Why are Sephardim prohibited from eating fish and milk together?

Hello and blessings,

It is written in the Tur (Yoreh De'ah 116):

"And one must be careful not to eat meat and fish together, as it causes leprosy, and some are stringent about this to use separate utensils for fish. The Rosh z"l used to wash his hands between meat and fish and would put a piece of bread in wine and eat it in the meantime to rinse out his mouth."

Now, here are the words of Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in his responsa Yechave Da'at part 6, section 8:

Question: Is it permitted to eat fish with milk, or with cheese, or with butter?

Answer: Maran the Beit Yosef in Yoreh De'ah (section 167) writes in regard to fish and bugs that it is permitted to eat them with milk, but he states: "Nonetheless, one should not eat fish with milk due to danger." And the Rama in Darkei Moshe, section 4, wrote about this: "I have not seen anyone cautious in this matter," and the Taz (in section 3) wrote that it is a typographical error in the Beit Yosef, and it must be said not to eat fish with meat, as stated in Orach Chaim, section 178. And thus wrote the Magen Avraham.

However, in the responsa Chinuch Beit Yehuda (section 61), it is written that I found written in the name of the MaHaRaM of Krakow regarding the statement of the Beit Yosef that it is forbidden to eat fish with milk, and the later authorities wrote that it was a typographical error and it should say fish with meat, but with milk it is permitted. However, he upholds the version before us that it is forbidden to cook fish in milk due to danger, as he inquired of the doctors and they said that only fried fish with butter is permitted to eat, whereas fish cooked in milk poses a danger of illness, as the nature of fish cools very much, and milk is bad and harmful to the body, etc., as is known to doctors; and danger is a greater concern than prohibition. Thus it is.

And the Beit Lehem Yehudah (Yoreh De'ah, section 167, section 14) wrote that expert doctors said there is a danger in eating fish with milk.

Thus wrote the wise doctor Rabbi Yaakov Tzalon in the book Otzar HaChaim, that one should not eat fish with either milk or meat due to causing serious illnesses.

And the Kneset HaGedolah (Yoreh De'ah, section 167, glosses on the Beit Yosef, section 19) wrote in the name of the She'erit Yehudah that he heard from the doctors that there is also a danger of leprosy in eating fish with milk. And thus was ruled in the responsa Adnei Paz (section 42), that even post-factum (after the fact) one should prohibit fish that was cooked in milk due to the serious danger of illness.

And the great doctor Rabbi Yitzhak LeMaFronti in the book Pachad Yitzhak wrote: "All the days I grew up among the scholars and the doctors of medicine, I did not find support for what Rabbi She'erit Yehudah wrote in the name of the doctors that there is danger in eating fish with milk, and although there is indeed a great and serious danger to death for someone who drinks milk immediately after fish or eats fish and then drinks milk, I have not found any danger in eating fish with butter or cheese. Nevertheless, since this matter comes from the mouth of the king, namely Maran the Beit Yosef, I have refrained from eating fish with cheese or butter in my house."

And Rabbeinu Bachai (in Parashat Mishpatim, verse "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk") wrote that the opinion of the doctors is that a mixture of fish with cheese that was cooked together is harmful for leprosy disease. Thus it is.


And the Ohel Yitzhak wrote that certainly in law we adopt the opinion of all the later authorities who permitted eating fish with milk, and it is not proper to be stringent.

And in the book Yad Yehuda Nanda (section 167, section 10) it is written that the later authorities wrote to prohibit eating fish with milk due to danger, but this is something with no foundation in the words of our sages, only based on the doctors' laws; therefore, everything depends on the place and time, as not all times and places are the same in nature. Thus it is.

And the Aruch HaShulchan (section 167, section 15) wrote that only in eating fish with cheese should we be cautious of the words of Rabbeinu Bachai in the name of the doctors, but in eating fish with milk, the custom among them is clearly to permit it. Thus it is. And so wrote the Yad Ephraim, section 167, that in most regions of Ashkenaz, they did not practice caution in eating fish with milk. And the P'tach Teshuvah wrote that in our time, when the whole world permits cooking fish with milk, as the saying goes, "Since a departure (from the prohibition) was small, I should not guard the foolish." Thus it is.

But in our places, we practice caution in this matter, and so wrote the Zvi HaMeat (section 167, section 18), and in the responsa Rav Pe'alim part 2 (Yoreh De'ah, section 10), and in the book Ben Ish Chai (Parashat Behaalotecha, section 15). And it is appropriate to act stringently both with milk and fish and with cheese and fish.

Nevertheless, regarding butter with fish, many later authorities are lenient in this matter.


In summary: One should refrain from eating fish with milk or with cheese due to the concern for danger. However, those who practice eating fish with butter may continue with their custom. Ashkenazim typically follow leniency in all this, and they have reason to rely on. Na'arah Na'arah u'Peshitah.

Blessings – Binyamin Shmueli