Toveling

Tag Archives: Toveling

Toveling Utensils in a Lake or River

By: Rabbi Mordechai Frankel

Summer 2013

Q: I am traveling, and there is no keilim mikvah in this area. May I tovel new utensils in a lake or river?

A: Metal, glass and glazed ceramic utensils which are purchased from a non-Jew and are used in the preparation and consumption of food require tevila before use.[1] A person may tovel utensils in “spring water” – water that flows naturally from under the ground. If a river has such water as its source, he can tovel his utensils in the river.[2] The river must contain at least forty se’ah of water, which calculates as 175 gallons of water.[3] An ocean or sea is halachically considered to be “spring water.”[4] Therefore, a person may tovel utensils in an ocean, sea, or river which has such water as its source. However, regarding a river which has “spring water” as its source, […]

The Mitzvah of Tevilas Keilim

By: Rabbi Moshe Heinemann

Reviewed February 2023

Click HERE for a convenient summary of tevilas keilim guidelines and a handy chart.

Introduction:
In His infinite wisdom, Hashem Yisborach has spiritually elevated the mundane activity of eating and has vested it with special sanctity, kedusha. The food we eat must be kosher, the table upon which we eat our meals represents the holy altar, the mizbeach. Similarly, the vessels and utensils (keilim) used for preparing food and for dining must be given special holiness. When these dishes and/or utensils have been previously owned by an aino Yehudi, we have to immerse these keilim, in a mikvah before their first use.

Keilim (vessels/utensils) can be categorized into three halachic groupings; utensils requiring tevila (immersion) with a brocha: utensils requiring tevila without a brocha; and utensils not requiring tevila at all. Utensils require tevila with a brocha when they have direct contact with food during preparation or meal time, […]