Duchka D'Sakina - Cold Foods
QUESTION: I bought a large knife from a non-Jewish neighbor at a garage sale. I only plan on using it to slice watermelons. Can I kasher it with ne’itza (special method of abrasive cleaning)?
ANSWER: Here is a brief summary regarding using non-kosher vessels with cold food:
- Cold food may be placed in clean, non-kosher vessels without further preparation.
- A non-kosher knife has a more stringent status, and it can be used to slice most cold foods only after ne’itza is performed.
- Some allow the use of a non-kosher knife to slice an onion, or spicy food, if ne’itza was performed. Others say ne’itza is inadequate for this situation.
However, all the above allowances are only for temporary use. Rama (YD 121:7) writes that one may not use a non-kosher vessel or a non-kosher knife that was prepared with ne’itza on an ongoing basis, out of concern that one may forget that the vessel or knife was not kashered and may use it with hot foods. If one wanted to use a non-kosher knife on a one-time basis to slice watermelon, it can be kashered with ne’itza. After ne’itza it must be toveled in a mikvah before being used, even though one is only planning on using it one time.
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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.