A BRAND NEW LAW RE EATING DAIRY ON SHAVUOT???

On Shabbat, some of us were sitting around and the discussion turned to the custom of eating dairy on Shavuot. One person insisted that we should only eat dairy on Shavuot. Another said, it was only a custom and not halacha (Jewish law). One person said that he eats dairy right after shul and then, for his seudah (festive meal) he eats meat. Another person remonstrated that it is forbidden to eat meat on Shavuot.

That was when our ears pricked up. Forbidden to eat meat on Shavuot? Did we miss that announcement? Did the mail not get to our house? Assuming that our friend was speaking ex cathedra, the rest of us pressed him for a source. Ultimately, he had no source other than to claim that his Rav told him that. Now, it is altogether possible that he misheard his Rav. And it is equally possible that his Rav was privy to a private conversation with God during which God told him to spread the word that eating meat on Shavuot is forbidden.

What to do, what to do? Frankly, we ignored him, on the theory of “lo bashamayim hi (it is not in Heaven).”

What worries us is that if he was accurately repeating his Rav’s words, we now have a heretofore unknown halacha. We checked in several texts and could not find support for that position. We also checked on line into some of the Qumran scrolls and found nothing there, either. We are pretty sure that this is yet another example of torah min ha-nothingness.

First “they” came for the bicycles. Then “they” came for the fishies. What’s next- kosher bologna?