Hello, I grew up barely reform Jewish with very little information about Judaism and I am now taking the steps to learning more about judaism and becoming more observant. I am wondering why we can’t mix poultry with dairy. We know that no fowl can produce milk so there is no chance that the meat is the mother. Why are birds not considered the same as fish when it comes to exposure to dairy? And why can’t we mix cows milk with lamb, for example, if it is now a guarantee that the labels on our modern day food packages are correct and will not mislead us. Also, why are we able to mix chicken eggs with chicken, but not milk and meat (because eggs can be fertile without blood, meaning one can literally mix a mother and baby together). The yolk would be the “milk” in that situation I suppose. I hope that my questions aren’t too confusing. Thanks!

Shalom, Thank you for your question. It is a wonderful one! First of all let me welcome you to the fascinating world of Torah study – where no question is rejected, and every sincere endeavor to delve deeper into the Holy Torah and it’s laws is praiseworthy. May you be blessed to gain wisdom and grow in your connection to Torah through more and more Torah study. The questions you ask are not new. In fact, the Talmud explicitly cites an opinion that fowl are excluded from the Torah prohibition of being mixed with milk for the very reason you mentioned – that a bird does not have milk! However, there is another opinion of the sages that understands that the fact that the Torah mentions 3 times not to cook a kid in it’s mother’s milk (when one time would have been enough) is to teach us that the law applies not only to domesticated animals, but also to wild animals (like deer) and also to birds [I hope you are now asking yourself “so why did the Torah use the words “kid in it’s mother’s milk” if it didn’t mean “kid” or “mother”? Don’t worry – the Rabbis in the Talmud ask that also – but we’ll leave that for further study. For the moment, it’s enough to understand that the Torah’s repeating of the verse is to teach us that the law includes also birds]. So, we now have two opinions in the Talmud about this law. And, in fact, the Talmud recalls that this argument was really expressed in the fact that in certain places in Israel some Jews did in fact follow the lenient opinion, and ate chicken with milk, while in other cities it was forbidden. But, before you go off to cook a chicken cheese stew, we need to point out (what you already know), that the law today forbids chicken and milk. Either because we follow the strict opinion, or (more likely) because the Rabbis made a decree forbidding chicken and milk as a fence around the Torah milk and meat law. This fence is not because we might confuse the chicken with “real” meat. But because the process of koshering chicken is the same as the process of koshering meat (they both need ritual slaughter, salting, the removal of blood etc). This similarity in law might lead to confusion if one if allowed with milk and one forbidden. This is why fish are not part of this law – there are no laws about the “koshering” of fish. As to your question about cows’ milk with lamb – when the Torah mentions “kid”, the expression means any animal, and not just lamb. A “kid” in the Torah means a young domesticated animal (cow or lamb). When the Torah means a lamb it uses an extra word and says “the kid of a goat”. Your question about eggs is a good one. First of all, we are in fact permitted to eat a “kid” with its mother herself (both being meat) [although they may not be slaughted together on the same day]. So, if an egg is to be equated to the chicken, that would be no problem. However, perhaps you mean that the chicken is more similar to the milk of the cow. This though is not so. The milk is the food of the kid, which ideally should be it’s life source – and as such it is forbidden to use it as the very liquid the slaughted kid will be cooked. (This is only one explanation – there are many others). I hope this is a good start for you. Looking forward to more questions in the future. Blessings.