OU KASHRUT RABBI EZRA FRIEDMAN PAGE BY Director, The Gustave & Carol Jacobs Center for Kashrut Education
Immersion of Digital Kitchen Appliances
T
he previous article discussed the obligation to tovel (immerse) electrical appliances in a mikvah. Many basic electrical appliances such as water-urns, sandwich or waffle makers and hand blenders should be immersed in a mikvah. This article will take a look at the requirement to immerse digital appliances. Digital appliances are a more complex category with regard to immersion due to the potential damage that may be caused to the screen or chips found in the device. Some digital products contain removable parts which require immersion. For example, many oil-free compact fryers have a bottom compartment (similar to a drawer) which may be immersed. In this case, the digital screen will not be
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immersed in water. However, many newer multi-cookers or bread makers cannot be taken apart, and the same would apply to advanced digital water dispensers.
Another option is to sell part of the utensil to a non-Jew In a case where it is quite possible that the utensil would be seriously damaged, it would seem that the utensil should not be immersed in a mikvah. However, this is not so clear. According to the Darchei Teshuva (120:112), the utensil should be given to a non-Jew as a gift and the Jew may then borrow it for a long period of time (similar to a case where a utensil is too big for immersion). This option is problematic according to the Taz (YD 120:18) and Be’er Moshe (7:57), who consider this an inappropriate loophole. Another option is to sell part of the utensil to a non-Jew.
