Aino Ben Yomo - Non-Kosher Bowl

QUESTION: I have a non-kosher bowl that has not been used in 24 hours. It is perfectly clean. May I use the pot for mixing cold ingredients?

ANSWER: The Rama (YD 121:5) writes that one may use a non-kosher pot or bowl with cold foods (even before it has been kashered, so long as this is an occasional use (derech ara’i), such as, if one is staying in the home of a non-Jew, or one is home, but a kosher bowl is not available. However, on an ongoing basis (derech kevah), one is not permitted to use a non-kosher pot even with cold foods. This is because we are afraid that if one is permitted to use the pot regularly with cold foods, the person may forget that the pot is not kosher and mistakenly cook in this pot as well.  

The Pri Megadim (Sifsei Daas 91:3) writes that this allowance to temporarily use of a non-kosher bowl with cold food applies only to a bowl that can be kashered. If it can be kashered, we assume the person will kasher the utensil, and the non-kosher use will be temporary. In contrast, if the pot cannot be kashered, it is likely that the use will become long term, in which case the person might not remember the non-kosher status, and the utensil might be used with heat. A non-kosher ceramic bowl cannot be kashered and therefore it may not be used even on a temporary basis for cold food.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.