דינים- טבילת כלים

א If you have a כלי אוכל which belonged to a גוי, it has טומאת נכרי. When a ישראל buys it, he must get rid of the טומאת נכרי and bring it into קדושת ישראל, just like a גר must go to the מקוה to get rid of his טומאה. The הלכות of טומאה and טהרה are חוקים. This is what it is referring to in the תורה- after מלחמת מדין, they got a lot of metal. There are six metals which could be taken as שלל and there are different ways to purify them.

ב ב''י couldn’t use them for any of these three reasons:
1. This was because if the מדינים used the כלים for מאכלות אסורות, the כלי absorbed it and when you use it again, it will give off treif. Therefore, you must כשר it.
2. Maybe there’s טומאת מת and it will be מטמא the food and anyone who touches it.
3. Any כלי נכרי that is reposed by a ישראל, you must remove the טומאת נכרי.

ג Anything that became treif through בליעה, the way it became treif is the way you כשר it. So if something became treif through fire, you must כשר it with אש. It says in the פסוק, "וטהר"- you must additionally dip it in water. It also says, "אך במי נידה יתחטא"- if it became treif through טומאת מת, you must כשר it with the אפר of the פרה אדומה. רבותינו darshen from here that the size of a מקוה for טבילת כלים is forty סאה.

ד Even though we learn טבילת כלים from הכשרת כלים, anyכלי from a גוי must be טובלed.

ה There is a מחלקת if this is a חיוב דאוריתא or just a דרבנן learned out from a פסוק. Most פוסקים hold that it’s a דאוריתא.

ו You can’t use a כלי before it’s טובלed, even temporarily. The אסור to use a כלי without טובלing it is an אסור דרבנן. So if you would use a כלי without טובלing it first, it wouldn’t make the food אסור and חז''ל don’t make it אסור to keep non- טובלed כלים in your home. Something that is for one usage only, you don’t have to טובל it.

ז A כלי that is hard to טובל must still be טובלed. Something which you have used many times and thought was טובלed and it later find out that it wasn’t, you must טובל it before you use it again.

ח A כלי must have all four requirements to require טבילה. Sometimes, people טובל without a ברכה because there is a ספק if one of the requirements is there or not. The four factors are:
1. What the כלי is made of.
2. What the כלי is used for- your intended use.
3. If it was bought from a גוי.
4. If it actually belongs to a ישראל now.

ט What the כלי is made of:
1. זהב
2. כסף
3. נחשת
4. ברזל
5. בדיל
6. עפרת
These are definitely מחויב to be טובלed.
There is a חלוקי דעות for other metals which aren’t mentioned. An aluminum pot, for example:
1. Some hold that it’s דאוריתא.
2. Others say that it isn’t דאוריתא since it’s not mentioned in the פסוק.
3. Some hold that it’s a דרבנן.
4. It might not require טבילה at all.
Because of this, many people טובל without a ברכה. ר' משה holds that it is a דרבנן. If you have a mixture of different metals, you go according to the רוב, so you must check out the proportions. כלי חרס, עץ, אבן and rubber don’t require טבילה at all.

י Glass isn’t in the פסוק, it can be formed and welded just like metal through אש (they can both be melted down). So glass requires טבילה דרבנן and you make a ברכה. Crystal and Pyrex are also a type of glass, so they also require a טבילה דרבנן and you do make a ברכה.

יא כלים made of plastic can also be melted, therefore some hold that plastic should be טובלed without a ברכה. The more widely accepted מנהג is not to טובל plastic.

יב There are some כלים where you can’t tell it they are חרס or זכוכית, so you טובל them without a ברכה.

יג A thin aluminum pan made for one use:
1. It wasn’t made to be used permanently, so it’s not a כלי סעודה and it doesn’t require טבילה.
2. If you intend to reuse pans, you must טובל them without a ברכה.
3. Since they can often be reused, טובל all disposable pans.

יד Something that doesn’t require טבילה and is coated in a material that does require טבילה- if the coating comes into contact with the food, it needs to be טובלed. If it comes into contact with the food but has no purpose, it doesn’t require טבילה.

טו Something coated on the inside probably requires טבילה. If the coating is on the outside, it definitely doesn’t require טבילה. According to some, if only the inside is coated, you טובל it without a ברכה. However, if the inside and outside are coated, it’s מחויב טבילה with a ברכה.

טז However, since some do question this, we טובל porcelain without a ברכה.

יז Sometimes you have a metal כלי with a coating so that the food shouldn’t come in contact with the metal. For example:
1. Enamel pots- made of metal and has a substantial coat of enamel.
2. Teflon pots- substantial coating so that the food shouldn’t come in contact with the metal.
You טובל these kinds of כלים without a ברכה because of the ספק. Sometimes you may have a כלי painted for decorative purposes, but it’s not a substantial coat. This paint is בטול to the כלי, so it gets regular טבילה with a ברכה.

יח If the main part of the כלי is made out of something that requires טבילה, you must טובל it. But if most of the כלי is made of plastic, it would still be מחייב טבילה with the following two conditions:
1. The כלי isn’t functional without the metal.
2. It must come in contact with the food.
יט A knife with a plastic or wood handle needs טבילה with a ברכה. A peppermill made of wood with a metal grater also needs טבילה with a ברכה.

כ Sometimes you have כלים made of two components that can be put together and taken apart- you would only have to טובל the metal part.

כא Things which you mash and grind with, you only need to be טובל the metal blade. But a metal part not used for chopping doesn’t require טבילה.

כב Only something considered a כלי סעודה requires טבילה.

כג What are כלי סעודה?
1. Something you eat or drink from.
2. Something you cook, bake, roast or boil either in or on.
3. Things you use to prepare the food with.

כד If you have a כלי that holds another כלי which comes into contact with the food, it doesn’t require טבילה. The grates over your flames don’t require טבילה and neither do your oven racks. If you do put food directly onto your oven racks, ask a שאלת חכם. If you have a metal כלי that holds only wrapped items, you don’t have to טובל it. But if you have a כלי that you always spread a napkin on it (for example a metal breadbasket), it still requires טבילה.

כה Covers that come in contact with food do require טבילה. This is because when you cook, often steam rises up and comes into contact with the cover.

כו There are certain things which aren’t considered חיוב בטבילה even though they may come in contact with the food:
1. Can opener
2. Bottle opener
3. Corkscrew

כז There are certain כלים which are debatable among the חכמים since they are needed for preparation, but aren’t the final step. So they are questionable:
1. חליף- the knife of a שוחט. It gets טבילה without a ברכה.
2. Needle used to sew stuffed meat- you טובל it without a ברכה because you use it for preparation of the food, but it’s not the final step.
3. Meat/ fish grinder
4. Coffee grinder
5. Kneading כלים
6. Vegetable chopper
7. Peeler
Sometimes, however, graters or peelers can be used as the last step in the הכנה of fruits and vegetables, so they would require טבילה.

כח Something used for the storage of food, something you don’t bring to the table to serve from and something you don’t cook from, you טובל it without a ברכה.

כט Something becomes a כלי סעודה according to what you are going to use it for, not what it was manufactured for. Examples:
1. Kitchen knife used for crafts.
2. Scissors that you use for food.
ל If something was never owned by a גוי, it doesn’t require טבילה.

לא If a ישראל buys a כלי made in a yiddishe factory without a middleman, he doesn’t have to טובל it, even if all of the worker are גוים. If you bought something in a yiddishe store, you must check back to make sure that it was never owned by a גוי, otherwise it will require טבילה.

לב If you don’t know whether the factory owner was a גוי or a yid:
1. If you don’t know and there’s a chance either way, even if the area it came from has mostly yiddishe factory owners, you have to be טובל it without a ברכה because of the ספק.
2. If it comes from an area where all of the factory owners are גויים, you need to be טובל it with a ברכה.
3. If it comes from an area where most of the factory owners are גויים, you need to טובל it with a ברכה, whether there is a goyish middleman or not.

לג If the כלי doesn’t belong to you, you don’t have to be טובל it. So if you rent a כלי from a גוי, you don’t have to be טובל it. But if you borrow a כלי from a Jew and he didn’t טובל it yet, it does require טבילה before you use it because it was already מחויב בטבילה.

לד If you are a guest at someone’s house and they weren’t טובל their כלים, it is אסור for you to eat from it, and you must ask a שאלת חכם about what to do.

לה If you buy food in a כלי that hasn’t been טובלed, you may eat the food. Some won’t eat it straight from the כלי, though. And some won’t put the food back into the כלי , though some will if the כלי is glass.

לו How do you טובל a כלי? It needs to be a spring or מקוה that has a שיעור of at least forty סאה. You can use an ocean too.

לז The entire surface must be covered at once in the water at some point. So make sure there is no חציצה- blockage and that it’s clean. What do you do if after you are טובל it, you find some dirt? If the חציצה is something you would want to get rid of and you would’ve wanted to pull off, you should טובל it again. But if you don’t care, then בדיעוד it’s fine. Let’s say before you were טובל it you took off rust and it left a mark, or you tried to get off some rust but it didn’t come off, לכתחילה it’s ok.

לח You must remove stickers and adhesive first. But some stickers are meant to stay on so that’s ok.

לט You must טובל the whole thing at once, you can’t do half and half.

מ If you have a כלי with a long neck, you must make sure that the water will get into it and fill up so that all the surfaces are covered. Also, don’t put in a cup upside down because the water won’t reach the top edges. A כלי that folds up, you must open it entirely before טבילה.

מא You need to טובל the entire כלי, even if it’s not completely made of a material which requires טבילה.
מב It’s better to טובל a disassembleable כלי assembled, but you could do it disassembled too.

מג When you hold it, hold it loosely so that water can get in on all the surfaces. Or you fouls wet your hand with the מי מקוה so that when you touch the כלי, it will be wet from the מי מקוה. It’s best to switch hands while you are holding it so that the water can get in.

מד It is ok to put it in a basket with holes so that the water can get in but be careful that you don’t have something heavy or pack it tightly because then it won’t rise up or get water in between. You could put a כלי into the מקוה by tying a rope around the handle and fishing it out. But don’t tie the rope too tightly so the water can get in.

מה If a כלי needs to be kashered and טובלed, first kasher it and then טובל it. If you טובלed it first, it’s a ספק if it’s ok, so you must kasher it and then re- טובל it without a ברכה.

מו Generally, the ברכת המצוה is said before you do the מצוה. So you make the ברכה before you are טובל. You say "על טבילת כלי" for one thing and "על טבילת כלים" for more than one. If you reversed the ברכות, it’s ok. If you forgot the ברכה and were already טובל, you don’t say it again because then it would be a ברכה לבטלה.

מז When you are טובלing something which doesn’t require a ברכה, it is better to wait until you have to טובל something else which does need a ברכה, and you would say "על טבילת כלים". If you can’t wait, you should make a ברכה without the שם ה'- just think it.

מח טבילה doesn’t require כונה. So if something falls in by mistake, it’s a valid טבילה.

מט A קטן can’t do טבילה unless an adult is watching, and the קטן should say the ברכה. If an adult isn’t watching, it requires another טבילה.

נ A גוי can’t be טובל for you unless an adult is watching. But even if you are watching, this isn’t לכתחילה because you can’t say a ברכה on his טבילה. So in the case where you can’t do it alone, do a few and say the ברכה and then he can do the rest. It’s worthwhile to get the מצוה.

נא Even if you have used a כלי in the past by mistake without טבילה, once you are aware of it, you can’t use it without טבילה.

נב An electrical כלי needs טבילה even if you are worried about ruining the mechanism. If the appliance doesn’t come in contact with the food, for example a toaster where you place the food on a tray, you would only have to טובל the part that comes in contact with the food. Even if by accident the food may touch a different part of the toaster, it’s ok.

נג Some appliances need to be completely immersed. So you may protect the electrical part by lightly covering the electrical vents without it being a חציצה. How?
1. You could wet your fingers with the מי מקוה and lightly stuff them up the holes.
2. Take a cloth which you wet with the מי מקוה and lightly stuff them up the holes.
3. You can tape up the holes- this is not לכתחילה.
If you can’t be טובל the כלי in any of these ways, don’t be טובל.

נד Hot water urns, electric griddles, waffle makers and popcorn machines all require טבילה. If you let them dry out for a few days, they will usually be fine.

נה Some מתיר pop- up toasters because the food is ראוי for אכילה even before it is toasted.

נו If you need a certain כלי, but it is impossible to טובל it, you can either sell it or give it as a מתנה to a גוי and then you can borrow it, even on a permanent basis. You should ask a רב how to go about this. Or, you can break the כלי in a way that it isn’t usable as the כלי and then get a ישראל to repair it- now it’s a new כלי made by a ישראל so it doesn’t require טבילה.