Background
God asks of us, His chosen people, to be holy and separate from the rest of the nations of the world. Therefore, many commandments create the ‘barrier’ that separates between us and them. If things are valid towards behaviors, outerwear, and the like, all the more so they are true regarding the foods and utensils we come into contact with during mealtime, are they not the utensils of eating, serving, and the like?
All the utensils that come into contact with food, that are in our possession, that were made by a non-Jew or were of a non-Jew – need to undergo immersion in a mikveh of water before using them. This action is called “immersion of utensils”. By this immersion, we ‘remove’ them from what is called ‘impurity of the nations’ and ‘enter’ them into ‘the holiness of Israel’.
Where and when to immerse?
The immersion needs to be in a kosher mikveh or in a spring, sea, stream, river, and the like. Immersing a utensil in a sink or bathtub and the like is not considered ‘immersion’.
Almost everywhere there is a Jewish concentration, there is a special mikveh for utensils, called ‘mikveh of utensils’. It is a small reservoir of rainwater, about a meter and a half in size, in which you can comfortably and easily immerse the utensils. Usually, there is a safety net at the bottom of the reservoir, so there is no fear that the utensils will be swept away in some current or sink into the depths…
- Utensils can be immersed both during the day and at night.
- Do not immerse utensils on Shabbat and on a holiday.
Which utensil needs immersion?
The rule is: any personal utensil that comes into direct contact with food, made of metal or glass, made in a non-Jewish factory and is not intended for one-time use.
Personal utensil
The obligation to immerse is on a person’s personal eating utensils, so if we eat in a kosher restaurant, some permit to eat from the utensils even if they were not immersed, as the utensils were intended for profit and not for private use.
Utensil that comes into direct contact with food
For example: cutlery, plates, cups, bowls, pots, and the like. Meaning: only utensils that serve us in eating or during the preparation of food (including of course what is used for baking, frying, etc.) and touch the food directly. Utensils intended for decoration and beauty do not need immersion.
A utensil made of metal or glass
Ceramic, clay, and plastic utensils, and disposable utensils – do not require immersion. But if the utensil is made of two types of materials, one that needs immersion and the other does not (such as a combination of glass and ceramics) – it requires immersion – without a blessing.
Disposable utensils do not need immersion unless they are used repeatedly.
A utensil made in a non-Jewish factory
Even a utensil made in a Jewish factory (even with ‘Badatz kosher certification’…), if the store where we buy the utensils is owned by a non-Jew – the utensil requires immersion since it was owned by a non-Jew for some time.
Even the utensils sold in the country, most of them are made abroad, and therefore they need to be immersed. Pay attention to the place of production and not the name of the marketing company (like Solgar, Red Dad, and similar).
In any case of doubt about the place of production or the identity of the store owner, it is advisable to immerse the utensil in question.
Utensils intended for reuse
Most of the utensils we use at home are usually intended for reuse, and therefore they need immersion. However, there are metal or glass utensils that are used once (for example: in hotels or luxury events, or for example: thin metal trays and the like). These utensils do not need immersion.
If we want to reuse the glass jars we buy in the store (coffee or jam jars, wine or oil bottles, etc.), we must immerse the utensils before reusing them.
Question: I bought an electric kettle made abroad and I don’t want to immerse it in water so it won’t spoil, how can I use it?
Answer: Electrical appliances that may be damaged as a result of contact with water can be ‘rendered suitable’ in 2 ways:
- Give it to a Jewish professional who will dismantle the tool slightly in such a way that it is not suitable for use (not enough to take out one screw, but something central without which the tool cannot be used), and then – after it is no longer considered a tool – fix it. Thus, the tool is ‘created’ ultimately by a Jew and does not need immersion.
- Give it as a complete gift to a non-Jew, and ask him for the tool for personal, constant use.
When and what to bless?
- Before the immersion, hold the tool you want to immerse in your right hand and bless: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the immersion of a vessel (or “vessels” – if immersing more than one tool)”.
- If immersing several utensils together, immerse them all at once, without stopping in the middle to speak and talk about other things.
- If we have a doubt whether the tool needs immersion – or there is a doubt in the law whether to bless the immersion of such a tool – immerse it without a blessing.
The reason for immersing the utensils is brought in the Jerusalem Talmud: “Because they came out of the impurity of the Gentile and entered the sanctity of Israel”, and not as commonly thought, that the purpose of immersion is to clean the tool of non-Kosher materials that the Gentile put on the tool, or non-Kosher food that the Gentile ate in the tool.
How to immerse, bottom line?
- The utensil to be immersed must be completely clean of any dirt or rust, so that the water reaches all parts of the utensil.
- Remove all stickers (of the selling store or the manufacturing company) stuck on the utensil, and make sure that no glue marks remain on the utensil.
- Make sure that the whole utensil is in the water during the immersion.
- For utensils that have an ‘interior’ (like bottles, cups and the like), make sure that water also enters the interior space. This can be done more easily when they are standing or tilted to the side, then the air comes out and allows the water to enter inside.
- At the time of immersion, one should slightly loosen the grip of the hand on the utensil, or slightly change the position of the grip on the utensil when it is in the water, so that the water ‘enters’ also the place where the utensil is held. However, if there are fears of letting go of the utensil, lest it falls or similar, it is possible to first wet the hand with the immersion water and then immerse it even if you are holding it firmly. Alternatively, you can also tie the utensil with a loose thread and immerse it that way. You can also put several utensils inside a mesh basket, but care should be taken not to insert too many utensils in each immersion, so that the water will cover well between all the utensils (and not that part of the utensils will hide another part of them so that the water enters among them all).
- In principle, one immersion is sufficient for a utensil, but some have the custom to immerse 3 times.
- When immersing many utensils, care must be taken not to mix immersed utensils with those that are not.
- Cutlery or very small utensils can be placed inside a pierced basket or similar and immersed like that, but care must be taken not to insert too many utensils so that the water reaches every utensil.
A few more details that are important to know
- A utensil that requires immersion remains obliged even if Jews have used it for many years without immersion. The utensil still requires immersion, and at the first opportunity that comes to us, we must fulfill the commandment and immerse it, and it is forbidden for a Jew to use this utensil as long as it has not been immersed.
- If we have already prepared food in a utensil that has not yet been immersed, the food should be transferred to another utensil and then eaten. The fact that the utensil was not immersed does not make the food ‘not kosher’.
- In the following 2 cases, it is not enough just to immerse the utensils, but they need to undergo “koshering” (see frame):
- If we received or bought from a non-Jew a food utensil that has already been used.
- If we are about to use a Jewish utensil that we know for sure that non-kosher food was cooked in it, or meat and milk were cooked together in it.
In these two situations, the utensil should first be made kosher, and only then immersed in water.
What is “koshering”
Cooking utensils that were used in a place that is not kosher, ‘swallowed’ into them from the foods that were cooked in them and therefore there is a problem with future use in them.
The principle underlying koshering is to extract the ‘absorbed’ food in the utensil. We do this in the same way it got into it, and in the language of Jewish law: “as it absorbs, so it expels”. For example: If you use a utensil for hot food – you must kosher it using boiling water.
Before the koshering, the utensil should be thoroughly cleaned, and not used for 24 hours. Most utensils that came into contact with hot or boiling food can be made kosher in two ways: Hagalah and Libun.
- A utensil in which food was cooked with water, such as a cooking pot and the like, becomes kosher by “Hagalah”: immerse it in a container full of boiling water, which is on the fire.
- A utensil that has cooked food with fire, such as skewers, oven baking pans and the like, becomes kosher by “Libun”: pass over it from all sides with a burner emitting fire until the utensil changes its color by the fire (sometimes the utensil may be damaged).
Glass utensils are exceptional:
- If they were used for baking, as well as glass cups that were used for hot or spicy drinks, and or any glass utensil whose use was for cold foods, as well as cups designed for cold drinking, ice cream and the like – they can be made kosher by thorough washing, with regular water and then putting them to rinse in a dishwasher.
