Ask the Expert: Meat and Fish

Why do some people avoid eating meat and fish together?

By MyJewishLearning.com Staff

Question: I’ve been told that it’s not kosher to eat or cook fish with meat. Why not?
–Margaret, Florida

Answer: It’s always tricky answering “why” questions about kashrut, (Jewish dietary laws). The commandments in the Torah were divided into two groups by some rabbis, mishpatim, and hukkim. Mishpatim are the reasonable and self-evident laws, such as the prohibitions against murder and adultery. Hukkim represent those commandments impenetrable to reason. In theory, we do them simply because we’re told to, not because they make empirical sense to us. Kashrut is the quintessential example of one of the hukkim–it simply does not make sense.

So, for many people, the answer to most “why” questions that concern kashrut is simply that we don’t know. But the prohibition against eating fish and meat has an interesting history.

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