Kashrut: Fact, Fiction, and In Between part 24

As I pointed out in my post about bugs, there is often a huge gap between theory and reality. Some avoid green vegetables altogether, as eating a bug involves transgressing five Biblical prohibitions. But, in fact, one would have to plan their bug-eating fairly well to transgress even one. In most cases, we are dealing with a rabbinic prohibition, with sufficient doubts that we technically needn't worry. Nevertheless, we do take precautions so as not to esteem the halachah lightly. The same is true of the status of kitchen furnishings. I am excluding the stove and oven, which I will deal with next time. Most kashrut "how-to" sites and periodicals take a super strict approach, believing that non-learned people will be likely to "mess up". Therefore, let's set the bar very high, and maybe they"ll get it right. One generally finds the kashering of sinks, tables, and counter tops dealt with as though we were kashering cooking or eating utensils. Perhaps your experience differs from mine, but I know very few people who heat up their counters and cook directly on them. Not only that, but all but the most careless people, use soap or detergent on these things. Thus, any residues of food that may have escaped our notice, will be rendered as "imparting a bad taste", and therefore meaningless in kashrut terms. Taking an extreme liberal view, is Rav Y. Abadi, who requires nothing more than a rinse with soapy water for counters, sinks, dishwashers, and tabletops, including for Passover preparation. Except for the sink, and some dishwashers, none of these normally reaches the threshold of "yad soledet" (the hand recoils). So there was likely never a forbidden situation to begin with. If there had been, a rinsing with soap would take care of that. The sink is a somewhat different story. We often pour boiling water into it. If it were an eating utensil, it would, indeed need a careful kashering. But it isn't an eating utensil. The only possible concern is if one left a piece of meat sitting in the sink (without soap), and then placed very hot dairy in the sink (likewise, without soap). In that case, a hot utensil could, in fact, become non-kosher. For a dishwasher, very few exceed 130 degrees F. If they do, the soap will take care of the rest.I am mentioning this to show to what extent keeping kosher is simple.Most people aren't as lenient as this, because they wish to avoid even a possibility of a problem. Most people either have separate sinks for meat and dairy, or keep a basin in the sink for meat, changing it for dairy. I also do this, but only as a stringency. It is sort of a "fail safe" measure. Even a super strict posek like Moshe Feinstein wrote that although it is better to use separate basins, there is no problem in using a single sink normally for both meat and dairy.Many other rabbis. such as Rav Ovadia Yosef, recommend some minimal kashering, but would grant that if not done, there is really no prohibition. One popular Lithuanian rabbi, writing in the '70s and '80s, wrote that lye must be poured down the drains before Passover, as "there is much edible food in the drainpipe". If he were still alive, I would drive to his home with a spoon, and put it in his drain and insist he eat it. This garbage has created insecurity in many. Especially for Passover, many people will use no hot water, for fear that the forbidden substances in one's neighbor's sink are being transmitted to ours through the hot water pipe!. Being careful is one thing, but making a mockery of the Torah is another. I will now explain a halachic principle that is essential for further understanding. Its halachic name is Nat Bar Nat (abbreviated from the Hebrew words "a taste giver, son of a taste giver"). If not dealing with forbidden foods, but with permitted meat and dairy, there is a limit to how far we must extend the concern of transmission of taste. If I cook meat in a pot, and then cook a potato in the pot (after the pot has been cleaned) that potato is pareve (neutral; neither dairy nor meat), One may eat that potato with sour cream. Ashkenazim go a step further. They would say that if done, it's OK, but in the first instance, one should not do this, but rather require a further step.If one subsequently heats that potato up in another pot with an egg, that egg may, even according to Ashkenazim, be eaten with dairy. (Most Sepharadim, unlike Ashkenazim, will not have pareve pots, so long as their meat or dairy pots are cleaned after use.) The taste of the original meat simply does not extend that far, hence, pareve food cooked in them remain pareve. All would agree that one cannot cook actual dairy in a meat pot. Now it should be clear why one need not be concerned about a countertop, and have little concern about a sink or dishwasher. A related issue is sharp food, cut with a knife. Ashkenazim consider this an exception to the above principles, posing a problem even if cold, and even if the knife was unused for more than twenty-four hours. I will discuss this further in a subsequent post, but suffice it to say for now that Sepharadic rabbis consider this a misinterpretation of sources. It's fine to be careful, but we must remember what is and isn't a genuine problem. The ways of the Torah are "ways of Pleasantness" (Proverbs 3:17). Relax and enjoy.