Gevinas Akum - Utensils

Q. I accidentally cooked a product that contains gevinas akum (non-kosher cheese) in my kosher pot. The amount of cheese was relatively small. Must the pot be kashered?

A. The Rema (YD 115:1) writes that we are required to kasher utensils that were used with hot gevinas akum, just as is the case with any non-kosher food. The Shach (115:17) elaborates that although certain Rabbinic prohibitions such as Bishul Akum and Pas Akum (certain foods made without Jewish involvement) are treated more leniently than Biblical prohibitions and are batel b’rov (nullified with a simple majority), gevinas Akum is treated more strictly and is only batel bishishim (a one to sixty ratio). The Shach explains why there is this distinction. The Rabbis prohibited gevinas Akum because it may be produced with non-kosher rennet. Non-kosher rennet is Biblically prohibited. Since gevinas Akum may be Biblically prohibited, the laws of bitul for gevinas akum are stringent as well and a sixty to one ratio is required. On the other hand, the prohibitions of Bishul Akum and Pas Akum were enacted not for reasons of kashrus, but rather for social considerations, and therefore the rules of bitul for these items are more lenient.

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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.