Do Aluminum Foil and Disposable Aluminum Pans Require Tevilas Keilim Before Use?

Although we have seen that, in general, utensils made from aluminum do require tevilas keilim (albeit only as a rabbinic requirement) many poskim hold that there is no requirement for disposable utensils such as aluminum foil and aluminum pans. Minchas Yitzchak (5:32) writes that disposable utensils do not require tevilah. Even though ordinary utensils cannot be used even once without toiveling, a utensil that can only be used once is not considered a utensil at all and is therefore exempt. Igros Moshe (Yoreh De’ah 3:23) goes even further, and says that even if the pan can be reused another one or two times before having to be thrown away, it is still viewed as being disposable and does not require tevilah. Nevertheless, some have the custom to toivel aluminum pans. Everyone should follow their custom. There is no basis in Halacha for the common misconception that non-disposable utensils may be used once without immersion in a mikvah.

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.