי
ה' ולחושבי שמו אין לאכול גבינה ובשר ביום אחד. וכל שכן בשר וגבינה. וכן נוהגים
המדקדקים במצות ואנשי מעשה. והטעם בזה לפי שאין ראוי לערב הכוחות אלו באלו. כח
הדין בכח הרחמים. וכח הרחמים בכח הדין. כי הבשר הוא מדת הדין בסוד קץ כל בשר. כי מנפש
ועד בשר יכלה הצר. והחלב הוא סוד הרחמים הגמורים המלבינים עונותיהם של ישראל. כאומרו
כשלג ילבינו. והחטא הוא אדום בסוד הלעיטני נא מן האדום האדום הזה. ולכן יש להפרידם
זה מזה כל אחד על כנו. ואת כל עורב למינו (צרור המור, משפטים, כג:יט).
According to this there would be appear to be no
way to eat both milk and meat on Shavuos.
The Toras Chaim is also very concerned
with this issue of eating meat after milk; he says not to eat milchigs
on Shavuos.[42]
However, other rabbanim were to the other
extreme. The Rokeach writes that his great uncle used to eat cheese,
then wash his mouth out and immediately eat meat.[43]
There is also a talmid of the Terumas Hadeshen who writes in his work Leket
Yosher that his rebbi did the same[44].
From honey to milk
It would appear that this minhag of
eating milchigs ties in with another minhag of Shavuos and
perhaps is derived from there.[45]
When the talmid of the Maharam Merutenberg brings among the minhagim of the Maharam
the minhag to eat milchigs on Shavuos, he brings it right after
he brings another minhag: “Special cakes with pesukim on them are
made for children as they begin to learn on Shavuos these are made to help them
have an open heart [for learning].”
There are numerous sources in Rishonim
(such as Rokeach and Machzor Vitri) that on Shavuos when a boy begins to
learn an elaborate ceremony is performed in which they eat from specially
prepared cakes and dip their fingers in honey while saying certain pesukim.[46]
This is done to help the boy’s mind open up and is a special segulah to
help him remember what he learns. (Some sources do not mention that this was
done on Shavuos; most do.)
This ceremony was done on Shavuos because it is
the day we received the Torah. Interestingly, we find sources for a few hundred
years in the Rishonim that this minhag continued, at least in
German circles. But it appears to have eventually been forgotten. The Shach
cites the Rokeach as having mentioned the minhag but says that now it is not
done.[47]
Rabbi Dovid Ginsburg writes that he only found out about this minhag
later on in life and had he known about it earlier he would have definitely
done it for his children.[48]
Rav Yaakov Emden writes that the reason that in earlier times the children
excelled in their Jewish education as opposed to in his times was due to that
they stopped doing this ceremony quoted in the Rishonim![48]
Recently this minhag has been revived as part of the upsherin
ceremony.
Be that as it may, it is possible that this minhag
of eating honey and sweets on Shavuos actually led to the minhag of
eating of milchigs, because honey has always been associated with milchigs.
As mentioned earlier, some made special milchig
breads in the shapes of ladders. In the work Even Bochen from Rav
Kalonymos ben Kalonymos we find an explanation, that the gematria of sulam
(ladder) is Sinai. The Yosef Ometz and others bring different reasons
connecting a ladder and Shavuos. [49]
Professor Daniel Sperber suggested that the
reason why the bread is shaped in the form of a ladder is that it ties in to
the ceremonies for children who begin learning. To get the children to ask what
is going on we make the breads in an interesting shape, similar to our methods
of getting them to ask at the Pesach seder.[50]
[1] There are many
collections of material on this issue see for example Rabbi Pinchas Schwartz, Minchas
Chadasah, pp. 38-44; Rabbi S. Deblitski, Kuntres Hamoyadim, pp.
37-40; Kovet Eitz Chaim (Bobov) 6 (2008) pp. 239-242; an excellent
collection of material in Pardes Eliezer, pp. 227-316; Rabbi Freund, Moadyim Lisimcha
6, pp. 490-505 ; Rabbi Yitzchack Tessler, Pininei
Minhag, pp. 292-319; Rabbi Oberlander, Kovetz Or Yisroel, 32:104-120
and later updated in his Minhag Avosenu Beyadneu. See also Yehudah
Avidah in his work on Yiddish foods, Yiddishe Macholim, pp. 43-44; M.
Kosover, Yiddishe Macholim, p. 75, 77, 98.
[2] Pauline Wengeroff, Memoirs of a
Grandmother, 2010, p.150.
[3] Reshumot 1, p. 340.
[4] See Pirkei Zichronos, (2004) p.
359
[5] I hope to return to many other aspects
of the minhag in the near future.
[6] Drasha Lepesach, ed. Simcha
Emanuel (2006), p. 39, 110. See the important comment on this from my friend M.
M. Honig in Pininei Minhag, p. 292.
[7] Malmed Hatalmdim, p. 121b. I hope
to return to this work in a future article; for now see my article in Yeshurun,
24 (2011), p. 457.
[8] Even Bochen, p. 34. Mahratz
Chiyos in his Kol Sifrei (p. 236) quotes this as an early source for
eating milchigs. Both Matai Moshe (siman 692) and Mekor Chaim
quote this work when talking about eating milchigs on Shavuos. On Rav
Kalonymus ben Kalonymus much has been written already see: Y. Zinberg, Toldos
Safrus Yisroel, vol. 1, pp. 411-427; Uberto Cassuto in the intro of the
facsimile edition of Mesechtas Purim printed by A. Haberman in 1978; A.
Haberman, Toldos Hapiyut Ve-hashira, vol. 2, pp. 142-149; A. Haberman Iyunim
Bshira Ubpyuit, pg 162-179; C. Shirman, Toldos Ha-shira Haivirit
Be-sefard, pp. 514-541.
[9 Orchos Chaim, p. 78a, Kol Bo,
siman 52. Most are not aware that this work was authored by the same person.
There were actually those that thought the Kol Bo was authored by a
woman; see my Bein Kesseh L’essur (2010) p. 143.
[10] See Rav Avigdor Hatzorfoti, p. 478 See
his Pirush Rav Avigdor Cohen Tzedek printed in the Toras Chaim edition of Megillas
Rus, 2011, p. 53. On Rav Avigdor Hatzorfoti see Simcha Emanuel, Shivrei
Luchos, pp. 173-181; E. Kanarfogel, Peering through the Lattices,
pp. 107-109.
[11] Minhaghim of Maharham, p. 30.
[12] Leket Yosher, p. 103
[13] Minhaghim p. 85
[14] Sefer Minhaghim, Reb Isaac Tirina
(2000) p. 67-68. To be more exact this minhag is in the section which is
called Hagahos haminhagim. It is unclear exactly who the author is of
that section but it assumed to have been written rather early on. On all of
this, see S. Spitzer in his introduction to this edition pp. 17-18.
[15] Meshivas Nefesh, p. 185. On the
dating of this work see Rabbi Yakov Stahl, Deutsche 84, (2010) p. 6.
[16] See Igros Moshe OC 1:160. On this
topic see this excellent article by my friend Rabbi Yehudah Spitz here.
[17] Seder Hayom Shavuos p.78
[18] Siman 854
[19] Shelah, Mesechtas Shavuos, p.
30a.
[20] Zichron Yerushlayim, p. 153. In Reshumot
1, p. 350 we find that some made a special seudah because of this and finished
Sefer Tehillim.
[21] Shut Shem Mishomon, OC, 2:4,
p.15.
[22] R. Avraham Eliezer Hershkowitz, Otzar
Kol Minhaghei Yeshrun (St. Louis, 1918),p. 201
[23]Zemanim, (1951) p. 53 See also his Mili Demordechai, p. 125.
For another connection between bikkurim and eating milchigs see
Rabbi Shlomo Schick, Seder Minhaghim 1 (1880)pp. 83b-84a.
[24] Zichron Besefer, p. 122. See Emes
Leyakov (Shulchan Aruch) p. 215 where Rav Yaakov suggests this
reason himself and adds some points.
[25] Mishna Berurah 494:12. See also
Rav Tzvi Farber, Sefer Moadyim, p. 26 (and see there for some other
reasons). See also Rabbi Aron Misnik, Minchas Ahron, pp. 102-106; Pardes
Eliezer, pp. 279-282.
[26] The Chofetz Chaim did not have a problem
quoting chassidic sources; he quotes the Shulchan Aruch Harav
numerous times. On the Chofetz Chaim and chassidus see what I wrote in
the article “Censorship in the Sefer Chofetz Chaim,” here.
[27] Halichos Teiman, p. 31. See also Keser
Shem Tov, 4 p. 16 who has a similar issue.
[28] The status of the Yidden before Matan
Torah and the mitzvos performed then has been discussed in numerous
works I hope to return to this topic at a later date. See also Rabbi Oberlander
(above, note 1) p. 632- 633.
[29] Shut Mishnat Sachir, siman 136.
[30] Much has been written on how one creates
something based on the Sefer Yetzirah and if one can use what has been created
through such a method for a mitzvah or the like. I hope to return to
this topic at a future date.
[31] A subject I hope to return to in the
future.
[32] Elef Kesav, 1, p. 64.
[33] Kovet Eitz Chaim (Bobov) 6 (2008)
p. 240
[34] See Eitz Chaim
Ibid. See Darchei Tesuvah, 89:19.
[35] See Pirkei Zicronos, (2004) p.
359.
[36] Darchei Tesuvah, 89:19.
[37] See Darchei Tesuvah, 89:14; Dershot
Mishnat Sachir, 2, pp. 347-348.
[38] Shiurei Kness hagedolah, 494. See
Shut Sich Yitzchack, 234. On this topic see this excellent article by my
friend Rabbi Yehudah Spitz here.
[39] I will deal with this Magen Avrhom
at great length in the near future B"n.
[40] See Tosas Chaim, 2008 p. 79. In the back of this edition there is a lengthy Peirush
Ir Hachaim, pp. 245- 249 and for in-depth discussion of this topic see the Pardes
Eliezer pp. 233- 238. I will deal with this at greater length in the near
future B"n.
[41] See Yosef Ometz, siman
137.
[42] Toras Chaim, Chullin 83a. However
it is worth pointing out that the Toras Chaim in Bava Metzia 86b, says
that the reason for eating milchigs on Shavuos is to show the malachim
that we are careful about basar b’cholov and that when we eat milk we
are careful to do everything halacha says to do before we eat meat.
[43] See Drasha of the Rokeach, p. 39
[44] Leket Yosher, p. 103
[45] This idea was suggested by my friend
M.M. Honig. Rabbi Oberlander (above, note 1) also suggests this point. D.
Sperber in his Minhagei Yisroel 3, p. 139 also connects the two.
[46] See my article on this in Yerushacheinu,
5 (2011) pp. 337-360 especially pp. 344-347.
[47] Shach, 245:8.
[48] See my article in Yerushacheinu
(ibid), p. 347 note 65.
[49] Migdol Oz, p. 32.
[50] Others have different shapes and
reasons; see Rav Yehoshua Falk, Choshevi Machsvos p. 152. See also M.
Gidman , Hatorah Vehachaim 3, 108; H. Pollack, Jewish Folkways in
Germanic Lands (1648-1806), p. 102, 277
[51] Minhagei Yisroel 3, p. 139.
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