T'villath Kelim: The Halachik Sheretz

Disclaimer: As in all halachik discussions, what appears below is not meant as ruling, but as discussion only. Please discuss any practical applications with an orthodox rabbi.

When one buys a new utensil that will come in contact with prepared food from a gentile(see YD 120:1), we dip it in a mikva first. The Talmud Yerushalmi states as the reason, that 'the utensil is raised to the holiness of Israel'. If the utensil is 'pre-owned and used', it must first be halachikally 'cleansed' of the vestiges of prohibited taste that remain in the material of the vessel (hag'allah). The taste could come out in future cooking, and must be removed. Clearly, the preferred order is cleanse and then do tevillah. What if one dips it in the mikvah first, and then does hag'allah?

The Rashba (see him on Avodah Zara 75b) says that you must do tevillah again, after hag'allah. This is because doing tevillah first is tantamount to a person who is still holding an impure animal (sheretz) doing tevillah. How can it possibly work?!

The Riy, on the other hand, says that if one does the tevillah first, he may use the utensil for cold items immediately. This is because taste can only exit the vessel and enter the food when heat is applied. A utensil holding (most) cold things will not exude pent-up forbidden taste. The taste presents no danger. However, before using the vessel for hot foods, he must do hag'allah, but the tevillah from before will be sufficient, and no new tevillah is required.

The Shulchan Aruch, 121:2 mentions both opinions. The Shach (2:4) states that even according to the Rashba, if the owner had in mind to only use the utensil for cold items, the tevillah counts. If he later decides to use the utensil for hot foods, he will only do hag'allah, but the tevillah from before is still enough.

We see a difference in the way Rashba and Riy see taste in a vessel. The Rashba asks: What is the intended use of this utensil? If it is one that requires hag'allah, then no use is allowed until this is accomplished. Also, any tevillah done earlier is useless, because the taste, the sheretz, is present. On the other hand, the Riy holds that as long as there is some way for this vessel to be used immediately after tevillah, the taste is not considered a sheretz. Consequently, even with intention to use the utensil for hot foods, the taste does not impede the effectiveness of the tevillah. (See Tefillah L'moshe for a different reading of the Rashba.)

The Shach ends up trying to cover all bases by requiring a tevillah without a blessing after hag'allah. Pithchei Teshuva brings a source that holds that a blessing is required, ruling completely like the Rashba.

Again, the above is not meant as ruling, but as discussion only. Please discuss any practical applications with an orthodox rabbi.