Why are Jews Forbidden to Eat Meat and Milk Together? the Function of Eating Restrictions in Human Societies

Abstract

The prohibition against eating meat and milk together is among the most widely known legal requirements in Judaism. This prohibition is not mentioned explicitly in the Bible (the Biblical commandment not to boil a kid in its mother’s milk does not necessarily imply its post-Biblical interpretation), and it apparently was not known even at the end of the Second Temple period. However, in the first centuries of the common era it was firmly established, and to this day it is a practice that distinguishes religiously observant Jews from the non-observant. Over the course of Jewish history, the prohibition against eating meat and milk together was at the centre of many lively discussions. The sages sought to justify and explain the prohibition in a variety of ways, and the considerations they raised show the complexity that arises from the encounter of daily eating practices with the dictates of faith. In this paper, we will examine the different explanations proposed, and we will propose a new solution to the question of the explanation for this restriction, along with other dietary restrictions recognized in world religions.