Duchka D'Sakina - Switching Status

QUESTION: I have a very sharp milchig knife that I hardly use. May I kasher it and switch it to become fleishig?

ANSWER: The Magen Avraham (509:11) writes that the accepted minhag is not to kasher utensils from milchigs to fleishigs or vice versa. The concern is that if this was allowed, one might switch back and forth and one will forget the status of the utensil and inadvertently use it for fleishigs when it was still milchigs or vice versa. The Aruch Hashulchan (509:10) disagrees with the Magen Avraham and argues that we do not currently have the proper level of Rabbinic authority to institute new prohibitions. Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe YD I:43:6) supports the Magen Avraham and maintains that establishing a minhag does not require Rabbinic authority. Furthermore, Rav Moshe (YD III:25) suggests that it may be an actual Rabbinic prohibition to have only one utensil and use it for both dairy and meat, even if one kashers it between. This is based on the Gemara (Chullin 8b) that a butcher must have separate knives for cutting kosher meat and non-kosher fats. Since these knives are used regularly, we may not assume that the butcher will remember to clean them between uses. The Mishnah Berurah (451:19 and 509:25) writes that if one is kashering the knife for Pesach or for any other reason, at that point one may change the status of the knife from milchigs to fleishigs. The Maharsham (2:241) permitted kashering from milchigs to fleishigs if the utensil had not been used in 12 months.

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