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Why is poultry not pareve

Question

Would you please explain why poultry is not considered pareve (neither meat or dairy)?

Answer

Thank you for your question. You are correct. On a bibical level poultry is considered to be pareve as it is not meat. However the Talmud tells us that there was a rabbinical decree on poultry to consider it as meat. The basic reason is since it is so similar in concept to meat one can easily confuse the two and would come to think that if poultry is acceptable with milk then meat would be as well. Therefore it is treated with a similar standard as meat itself.

Thank you.
Rabbi Avi Weinrib

Follow-up question

Question

Dear Rabbi Weinrib –
Thank you so much for your explanation. I do have a couple of follow-up questions and would really appreciate your response to even one of them if you don’t have time to answer them all.

Why doesn’t similar reasoning apply to fish or vegetarian meat substitutes?
What is the legal standing of rabbinical decrees in general? What happens in case of conflicting rabbinical opinions and is there a different opinion of equal weight on the status of poultry? I realize that overwhelming majority considers poultry to be meat for dietary purposes, but I have seen mentions of observant communities treating poultry as pareve.
What is the view on rabbinical “hedge” around the law in light of the Deuteronomy 4:2 verse “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you�”
Once again, thank you for a wonderful website and for sharing your knowledge.
Shalom

Answer

Thank you again for all your wonderful questions. Just to address some of your points. The Rabbi’s are given the license by the Torah which is therfore by G-d himself to create fences for the Torah. This does not mean they can add on to Torah. They can help us stay as far away as possible from sin. Part of the problem we have is that we don’t appreciate the detriment that sin does do us. If we would, we would welcome and encourage the fences provided. If you had 1000 pieces of meat and someone told you I am not sure which one, but one of these have deadly poison in it, you would thank that person profusely. By a railroad crossing there are bars, lights and bells, the bar goes down way before the train comes and goes up way after it leaves. Sounds a bit overcautious. When were dealing with life and death there is no such thing as too cautious. Sin is the same way. It is spiritually damaging in the way that poison is physically damaging. So the Rabbi’s can’t create a new mitzvah or take away a existing mitzvah. However they do create fences around exsisting mitzvot for our benefit.

I am not aware of any different views on poultry. It is clearly recorded in the Talmud and further codified in the Code of Jewish Law that chicken shares the same status as meat. The Code of Jewish Law which is based on the Talmud is the bottom line in all cases. Therefore while there may be different opinions in the Talmud, R’ Yosef Caro the author of the Code of Jewish Law based on specific guidelines such as the majority opinion and others codified for us the bottom line.

I hope this was helpful.
Rabbi Avi Weinrib