Search results for: ""Kosher""

Hot, Wet Taste Transfer in Countertops
A hot (120° F--49° C--or more), wet utensil transfers its gender to a countertop upon which it is placed, but only at the area of contact.
Status of Countertop
  1. Gender status of the countertop:
    • D'rabanan, the countertop area of contact remains that gender until kashered (as long as the countertop material is kasherable).
    • D'oraita, the countertop reverts to kosher-neutral/pareve after 24 hours.
    Note If the utensil and counter were not wet (nor dirty with food) at the area of contact, there is b'di'avad no transfer of gender.
  2. If you put a hot, wet utensil of the opposite gender on that same spot, that counter space may become non-kosher.
Status of Utensils
If the counter had not had a hot, wet utensil/container of food of the opposite gender placed on the same spot within 24 hours of each other, the utensils may be used and the utensils are still kosher.
Status of Food
This does not apply to food that is directly placed on the counter, in which case the food might become non-kosher.
 
Kashrut: Dairy/Meat: Baking at Same Time: Both UNCOVERED; One Is Spicy/Charif
Situation Two uncovered pans (one of dairy food, one of meat) are baked in the same oven at same time. The food in only one of them is spicy/charif.  Even if the:
  • Pans are clean and dry,
  • Pans are not touching, and
  • Food is non-liquid.
Status The spicy/charif one is b'di'avad kosher;
The non-spicy utensil and its contents are not kosher.
 
Baking COVERED/UNCOVERED Dairy and Meat Consecutively
Situation You cooked food of both genders:
  • In a clean oven,
  • In separate utensils,
  • UNCOVERED but consecutively (even within 24 hours).
    Note The first food must be removed before the second one is put into the oven.
Status
  • If one or both are solid (non-liquid) at either the beginning OR end of the cooking OR both beginning and end:
They are both kosher; both food and pan.
  • If they were both liquid:
The second one is probably not kosher (both food and pan), but consult a rabbi.
Note
  • If both are covered, they are both kosher.
  • If the first one to be cooked was covered, they are both kosher. 
  • If the first one was uncovered, they may both have become non-kosher--consult a rabbi.
Introduction to Toveling: Utensils
Tevila is the Hebrew word for immersion.  You must tovel (immerse in a mikva or other halachically purifying water) new utensils made of metal or other materials that require tevila unless you know that they were:
  • Made by a Jew,
  • Sold by a Jew, and
  • Not owned by a non-Jew in between.
Toveling: Utensils: How To Tovel
To tovel a utensil, you may go to any kosher natural mikva (see section on natural mikvas) or to a mikvat keilim (a small mikva for utensils, often attached to the outside of a regular mikva building). To tovel several items, some of which require a blessing and some on which there is doubt whether a blessing is necessary, say the blessing over the item that requires the blessing and have in mind that the blessing will cover all the rest of your items.
Remember to remove all stickers, rust, etc., before you begin. Nail polish remover may help with stubborn stickers. Say the blessing al tevilat keilim and then let the item free fall through the water. Unlike with hagala, during which the item may be immersed in sections, when you tovel a utensil, the entire item must be in contact with the water at the same time, even if only for an instant.

Toveling: Utensils: What Gets Toveled?
Note The main halacha applies to metal utensils that will be used repeatedly.
Say the blessing al tevilat keilim on metal or glass items--including Pyrex, Duralex, and Corelle-- that come in contact with food. Items that require toveling include:
  • Bowls
  • Cups
  • Forks
  • Knives
  • Pans
  • Plates
  • Pots
  • Spoons
  • Storage containers (only if they are brought to the table).
The below chart is copied with permission from the Star-K (www.star-k.org):
 
 
Utensil Tevila Guideline   Utensil Tevila Guideline
Aluminum Pans, Disposable
if intended to be used more than once		 Tevila with Brocha Meat Tenderizer Hammer,
Metal		 No Tevila
Aluminum Pans, Disposable
to be used only once		 Tevila w/o Brocha Melamine No Tevila
Blech No Tevila Metal Cutlery Tevila with Brocha
Blender with metal blade on bottom Tevila with Brocha Metal Flour and Sugar
Storage Canisters		 Tevila w/o Brocha
Bone No Tevila Metal Pots Coated with
Teflon, Enamel or Plastic		 Tevila w/o Brocha
Brush, Pastry No Tevila Metal Spoon Specifically for Medicine Tevila w/o Brocha
Brush for Grill, Metal No Tevila Microwave Turntable, Glass Tevila w/o Brocha
Can Opener No Tevila Mixer Beaters Tevila w/o Brocha
Cans, Reusable Empty
if opened by a Yehudi		 No Tevila Paper No Tevila
China, Bone Tevila w/o Brocha Peeler, Vegetable Tevila with Brocha
China, Glazed Tevila w/o Brocha Plastic No Tevila
Colander, Metal Tevila with Brocha Porcelain Enamel Tevila w/o Brocha
Cookie Cutters, Metal No Tevila Racks, Cooling Tevila w/o Brocha
Cookie Sheets, Metal Tevila with Brocha Racks, Oven No Tevila
Cork Screw No Tevila Rolling Pins
Metal or Wood		 No Tevila
Corningware Tevila w/o Brocha Sandwich Maker Tevila with Brocha
Crockpot Ceramic Insert Tevila w/o Brocha Silicone No Tevila 
Crockpot Glass Lid Tevila w/o Brocha Sink Racks, Stainless Steel No Tevila
Crockpot Outside Metal Shell No Tevila Spatula, Metal Tevila with Brocha
Dish Rack, Metal No Tevila Stoneware Tevila w/o Brocha
Dishes, Ceramic Tevila w/o Brocha Stoneware, Non-Glazed No Tevila
Earthenware, Non-Glazed
Dull Finish, e.g. Flower Pot		 No Tevila Storage Utensils, Glass
not brought to the table		 No Tevila
George Foreman Grill Tevila w/o Brocha Styrofoam No Tevila
Glass
(including Pyrex, Duralex & Corelle)		 Tevila with Brocha Tea Kettle, Corelle Tevila with Brocha
Grater, Metal
used for foods that are ready to eat, eg, apples, onions		 Tevila with Brocha Toaster
which will not break		 Tevila w/o Brocha
Grater, Metal
used only for foods that need further cooking,eg potatos		 Tevila w/o Brocha Toaster Oven
rack & tray only		 Tevila with Brocha
Hamburger Maker Tevila with Brocha Trivet, Metal No Tevila
Hot Air Popcorn Maker, Metal Tevila with Brocha Waffle Iron Tevila with Brocha
Hot Water Urn, Metal Tevila with Brocha Warming Tray No Tevila
Knife, Arts & Crafts No Tevila Wood No Tevila
Knife Sharpener No Tevila Wooden Cask with
Metal Straps		 Tevila w/o Brocha
Meat Thermometer No Tevila    
Kashrut: Dairy/Meat: Tiny Pot Spatters: Outside of Utensil, Above Normal Food Line
Situation
  • The outside of a hot, empty pot of one gender gets a spatter of opposite-gender food ABOVE the normal food line. 
  • The spatter is less than 1/3600 of the normally used volume of the pot (instead of the normal criterion of 1/60th of the volume--this being 1/60th of 1/60th).
Status The pot is kosher after 24 hours without kashering.
What To Do You must wash the pot off with cold water and soap.
Note This applies even if the pot had been used at 120° F (49° C) or more within 24 hours.
Kashrut: Dairy/Meat: Hot Dairy Food Spatters INTO Meat Pot, or Vice Versa
Situation
  • Hot dairy food spatters INTO a pot of meat food, or vice versa.
  • Spatter is less than 1/60th of the volume of the food into which it spattered.
Status The spattered food is nullified (batel ba'shishim).
What To Do As there is nothing to wash off, the food may be eaten, but you should remove the spattered food, if possible. The pot is kosher.

Opening Metal Bottle Caps on Shabbat
You may not open metal bottle caps on Shabbat if doing so will leave behind a metal ring. You may break the ring or open the bottle (and close it again, if desired) before Shabbat.
Note If you need the contents for Shabbat (such as if it is a bottle of wine), you may ask a non-Jew to open it for you.  But if the wine is not cooked/mevushal, the wine will become non-kosher once opened and handled by a non-Jew.
Checking Jewish Lineage
If there may be any question about the Jewish lineage of a bride-to-be or bridegroom, his or her female antecedents should be confirmed as having been Jewish (born of a Jewess OR halachically converted) back to when a shomeret Shabbat woman has been positively identified (or back as far as possible). As a practical matter, three or four generations may be as far back as most Jews can be traced.
 
Also, make sure that if there was any divorce, that the divorce was kosher, with a get.
How To Check If a Microwave Oven Will Get Hot during Cooking
To determine if the walls of a microwave oven will get hot during cooking:
  • Boil water for as long as food would typically be cooked in that microwave oven, and
  • Touch the inside walls, floor, door, and ceiling
    • If the walls are too hot to touch, the walls may acquire the gender of any food cooked in the oven. (If the walls are already the opposite gender when cooking a food, the oven may become non-kosher.)
    • If the walls are not too hot to touch, then no change of status occurs.
Baking Non-Liquid Neutral/Pareve and Non-Liquid Dairy (or Meat) at Same Time
Situation You bake non-liquid dairy food and non-liquid neutral/pareve food in one oven at the same time.
Status
  • You may not eat the pareve food with meat food (and certainly not dairy food with the meat!), but
  • The utensil (pan) of the pareve food does not become dairy.
Note The same applies if you cook non-liquid meat with non-liquid pareve food.
Note If one or both of the foods were liquid, the utensil might be non-kosher. Consult a rabbi.

Appearing To Not Uphold the Torah (Mar'it Ayin)
You may not do any action that may cause religious Jews to do something wrong or cause people to think that an observant Jew is doing something forbidden (mar'it ayin). Mar'it ayin is doing something that might lead people to:
  • Violate a Torah law by thinking that an observed action that is permissible under special circumstances may be applied to other cases, or
  • Think that the person doing the action is violating Torah law (since the observer might not know that the action is actually permissible).
Example When a Jew wears a yarmulke and eats raw, kosher vegetables in a non-kosher restaurant, someone who did not know that only kosher food was being eaten might think that:
  • All of the food in that restaurant is kosher, or
  • The Jew was doing something forbidden (and think badly of the Jew).
If no one can see you, you may do activities that might look like violations of rabbinic laws. If the action is forbidden by the Torah (d'oraita), you may not even do it in private (but you may not actually violate either type of law!).
Jewish Festivals: Opening Metal Bottle Caps
You may not open metal bottle caps on Jewish festivals if a metal ring will be left after doing so. You may break that ring or simply open the bottle before the Jewish festival (or simply open the bottle and reclose it such that when you open in again, no metal will be broken).  
Note If you need the contents for a Jewish festival (such as if it is a bottle of wine), you may ask a non-Jew to open the bottle for you.  But if it is wine that is not cooked/mevushal, the wine will become non-kosher once opened and handled by the non-Jew.
Taste (Ta'am) Transfer: Spicy/Charif: Pressure: Food Absorbing Taste of Utensils
When a spicy/charif food takes on the gender of the cutting/squeezing utensil:
  • You may not cook or eat that food with food of the opposite gender.
  • However, you MAY eat the opposite-gender food immediately after eating the gendered spicy food without waiting.
Situation An onion is cut with a meat knife, on a meat cutting board:
  • The onion acquires meat status.
  • You MAY NOT later cut this onion with a dairy knife or on a dairy cutting board. (If you do, the onion, the dairy knife, and the dairy cutting board will all become non-kosher.) 
Exception If the knife and cutting board had not been used (even for cold items) for at least 24 hours, consult a rabbi.
Exception If you can sand off the surface to below the level of any knife cuts, the board might be kosher. Consult a rabbi. 
  • You MAY NOT cook this onion in a dairy utensil.
  • You MAY NOT eat this onion with dairy food.
  • You MAY eat dairy immediately after eating this onion (as long as there is no actual meat mixed into the onion).
  • You MAY cook this onion with fish (even though you may not cook meat and fish together) but the fish may not be eaten with dairy food.
Situation You cut an onion with a meat knife and fry it in a neutral/pareve pan.
StatusThe pan becomes meat, but consult a rabbi for possible leniencies.

Situation You cut an onion with a meat knife and fry it in a dairy pan.
StatusThe pan becomes non-kosher.  If you cook a neutral/pareve food in that pan after 24 hours have passed since the onion was cooked in it, and you ate the pareve food with milk, it is OK b'di'avad but you may not do that l'chatchila.
Tzitzit: For What To Check
Torn
In checking tzitzit, determine:
  • Are any loops torn?
  • Are 8 strings visible on each corner?
If you cannot see 7 strings due to one or more having been torn off, consult a rabbi.

Tangled
There is no problem if tzitzit are tangled. However, to untangle them:
  • Is a superior way to fulfill the mitzva, and 
  • Allows you to easily check them to see if there are 8 tzitziyot.
Frizzy
If any tzitziyot are so frizzy that the individual tzitziyot cannot be distinguished, they are invalid (pasul).
Note To prevent frizziness during laundering, wrap the tzitziyot tightly in a rubber band before drying them in a dryer, or hang them to dry.
Note
  • If the hanging end of a tzitzit string breaks below the lowest knot, the string is kosher.
  • If more than one string breaks, or if one string breaks above the lowest knot, consult a rabbi since the tzitzit may not be kosher.
Sukka: Schach: Materials

Non-Kli
You may not use a kli for sukka schach.

A kli is any item created with the intention of being used as a tool or utensil to make an activity easier.

Examples

  • Bamboo if it had been used for any other purpose.

  • Wooden ladder.

  • Walking stick.

Non-Edible
A sukka's covering (schach) must consist of non-edible branches, leaves, or other materials of plant origin such as boards. You may use wooden boards (such as 2” x 4”s) to hold up schach, even though lumber is intended to be used for construction.
Size
Boards or tree trunks—whether used as schach or used to hold up schach--must be not more than 15 inches (38 cm) wide. A board--whether used as schach or used to hold up schach--more than 15 inches wide invalidates the area below it and you would have to sit under kosher schach in order to fulfill the mitzva. In the case of a board more than 15 inches wide: If the sukka has only three walls, the board may invalidate the sukka. Consult a rabbi.
Fresh
You may not use branches whose leaves will dry up in less than 8 days, intending to replace the branches with fresh ones during chol ha'moed; the custom is to use evergreen leaves only if you want to use leaves as schach.
Fasteners
Schach on the sukka must stay by itself without fasteners or connectors, even in a place with normally high wind. Any man-made fasteners--such as plastic, metal, or even hemp cord or rope--will invalidate the schach. If the schach will stay without them, then you may use fasteners or connectors as reinforcements.

Year-Round Structures
You may use a pergola, gazebo, or other type of awning frame or roof structure that exists year-round for a sukka as long as the other conditions (size, slope, materials, timing, etc.) are kosher. You must first remove any permanent roof coverings before putting on the schach.

Note The slope of the sukka roof must be less than 45 degrees from horizontal.