Cheres - Limited Kashering Leniency

QUESTION: I have heard that under certain circumstances one may kasher ceramic utensils by performing hagalah three times. When does this leniency apply?

ANSWER: The Bal Ha’itur writes that according to the Yerushalmi an earthenware vessel may be kashered by performing hagalah three times after it has been left unused for 24 hours. This means the utensil is submerged into three different pots of boiling water. The Rashba writes that this leniency of the Yerushalmi applies only in very limited cases, such as when Kashering from “bishul akum.” Chazal required Jewish involvement in the cooking of certain foods, even if all the ingredients are kosher, as a means of avoiding intermarriage. The Rashba writes that if foods which have a bishul akum status were cooked in a pot, the pot must be kashered. Still, since the ingredients are kosher, and the need to kasher is due to the concern of intermarriage, we allow kashering ceramic if it is kashered three times. Shulchan Aruch (YD 113:16) follows this ruling of the Rashba.

Although Shulchan Aruch does not follow the opinion of the Bal Ha’itur (except regarding bishul akum), it is sometimes used by Poskim as an additional mitigating factor. If there are several reasons to be lenient not to require kashering an earthenware vessel, but the basis to be lenient is not conclusive, poskim might allow kashering the ceramic utensil by doing hagalah three times. For example, Rabbi Genack had heard from Rav Soloveitchik zt"l that his grandfather Rav Chaim inferred from the wording of the Rambam (Ma'aseh Korbanos 8:11) that one can kasher a dairy ceramic pot that had not been used in 24 hours that was accidentally used to cook meat. In this case, there is more room for leniency, because what was absorbed in the pot was kosher meat. Rav Soloveitchik relied on this when there were other mitigating factors.

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