Contemporary Questions of Tevilat Keilim

Question:

1.     Do metal and glass utensils manufactured outside of Israel and then brought into Israel require Tevilat Keilim?

2.     Do plastic utensils require Tevilat Keilim?

My Introduction: This week’s halacha is one where the analysis is certainly more interesting than the halachic conclusions. In short, yes, we must assume that all utensils coming from outside of Israel require tevilat keilim and no, plastic utensils need not be toveled at all. If all you want is the bottom line, you can stop reading here.

Answer: The Talmud (Avoda Zara 75b) says that utensils used with food that are purchased from a non-Jew require tevila even if they are brand new and were not used by the non-Jew at all. The source comes from the Torah: אך את הזהב ואת הכסף את הנחושת את ברזל ואת העופרת, כל דבר אשר יבוא באש תעבירו באש וטהר.. אך במי נדה יתחטא.

Chazal interpret the “water of niddah” to mean the type of water that a niddah is tovel in, i.e. the forty se’ah of a mikvah. In other words, after the Jews took the utensils from the Midyanim, they kashered them, but that was not enough. Kashering removes the non-kosher flavoring in the pots, but there is still a need for tevilat keilim which applies even to new utensils.

The Talmud Yerushalmi explains the taam hamitzvah hereas once the utensil leaves the possession of a non-Jew and moves into the kedusha of a Jew it must be “made holy” through the mikvah. Some actually compare this to just as a non-Jew who wants to convert to the holiness of Judaism; he must go into the mivkah. So too, utensils require immersion before a Jew can use them.

Finally, when immersing Metal and Glass utensils one must make a bracha. Plastic materials will need to be discussed below.

Q:#1 – Utensils Brought into Israel

At first glance this should be simple. Outside of Israel the majority of people and companies that manufacture utensils are not Jewish. Thus, it should be obvious that tevila should be required. So what is the question here?

The other side of this story revolves around a fascinating question about the rule of ספק ברכות להקל, that generally speaking in the topic of brachot, if there is a doubt if a bracha is warranted, you should be lenient and not recite the bracha. The logic is that saying a bracha that is not needed is likened to taking Hashem’s name in vain, a violation of לא תשא את שם ה׳ אלקך לשוא,  which is amongst the most severe sins. Therefore, with brachot that are typically Rabbinic in nature, when in halachic doubt, don’t say one.

So, in our case where the utensils come from out of Israel, although there is the rule of majority that tells us the likelihood is this come from a non-Jew and thus needs tevila with a bracha, perhaps ספק ברכות להקל  should come into play and tell us not to make one.

Rav Ovadia explains that we should distinguish between two kinds of doubt:

1.     The type of doubt where we generally apply ספק ברכות להקל  would be in a case of a מחלקת הפוסקים. When there is a מחלקת הפוסקים as to what the proper halacha is in a certain situation, although אחרי רבים להטות, that we follow the majority opinion, tells us which opinion to act like, we do not actually leave the minority opinion behind completely. In other words, we remain somewhat in doubt. The reason is that had the poskim with different opinions had the opportunity to get in a room and talk the issue out, perhaps the majority would have convinced the minority to concede to their view. For this reason, with brachot we would be lenient and not risk taking Hashem’s name in vain.

2.     However, when there is a majority is a natural reality, like in our case, the natural reality is that the majority of people outside of Israel are not Jewish. In this situation אחרי רבים להטות tells us that the minority is completely subsumed and ignored. Therefore, in our case we can state unequivocally that the utensil comes from a non-Jew and requires tevila. Therefore, you can ignore the minority and recite a bracha.

Another example of this would be on Purim, where we have a city that is in doubt if it was a walled city in the days of יהושע בן נון, and therefore we are not sure if we read megillah on the 15^th of Adar like walled cities or the 14^th of Adar like non-walled cities. The halacha is we go by the majority and since the majority of the cities in the world, the natural reality, is non-walled cities, we read in that city on the 14^th (and again on the 15^th without a bracha). We read it with all the brachot, despite there being some doubt; the majority subsumes the minority.

Q:#2 – Do Plastic Utensils Require Tevila?

The Talmud in Avoda Zara (75b) says that earthenware utensils do NOT need tevila because when the Torah instructs us to do tevilat keilim it only spoke of Metal Utensils. Then Chazal added מדרבנן  that you are required to tovel glass utensils since they share a similar property with metal. Just as a metal utensil can be melted down and then rebuilt, so too, glass utensils can be broken down (albeit by a professional glazier) and reformed back into a new glass utensil. For this reason, Chazal required glass utensils to be immersed.

Rav Ovadia questions if we should compare plastic utensils to glass ones in that they too can be broken down and rebuilt. However he quotes the שו׳׳ת מלמד להועיל who writes that plastic does not require tevila because we do not extend the gezeirot, the added restrictions of Chazal and if they did not require it by plastic, we need not extend it there. Rav Ovadia then quotes a number of other poskim who agree with this and elaborate that especially since plastic was not in existence during the times of Chazal there is no reason to extend the prohibition to it. Presumably this means that these poskim do not require tevila at all. However, there are a few poskim who suggest to be stringent and tovel the utensils but WITHOUT a bracha. Rav Ovadia concludes that this is not necessary and one need not tovel plastic utensils at all.

Summary:

1.     We must assume that all utensils coming from outside of Israel require Tevilat Keilim.

2.      Plastic utensils need not be toveled at all.

Other Links to Laws of Tevilat Keilim and Which Type of Utensils Require Tevila

https://www.kashrut.com/articles/tevilas_keilim/

https://www.star-k.org/articles/articles/1168/the-mitzvah-of-tevilas-keilim/

https://www.star-k.org/articles/kosher-lists/1170/tevilas-keilim-guidelines/

(Summary based on יחוה דעת חלק ג׳ סימן ס׳)

What You Do If You Forget Ya'aleh V'yavo in Shachrit of Rosh Chodesh?

Question: An individual who davens Shachrit on Rosh Chodesh and forgets יעלה ויבא and realizes this after saying Musaf, does he have to repeat Shemone Esre of Shachrit?

Introduction:

Three Situations need to be explored:

1.     You realize your mistake before Chazarat Hashatz of Shachrit?

2.     You realize your mistake after Chazarat Hashatz of Shachrit, but before Musaf?

3.     You realize your mistake after Musaf, during the time for Mincha?

Important issue at hand:

Is forgetting יעלה ויבא like you didn’t daven at all or is it that you just failed to mention Rosh Chodesh?

Answer:

Sub-topic 1

The Talmud in Brachot 30b says: טעה ולא הזכיר ראש חודש בשחרית אין מחזירים אותו, מפני שיכול לאומרה בתפילת המוספין. אמר רבי יוחנן, ובצבור שנו.

“If someone forgot יעלה ויבא in Shachrit of Rosh Chodesh, we do not make him repeat it since he can still say it in Musaf. Rebbi Yochanan qualifies this as one davening בצבור.

What does בצבור mean and imply? Is it talking about the location we are davening in or is it talking about the שליח ציבור?

1.     Rashi -It is the location – since you are davening with a minyan and can still listen to the chazan repeat the shemone esre to be yotzei the requirement of יעלה ויבא, you need not repeat your personal Shachrit shemone esre. But an individual who is davening at home without a minyan must repeat it.

2.     Baal Halachot Gedolot, Rif and Rambam and many other poskim – This is only addressing the chazan; if he forgets יעלה ויבא in his personal shemone esre we do not make him repeat it as that would be a טירחא דציבור, an inconvenience to the congregation if they had to wait for him to repeat his Shemone Esre before proceeding with the services. In addition, he does have the opportunity to mention Rosh Chodesh in Musaf. But an individual who forgets יעלה ויבא would have to repeat it no matter where he is davening, at home and even in shul.

3.     Talmidei Rabeinu Yonah seem to have a middle approach – they say that it is addressing the chazan and he does not have to repeat shemoe esre so as not to inconvenience the congregation and he still has musaf where he can mention Rosh Chodesh. But they also say that an individual who forgets יעלה ויבא but remembers before the repetition of shemone esre can listen to every word with the chazan and be yotsei that way; then he need not repeat his personal shemone esre.

Shulchan Aruch paskins like the Rif/Rambam – thus an individual must repeat his shemone esre regardless of where he is davening.

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Sub-topic 2

Question: What it the individual has already said Musaf, which mentions Rosh Chodesh, then realizes he didn’t add יעלה ויבא to Shachrit – does he still have to repeat it?

1.     רמ׳׳ע מפאנו – he need not repeat Shachrit and certainly should not say mincha twice to make up for it later. Since he mentioned Rosh Chodesh, perhaps that is enough and then when in doubt we would not require him to repeat all those brachot of shemone esre. The Magen Avraham agrees with this.

2.     Pri Chadash argues that we still would have to repeat the shemone esre. We do not treat this as a case of doubt. He reasons that the halacha here even in a case where you are unsure if you said יעלה ויבא or not is you must repeat it; thus doubt is not a reason to keep you from repeating. Similarly here when you are certain you missed it in Shachrit and then said Musaf. The Talmud made no mention of any difference had you already said Musaf; thus the halacha remains that an individual would have to repeat shachrit shemone esre. The Sefardic Posek, Chida rules this way as well.

What is the logic of this machloket about?

Mishnat Yaavitz explains this machloket revolves around the issue of how we view forgetting יעלה ויבא, is it like we didn’t daven at all or just that we failed to mention Rosh Chodesh?

He quotes another machloket rishonim that is mentioned by Tosfot in Brachot 26b –

What is the halacha if you forget יעלה ויבא in mincha of Rosh Chodesh? Do you have to do תפילת תשלומין in maariv and say maariv twice?

1.     Rabbeinu Yehuda and Meiri say NO – what would be the point? You already said mincha, but missed יעלה ויבא, but you are not going to even say that in maariv as Rosh chodesh is over. So what would you gain by saying maariv twice? (This is not comparable to someone who missed the entire mincha on Shabbat and he must say mariv twice on Saturday night. Even though he is not mentioning Shabbat, he missed mincha completely so that must be made up.)

2.     Rif and Rosh argue! They say you must say maariv twice because missing יעלה ויבא in mincha is like you did not daven at all! Therefore, it needs to be made up in maariv even though you will not mention יעלה ויבא.

Mishnat Yaavitz says that these debates go together.

1.     Rabbeinu Yehuda and Meiri believe that missing יעלה ויבא is not integral to the full shemone esre and that’s why you need not say maariv twice. Accordingly, this would line up with the רמ׳׳ע מפאנו that if you already said musaf, you mentioned rosh chodesh and need not repeat shachrit.

2.     Rif and Rosh clearly hold missing יעלה ויבא is like not davening at all. Accordingly they would line up with Pri Chadash who says even if you said Musaf you must repeat Shachrit since the shachrit you said did not count at all. Just mentioning Rosh chodesh in musaf wouldn’t suffice.

To summarize:

1.     Even if you said musaf, you would have to repeat Shachrit. If it is too late for Shachrit, you would say mincha twice.

2.     If you forgot יעלה ויבא in mincha, you would say maariv twice.

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Sub-topic #3

Question: In cases where you repeat Shachrit, do you need to put on your tefillin?

1.     The Talmud in Brachot 15a says, הרוצה שיקבל עליו עול מלכות שמים שלמה יניח תפילין ויקרא קריאת שמע ומתפלל. Based on this the halacha is that one should always daven with his tefillin on. The Magen Avraham even says that if you are in shul without any tefillin, it is better to wait for others to finish so you can borrow tefillin and then say shema and shemone esre with tefillin even though you will miss תפילה בציבור. Plus if you add the opinion above that failing to say יעלה ויבא is like you did not daven at all, it would seem that you should put tefillin on later when making up the Shachrit shemone esre, either if saying shachrit again or a second mincha if you missed the zman of shachrit.

2.     Rav Shimon Greenfield in his teshuvot argues that davening with your tefillin is only the preferable thing, but it is ok to daven without them. Accordingly, he says that once you removed your tefillin you need not put them back on. Many others agree with this, but some say it depends on how inconvenient it will be for you; if it is not inconvenient then perhaps it is better to don your tefillin before repeating shemone esre. (Presumably if you are making it up at mincha and do not have tefillin you need not go out of your way to find tefillin.)

Rav Ovadia’s Summary:

1.     If an individual forgets יעלה ויבא on Rosh Chodesh, he MUST repeat shemone esre, regardless of if he is davening at home or in shul and even if he already said Musaf. It is preferable to put on tefillin.

2.     If you only realize this mistake when it is time for mincha, you should say mincha twice (the first one counting for mincha and the second to make up for shachrit), saying יעלה ויבא in both, but you need not put on tefillin.

(Summary based on יחוה דעת חלק ו׳ סימן ו׳)