Although I am taking a long break from ideological battles, this brief monograph is a response

to an halachic issue:
In a new responsum entitled Meat After Parmesan On Pizza, Rabbi Ysoscher Katz, Chair of the
Department of Talmud at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Director of YCTs Lindenbaum Center for
Halakhic Studies, poses this question:
A group of friends were wondering about waiting time (for Kashrut reasons) between dairy and
meat. Specifically, now that many pizzerias use cheese blends that include parmesan with the
mozzarella on their pizza, would that obligate folks to wait their respective minhag times after
having a slice of pizza before having meat-based food?
Rabbi Katz answers:
Yes, one should ideally ( )wait their respective wait time for hard cheese after eating a
Parmesan sprinkled pizza. But, if it is too much of an imposition (), one is allowed to eat
meat after waiting no longer than they usually wait for non-hard dairy foods.
Rabbi Katz proceeds to present technical data and halachic discussion yet it will be evident
from the material below that the responsum is largely predicated on misinformation, both
technical and halachic.
We will go through Rabbi Katz responsum section by section:
Rabbi Katz writes: The Rema (YD 89:2) says that we should be machmir and wait before
eating meat after eating hard cheese the same amount of time we wait for eating dairy after
we ate meat. There is, however, an extensive debate among the poskim about which cheeses
fall under that category. Some consider Parmesan a hard cheese, others believe it only applies
to hard Swiss cheeses, pungent, aged, and with holes. (See the nosei keilim, Darkhai Respnsum
and others on YD siman 89.)
Correction: No poskim who accept that one must wait after aged cheese write that Parmesan
may not be a hard cheese. Parmesan must be aged minimally for 10 months (v. 21CFR133.165)
and may be aged up to 24 months or longer. The threshold for aged cheese as stated in poskim
is (approximately) six months (v., e.g., Shach on YD 89 s.k.15). All poskim who require waiting
after aged cheese concur that 10-month cheese is halachically considered to be aged (e.g.
Shach ibid., Chochmas Adam 40:13, Aruch Ha-Shulchan 89:11, etc.).
Rabbi Katz writes: Even if we were to categorize Parmesan as hard cheese, for our purposes
there is also the lenient opinion of the Yad Yehudah (YY) quoted by the poskim. (See for example
Darkhai Teshuva YD 89:40 and many others). The YY (YD short commentary 89:30) says that
the stringency of waiting longer for hard cheese does not apply when the cheese was melted.
Cheese on a slice of heated pizza is melted and soft, making the Remas chumra of waiting extra
time after eating hard cheese inapplicable in our case, according to the YY.

The Badai HaShulchan (YD 89:2) argues that the leniency of the YY depends on the reasons why
we have to wait when switching from meat to milk. According to the Rambam (Machalot Asurot
9:28), we have to wait because we are concerned that some of the residue remains stuck in the
eaters gums or teeth. If we wait long enough, that food decays and no longer has the status of
halakhic food. Rashi (Chulin 105A) thinks that the reason we wait is because heavy foods take
time to digest, and until they are fully digested, they are still present and come up in your
mouth. Eating the opposite food than the one you ate would, therefore, be considered
medrabanan as a form of mixing milk and meat. Melted cheese, the Badai Hashulchan explains
does not get stuck in the gums or teeth and therefore obviates the concerns of Rambam, but the
taste, he claims, remains in the digestive system for a while even if it was melted, keeping
Rashis concern intact. The Badai Hashulchan, as a result, believes that according to Rashi one
would have to wait extra time even when eating melted hard cheese.
I do not agree. The reason hard cheese takes longer to digest, according to Rashi, is because of
its hard texture. If the food is softened, it will obviously digest faster. Therefore, based on the YY,
one would not have to wait additional time when eating a pizza that has melted cheese on top,
even according to Rashi.
Corrections: (1) Rashi does not write that one must wait after heavy foods because they take
time to digest and come up in the mouth until digested. Rather, Rashi writes (Chulin 105 A d.h.
assur leechol gevina): (One must wait after meat) because meat exudes fat(ty residue) that
adheres to the palate and causes a lingering (meaty) taste (in the mouth). This is referred to as
meshichas taam (lingering taste) by people who study Yoreh Deah, and this is how the Badei
Ha-Shulchan quotes Rashi. (2) Rabbi Katz writes that he does not agree with the Badei HaShulchans assertion that, according to Rashi, one may have to wait after eating aged cheese
that has melted, because, according to Rabbi Katz, the reason hard cheese takes longer to
digest, according to Rashi, is because of its hard texture. If the food is softened, it will obviously
digest faster. Therefore, based on the YY, one would not have to wait additional time when
eating a pizza that has melted cheese on top, even according to Rashi. Rabbi Katz rejection of
the opinion of the Badei Ha-Shulchan is based on Rabbi Katz erroneous reading of Rashi; Rashi
cites meshichas taam and not hardness as the reason for waiting after meat - it has nothing
to do with hardness. Thus, Rabbi Katz critique of the Badei ha-Shulchan falls away.
Rabbi Katz writes: Yes, one should ideally ( )wait their respective wait time for hard
cheese after eating a Parmesan sprinkled pizza. But, if it is too much of an imposition (),
one is allowed to eat meat after waiting no longer than they usually wait for non-hard dairy
foods.
Correction: In Halacha, reliance on a bdieved opinion is limited (when such reliance is
warranted) to cases of after-the-fact situations or great need, such as actual physical or
financial hardship, or dire logistical hindrances. However, to rule for the general population that
one may outright rely on a bdieved opinion due to a persons culinary desires or preferences is
ill-founded.