אכילת מאכלים חלביים בשבועות

1

We are נוהג in every place to eat dairy on the first day of [1] שבועות. 

There are many reasons for this מנהג of eating dairy on שבועות [2]. In this article, we will attempt to deal with each one individually and their ramifications.

The רמא [1] suggested a reason to the effect that the dairy and meat that we eat in the same סעודה on שבועות is like the two cooked foods that we use on ליל פסח, one in memory of the קרבן פסח and another in memory of the קרבן חגיגה. Similarly, we eat dairy followed by meat in the same סעודה; as such, we need to use two separate חלות for each קרבן on the table which is in place of the מזבח. By doing so, we thereby remember the שתי הלחם that was brought on יום הביכורים. (In other words, just like on פסח we memorialize the קרבנות that were brought on פסח – so too on שבועות we memorialize the קרבנות that were brought on שבועות [3].)

According to the above reasons, one should specifically eat dairy followed by meat in one סעודת יו"ט.

2

The כל בו [4] relates that there is a מנהג to eat honey and dairy on שבועות on account of the תורה having been likened to the same in the פסוק which says דבש וחלב תחת לשונך [5].

According to this מנהג, there is no specific requirement to eat dairy in the context of סעודת יו"ט per se; rather, in general at some point on שבועות a person should eat dairy.

3

The חפץ חיים [6] heard further from a certain גדול who said a correct reason for this מנהג:

Where בני ישראל received the תורה at הר סיני following which they went home – they then discovered nothing to eat right away, because, after all, kosher meat requires much preparation (to shecht with a checked knife as Hashem commanded, to be מנקר the strands of חלב and blood and to rinse and salt and then finally cook the meat in new כלים since whatever כלים they had used in the last 24 hours then became אסור to them). To that end, for the moment, they chose to instead eat dairy; and we make a remembrance of this fact.

According to the above calculation, one should eat dairy corresponding to the time that would have immediately followed קבלת התורה. Perhaps one could argue that this means whatever one eats immediately following their all-night learning (which I hope to write about at a future opportunity) should be dairy. On the other hand, this חשבון does not account for the amount of time that קבלת התורה itself took up, which is not specifically specified anywhere (to my knowledge). In large part one can only speculate how long the עשרת הדברות and their accompanying events took and schedule their dairy for then. (As an aside, this reason for eating dairy on שבועות does not specify one way or the other whether said dairy should be eaten in the context of סעודת יו"ט or not. The point here is the timing more than the context.)

Additionally, שנות חיים [7] points out that according to this reason there is no specific הכרח to eat dairy and then meat in the same סעודה; in fact, perhaps אדרבה one should eat a completely dairy meal, as following מתן תורה this is exactly what בני ישראל did, considering the aforementioned factors.

[1] רמא או"ח תצה:ד

ועיין באגרות משה (או"ח חלק א סימן קס) שהעדיף שלא לקיים את מנהג זה אליבא דרמא שהרי יש מקום להחמיר דוקא לברך ברכת המזון בין חלב לבשר

כל בו (which we will cite shortly) brings another מנהג to remember שתי הלחם, namely that of baking long four-headed bread. The connection between one and the other is not clear to this author.

[2] באר היטב שם ס"ק ח

[3] כף החיים שם אות סג

[4] סימן נב

[5] שיר השירים ד:יא

In this פסוק the lover (Hashem) compliments his beloved (כלל ישראל) that honey and milk (תורה and מצוות) are under her tongue. (In other words, that כלל ישראל is constantly busy with מעשים טובים as an expression of love for הקב"ה.) – ע"פ נחל אשכול שם

[6] מ"ב שם ס"ק יב

 שבועות סימן כד הע' ט[7]