The laws of immersing vessels in the Mikveh, according to the rulings of Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef ZT”L
Which dishes are subject to immersion in the Mikveh?
The immersion obligation applies to vessels made of metal, glass, Pyrex and Duralex vessels imported from abroad.
Dishes made of plastic, nylon, wood or pottery as well as any porcelain dishes are exempt from immersion. Today, in many places in the world, most of the porcelain dishes are coated with glass, and therefore need immersion.
Pottery that is coated inside and out with glass needs to be immersed in a Mikveh with a blessing.If they are covered only from the inside, then we immerse them in the Mikveh without reciting the Beracha.
Vessels imported from outside of Israel are presumed to have been made in gentile factories, and they require immersion in the Mikveh.
Examples of dishes that need immersion:
Dinnerware that needs immersion includes eating and drinking utensils (plates, glasses, cups, cutlery, etc.), utensils for storing groceries (bottles or boxes that hold drinks or foods such as bread, sugar, vegetables, etc.), cooking, frying, and baking utensils (pots cooking and baking, pans, ladles, skewers, etc.), tools for preparing food (such as the parts of the mixer that touch the food), dishes for serving food to the table, and more.
When it comes to a vessel made by a gentile and used for non-kosher foods, it requires both immersion and kosherizing (Hagala or Libun). This vessel must be first kosherized, and then immersed in the mikvah.
How is immersing dishes done?
When dipping the dishes, the dish should be loose in one’s hand. The water needs to touch the entire vessel, both inside and outside. The entire vessel must be in the water, and even if it is a large vessel, all of it must be immersed.
You can immerse dishes in places , such as lakes, seas, rivers, springs and wells, as well as in a Mikveh kelim.
When dipping the vessel,one should make sure that there is no obstruction between the vessel and the water, such as the hand holding the vessel, rust, any dirt or stickers.
A vessel in which there is doubt as to whether it requires to be immersed in a Mikveh or not, one may immerse it with another vessel that certainly requires immersion, and recite a Beracha for both vessels.If one does not have a vessel that surely requires immersion ,then you immerse the vessel that you are doubting if needs immersion or not without reciting a blessing.
Do Electric vessels need immersion, if yes how?
Electric utensils that come into contact with food, such as kettles toasters ect…, require immersion, but may be damaged by contact with water. How can you immerse them without spoiling them?
Here are some halachic opinions:
Immerse the entire vessel except for the electrical part (Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Sh”Ut Egrot Moshe, Yore Dea, 1, 17).
Another opinion is to ask a Jewish technician to take the tool apart a little, a professional disassembly and he will reassemble it, and this is how the making of the tool was actually done by a Jew, and then the tool is exempt from immersion
Some say that if it's a vessel that it is impossible to immerse it, one may give it to a non-Jew as a present on condition that he lends it back to you and the vessel will not be obligated in Tevilat Kelim (immersion).
Bevirkat Shabbat Shalom Umevorch
David Azerad
