Mixing Meat and Milk

Because of the scripture "you shall not boil a kid in its mothers milk" the Hasidim won't eat meat and dairy together but Abraham served butter and milk with the calf he offered to the three men. I take that Scripture to mean that that which was meant to nurture the kid from it's own mother should not be used to cook it. If not why the distinction of its mother's milk? Would it not say any milk?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

Indeed, one of the mot important laws in the word of “Kashruth” (Keeping Kosher) is not to mix meat and milk (it is not just Hasidim...it is observed by all religious Jews). As the verse says, “You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk." This commandment appears in the Torah three times (Exodus (23:19 , 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21), making it the most cited Kosher related law.

The Talmud (Chullin 113b) explains that "kid," (a goat), and “it’s mother’s milk,” are only cited as examples as to what was common in ancient times, but the ban applies to all kosher animals and all forms of kosher milk. So too, the reason it is repeated three times is to teach us that there are three independent prohibitions in the ban on mixing meat and milk: a ban on eating milk and meat, a ban on cooking milk and meat, and a ban on deriving any benefit from a milk and meat mixture.

Regarding your question, on how Avraham was able to feed his guests both milk and meat in the same meal, it is indeed a famous question. Among the answers that are given is that the event took place before the Torah was given. The laws of the Torah, for the most part, only commenced when the Torah was given at Mount Sinai many hundreds of years later.

Another answer given, was that the milk was served first and only later the meat. Such an arrangement is theoretically possible (within Halachik guidelines) to have even today.

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