Chapter 3. Dairy Foods on the Festival of Shavuot

When
26. It is customary to eat dairy foods on the festival of Shavuot. There are various customs, and the common custom is to eat a meal with dairy foods immediately after the morning prayer, then make a break, and afterward establish a meat meal. Some have the custom to eat a dairy meal at night without eating meat at all; each person should follow the custom of his forefathers.
However, it appears that one who has no fixed custom in this matter should preferably eat meat at the night meal as well, because there is a mitzvah of rejoicing on Yom Tov even at night, [1] as will be explained [and he should eat the dairy foods in the morning as written above, or eat them at the beginning of the night and make the proper break according to halachah, with cleansing and rinsing]. [2]
Now, in the Gemara in Pesachim [3] it is explained that the first night was excluded from the obligation of rejoicing. Seemingly, this indicates that there is no obligation to eat meat at the night meal. However, it appears necessary to say that although there is no “obligation” to bring a peace-offering of rejoicing at night, nevertheless there is an obligation of rejoicing even at night; the entire exclusion from rejoicing applies only to the “offering” [and to eating meat in general], but not to the essential obligation of rejoicing on Yom Tov.
Indeed, the Shaagat Aryeh [4] and the Magen Avraham [5] disagree as to whether the mitzvah of eating meat on the night of Yom Tov is from the Torah or rabbinic. The view of the Shaagat Aryeh is that there is no Torah obligation to eat meat at night, only a rabbinic one, whereas the view of the Magen Avraham is that it is a Torah obligation [see Shaarei Teshuvah [6], who cites their dispute].
The Shaagat Aryeh brings proof that there is a rabbinic obligation of rejoicing even at night from what is stated in the Gemara [7] regarding one who drinks the four cups all at once: “Rav said: He has fulfilled the obligation of wine; he has not fulfilled the obligation of freedom.” The Rashbam [8] and Tosafot [9] explain that “he has fulfilled the obligation of wine” means the obligation of rejoicing on Yom Tov, and from this it is clear that there is an obligation of rejoicing even on the night of Yom Tov. It necessarily follows that although the night of Yom Tov was excluded from the Torah obligation of rejoicing, it was nevertheless not excluded from the rabbinic obligation of rejoicing.
However, the Minchat Baruch [10] and the Avnei Nezer [11] rejected his words, arguing that it is possible that the night of Yom Tov was excluded from the obligation of rejoicing through eating the meat of peace-offerings, while there is still no exclusion from the obligation to rejoice with clean clothing and aged wine, which is a Torah obligation.
It emerges from all this that the Magen Avraham and the Shaagat Aryeh disagree as to whether there is an obligation to eat meat and drink wine on the first night from the Torah or rabbinically. In Shaar HaTziyun [12] he cites the Chemed Moshe, whose view is like that of the Shaagat Aryeh, and it appears that this is what he accepts as primary: that it is a rabbinic obligation and not a Torah obligation. See also his words in Biur Halachah [13], that although nowadays there is no Torah obligation to eat meat on Yom Tov, there is still a mitzvah in doing so because of rejoicing on Yom Tov.
For all these reasons, there is room to question the custom of not eating meat on the night of Shavuot. [14]

The Blessing on Cheesecake
27. Regarding the law of the blessing on cheesecake, one must distinguish between several different ways in which the cake is baked.
[a]. When the dough is baked together with the cheese: if the dough has a good taste, whether the dough is thick or thin, one recites only “mezonot,” because the cheese is secondary to the dough, which has a good taste of its own. [15]
[b]. When the cheese was not baked together with the dough: if there is a small amount of cheese on the dough, it is nullified to the dough and one recites “mezonot”; if there is a large amount of cheese, one must recite both “mezonot” and “shehakol.” [16]
[c]. When the dough on the bottom is thin, has no good taste, and is made only to hold the cheese: one recites “shehakol.” [17]
[d]. A cake prepared together with mezonot-type foods without baking, such as the common case of no-bake cakes made with a layer of biscuits at the bottom of the cake, cheese on top of it, and then another layer of biscuits, which are placed in the refrigerator or freezer for several hours — this is considered one cake [as if it had been made through baking], and one recites only “mezonot.”
[e]. Regarding the after-blessing: one must be careful to eat a kezayit of the grain within the time of kedei achilat pras. If it does not contain a kezayit of grain within kedei achilat pras, the small amount of grain combines with the larger amount of cheese to make a kezayit within kedei achilat pras for the purpose of reciting the blessing of Borei Nefashot.

During the Meal
28. One who eats cheesecake whose blessing is “mezonot” during his meal does not need to recite a blessing. One who wishes to be meticulous may recite a blessing on kabukim, kariot, or Bisli and thereby exempt the cake. [18]

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[1] See Darkei Teshuvah (Yoreh Deah 89:19), who challenged the custom practiced in the communities of Hungary to eat only dairy foods at the night meal, since by doing so they neglect the mitzvah of rejoicing on Yom Tov.
[2] See Beit Yosef (section 173), who cites from the holy Zohar (Parashat Mishpatim 125a) that whoever eats meat and dairy foods in one meal or within one hour causes judgments to be aroused in the world.
[3] 71a.
[4] End of section 65 and section 66.
[5] Section 546 (subsection 4).
[6] Section 529 (subsection 4*).
[7] There, 108b.
[8] s.v. yedei.
[9] s.v. yedei.
[10] Section 78.
[11] Orach Chaim (section 423).
[12] Section 546 (subsection 15).
[13] Section 529 (paragraph 2, s.v. keitzad).
[14] See Responsa Siach Yitzchak (section 234), who wrote to justify this custom, explaining that before the receiving of the Torah it is not fitting to eat meat. He cites there from the words of the Chatam Sofer that for this reason, if one ate the Purim meal at night, he did not fulfill his obligation. In Magen Avraham (section 695, subsection 6), he cites from Kol Bo that some have the custom not to eat meat on the night of Purim, and he explains there that the reason is that one should not eat meat before we received the Torah. However, this reason does not resolve the halachic concern involved.
[15] Shulchan Aruch (section 208, paragraphs 2–3) and Mishnah Berurah (subsections 7, 9).
[16] Mishnah Berurah (section 168, subsection 45, and section 212, subsection 13).
[17] Shulchan Aruch (section 208, paragraph 3).
[18] See Biur Halachah (section 168, s.v. te’unim).