Mayim Achronim – Re'eh – On Mixing Meat and Fish

 On Mixing Fish and Meat

This week’s parasha, Re’eh, contains one of three instances in the Torah prohibiting the consumption of meat and dairy together (Deuteronomy 14:21). There is another prohibition strongly linked to this one in Jewish tradition that has no source in the Torah itself: consuming meat and fish together. Unlike meat and dairy, meat and fish can be consumed at the same meal, but sequentially and not combined in the same dish. Where did this restriction come from, and what might be the deeper meaning behind it?

A look through the early sources shows surprisingly little. The Tanakh says nothing about it, and neither does the Mishnah. Its origin is from a passing reference in the Talmud (Pesachim 76b). The Talmud first states that if bread is baked in an oven together with meat, then that bread becomes “meaty” and cannot later be eaten with dairy. The Talmud then states that a sage named Rava of Parzikiya taught that a person should not consume dairy with a binita that had been cooked simultaneously with a meat dish in the same oven. 

Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Itzchaki, 1040-1105) comments that binita is a type of fish. (Today, there is a popular type of fish called Bonito, sometimes used as a tuna substitute, but it appears completely unrelated etymologically). The plain meaning here seems to be that the binita fish, like bread, is “spongy” and absorbs the meaty aroma of the oven. Thus, it cannot be eaten with dairy if previously cooked with meat. 

(Presumably, other non-binita fish cooked in the same oven as a meat dish retain their “pareve” status and can later be consumed with dairy.) The passage ends with Mar bar Rav Ashi saying the binita cooked in the same oven as meat shouldn’t be eaten at all, even if salted, because “it causes bad odour and another thing”. Rashi explains that “another thing” is code for tzara’at, loosely translated as “leprosy”.

So, the Talmud presents us with two opinions about the mysterious binita fish. The second opinion suggests that binita fish cooked in the same oven as meat is not good for health. Over time, the belief evolved to mean that any fish consumed with meat is not good for health. While it was never a Torah prohibition, it was believed to be a sakana, a danger to health, so it was taken seriously. This sakana was based on the medical knowledge of the time. Indeed, we find similar warnings in ancient texts from other parts of the world—and that may explain why there are hardly any recipes out there that combine meat and fish.

Today, we know that there isn’t any danger in consuming meat and fish together. In fact, even the great Rambam (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, 1138-1204, chief rabbi of Egypt and physician to Sultan Saladin) knew there was no such danger, and totally omitted any mention of meat and fish in his law code, the Mishneh Torah. The Chatam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Schreiber, 1763-1839) explained that this is because the Talmud only warned against the specific binita fish, and not any other fish. Plus, the Rambam was an expert doctor who knew there was no health risk. The Chatam Sofer suggests it’s okay to be lenient here.

The Ba’al haTurim (Rabbi Yakov ben Asher, 1269-1343), meanwhile, affirmed the prohibition in his law code (Arba’ah Turim, Yoreh De’ah 116:2). Rav Yosef Karo (1488-1575) took the same position in the Shulchan Arukh. It is quite possible that he did this based on more mystical reasoning, being that he was one of the preeminent Kabbalists of Tzfat. That said, Kabbalistic texts say little to nothing about this prohibition. 

It all appears to be based on that ancient sakana belief, the medical reasoning for which no longer applies. Yet, the custom became universally accepted among Jews, so there must be something significant that we can learn from it. If we dig a little deeper, we may be able to uncover some profound lessons.

Leviathan, Behemoth, Mashiach

The short Talmudic passage from which the prohibition in question is derived gives us three clues: there’s the fish, the “bad odour”, and the leprosy. The common thread between these three things is that they are all associated with Mashiach. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b) calls Mashiach the “leper scholar”. (See also “Who is Mashiach?” in the Third Volume of Garments of Light for more on what this might mean). The same Talmud (93b) tells us that Mashiach will judge through his spiritually heightened and super-sensitive sense of smell (as explored in-depth in the class here). He will be able to detect a bad person through a subtle “bad odour”, and vice versa. Finally, Mashiach has long been associated with the fish:

The Aramaic word for fish is nun, and the Zohar (III, 66b) says the letter nun is symbolic of the Shekhinah and of Malkhut, “Kingdom”. The first person who had the potential to establish the divine kingdom on Earth following the Exodus was Yehoshua bin Nun, whose name literally means “Salvation of a Fish” (for more on why he was called this way, see here). Yehoshua was a descendant of Joseph, whom the Sages compared to a fish, based on Jacob’s blessing for his children to multiply like fish (see Bava Metzia 84a and Rashi on Genesis 48:16). 

Because of this, the fish has always been more specifically associated with Mashiach ben Yosef. It therefore isn’t surprising that early Christians adopted the fish as a symbol for their supposed messiah, who was literally a son of Joseph, and whose name was literally the Aramaic version of Yehoshua. (The fish is still a Christian symbol, often depicted on bumper stickers.) With all of this in mind, we can again ask: why not mix fish and meat? I believe we can derive three intriguing lessons:

In the Talmudic era, our Sages were especially concerned with detaching Christianity from authentic Judaism. Rabbi Akiva in particular led this endeavour, and instituted many rules and practices to separate Christianity from Judaism (as explored previously in the series on the Apocrypha). Since the fish was an early symbol of Christianity (some scholars suggest it even predated the cross as a Christian symbol, and was the original symbol of the early “Messianic Jews” of the 1st century), perhaps one symbolic reason for separating fish and meat was to affirm the separation of Christianity and Judaism. And maybe that’s why the Talmud doesn’t say just any “fish”, but specifically the mysterious binita. In other words, don’t put that guy they claim is the saviour bin nun into the kosher oven with meat.

Secondly, the Sages of the Talmud (Sukkah 52a) debated the issue of whether there will be one messiah or two: are Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David two distinct individuals, or one person in two phases? 

(This Talmudic debate was explored in depth in a recent series here.) With the Talmud in Sukkah remaining unresolved, maybe the Talmud in Pesachim is adding the opinion of Mar bar Rav Ashi: don’t mix together the fish and the meat—Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David—they are two distinct figures! The halakhah didn’t necessarily go his way, though, and the Rambam ruled there is only one Messiah. He did not mention any “Mashiach ben Yosef” anywhere in his work. So of course, with perfect consistency, he also doesn’t mention Mar bar Rav Ashi’s prohibition of mixing fish and meat! Both are completely absent from the Rambam’s texts! 

Third, the Talmud describes in detail the forthcoming “Feast of the Leviathan” at the start of the Messianic Age (Bava Batra 75a). The fishy dragon, which is described here as having a terribly “bad odour” reminiscent of the binita, will be consumed by the righteous at the End of Days, in a special sukkah made of its scaly skin. The same meal will include the meat of the great beast, the Behemoth. The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 13:3) describes the Behemoth and the Leviathan as two opposing forces engaged in a cosmic duel. 

The horns of the Behemoth will ultimately impale the Leviathan, just as the fin of the Leviathan tears apart the Behemoth. Both will then be consumed by the righteous. So perhaps the Talmud was symbolically telling us not to mix these opposing forces, the Leviathan and the Behemoth. But there will come a time, in the Messianic Age, when there will be no issue in combining them. Both fish and meat will be served at the same feast. And maybe they will even be eaten together.

May we merit to partake in that Feast very soon!

See here for an excellent historical and halakhic analysis of meat and fish.