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Tevilat Keilim: Difference between revisions

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conversion of kelim from issur vehetter
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The Torah commands us to immerse metal  <Ref> Gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead are all types of metal. </ref> utensils that are purchased or otherwise acquired from a non-Jew in a mikva prior to their first use.  <ref> Bamidbar 31:23; Rashi, Avoda Zara 75b </ref> This mitzva is referred to as "tevilat keilim", the immersion of utensils. It is suggested that tevilat keilim, which appears in the Torah following the battle with the Midianites, was a mitzva intended to remove impurity from the utensils which had been in the presence of the dead. <ref> Rashi;Bamidbar 31:23 </ref>
The Torah commands us to immerse metal  <Ref> Gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead are all types of metal. </ref> utensils that are purchased or otherwise acquired from a non-Jew in a mikva prior to their first use.  <ref> Bamidbar 31:23; Rashi, Avoda Zara 75b </ref> This mitzva is referred to as "tevilat keilim", the immersion of utensils. It is suggested that tevilat keilim, which appears in the Torah following the battle with the Midianites, was a mitzva intended to remove impurity from the utensils which had been in the presence of the dead. <ref> Rashi;Bamidbar 31:23 </ref>


The mitzva of tevilat keilim is often compared to the conversion of a Gentile to Judaism - just as a conversion to Judaism requires immersion in a mikva, so too a utensil which "converts" from Gentile to Jewish ownership requires immersion, as well.  <Ref> Rashba;Yevamot 47b,Yerushalmi Avoda Zara 5:16 </ref> One is not required to immerse utensils which one borrows from a non-Jew.  <Ref>S”A Y.D. 120:8, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 37:5 </ref>As we will see, the mitzva of tevilat keilim generally applies only to metal and glass utensils.
The mitzva of tevilat keilim is often compared to the conversion of a Gentile to Judaism - just as a conversion to Judaism requires immersion in a mikva, so too a utensil which "converts" from Gentile to Jewish ownership requires immersion, as well.  <Ref> Rashba (Yevamot 47b) and Issur veHetter HeAroch (Shaar 58 Ot 76) citing Yerushalmi Avoda Zara 5:16 </ref> One is not required to immerse utensils which one borrows from a non-Jew.  <Ref>S”A Y.D. 120:8, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 37:5 </ref>As we will see, the mitzva of tevilat keilim generally applies only to metal and glass utensils.


==Basics==
==Basics==