Question
I have been told by a friend of mine that this prohibition derives from the following.
Exodus 23:19
"...;you shall not cook a kid in the milk of it’s mother."
Exodus 34:26
"Do not cook a kid in it’s mother’s milk"
Deuteronomy 14:21
"...;you shall not cook a kid in it’s mother’s milk"
English translations are from the Stone edition of the Chumash published by Mesorah Publications Ltd.
This language strikes me as very specific. I don’t understand how a broad prohibition against eating meat with dairy is derived from this. I have a great deal to learn. Could you please explain this to me?
Answer
The torah is like a sealed book if you read it without the oral interpretation (how would you know what "Tefillin" are if not for the oral tradition?).
These three verses are the source for the prohibition of mixing milk and meat because our rabbis teach us so, and they learned it from their rabbis back from Moshe Rabeinu who learned it directly from G-d himself at Mount Sinai. So you are right that if not for the oral teachings the meaning might be literal – but we know it isn’t.
You can learn more from the classical commentators on the Chumash on these verses.
Kol Tuv
