Cheres - Long Time Lapse

QUESTION: I have heard people say that if a ceramic utensil became non-kosher, it can be put away for a year, and after a year it becomes kosher again without kashering. Is this correct?

ANSWER: The Chacham Tzvi (siman 75) writes that if a pot was not used for twelve months, the absorbed taste (ta’am) in the pot completely dissipates. Therefore, if this was a chametz pot that had not been used for a year, and it was accidentally used on Pesach, even if it was used to cook spicy foods, the Chacham Tzvi asserts that the food would be permitted on Pesach. Most authorities disagree with the Chacham Tzvi. Even the Chacham Tzvi writes that one may not use the pot lechatchila, as there is still a Rabbinic requirement to kasher the pot. Although there is no longer any absorbed taste, one must still go through the motions of kashering the pot, lest one become confused and conclude that non-kosher pots may be used without kashering, even without waiting 12 months. Since ceramic cannot be kashered, even after waiting 12 months it still cannot be used lechatchila.

Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l (Igros Moshe YD 2:46) writes that if one follows the rationale of the Chacham Tzvi, there is a basis to permit using a ceramic utensil after twelve months without kashering. Still, Rav Moshe maintains that this may not be relied on, since most authorities do not accept the ruling of the Chacham Tzvi. Nevertheless, Rav Moshe writes that in certain cases of great necessity, one may combine this understanding of the Chacham Tzvi with other mitigating factors, such as kashering three times. In all such cases, a rabbi should be consulted.

___________________________________________________

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.