Teshuvah, Onions and More

[Rabbi Aryeh Citron]

Parsha Halacha

Parshat Matot

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Teshuvah, Onions and More

In this week’s Parsha we read about the war that the Jewish people waged on Midian.[1] After winning the battle decisively, the Jewish people returned to their camp with the spoils of war. This included people (32,000 young girls), animals (of 808,000 assorted animals), and various other booty.

Elazar, the High Priest, proceeded to teach them how to kasher (render kosher) the food utensils they had captured. In his words: “Only the gold, the silver, the copper, the iron, the tin, and the lead. Whatever is used in fire you shall pass through fire and then it will be clean. It must, however, [also] be cleansed with sprinkling water, and whatever is not used in fire you shall pass through water.”[2]

This means that utensils used with:

·         Direct heat of fire (e.g., barbecue grills) must be kashered using direct heat.

·         Hot water (e.g., pots) must be kashered using hot water.

·         Those used with cold foodstuffs need simply be rinsed off.

The general principle is: “kebol’o kach polto.” The same way (and level of heat) the impurity was absorbed that is how it is extracted.[3]

·         In addition, if earthenware (e.g., ceramic, porcelain or china) absorbs flavors, these flavors can never be extracted, i.e., if the utensils absorb non-kosher food they can never be kashered but rather must be discarded. This is derived from the verse regarding sacrifices: “An earthenware vessel in which it is cooked shall be broken.”[4]

In addition, Elazar taught that most utensils acquired from a non - Jew must be immersed in a Mikvah before they may be used. See: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1230791/jewish/Immersion-of-Vessels-Tevilat-Keilim.htm for more information.

Spiritual Kashering

The methods of kashering utensils from impurities may also be applied to purifying ourselves of the impurities with which we (occasionally) contaminate ourselves.

One must expend (at least) as much effort in fixing a sin as one expended in committing that sin. The level of pain and regret one should feel for having committed the sin should be comparable to the level of pleasure and enjoyment that one felt when doing the sin. In addition, in order to rectify the root of the sin, one must find a similar amount (or greater) of pleasure in serving G-d as one experienced while sinning against G-d.

This is referred to as תשובת המשקל   (Teshuvat HaMishkal)  - a teshuvah of similar weight.[5]

In the words of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe:

“According to the person’s diligence in committing the sins, and the pleasure he had in them, he must correspondingly accept on himself to subjugate himself to the yoke of holiness, e.g., the yoke of Torah and … of Mitzvot… to be immersed in them and get pleasure from them. One who is a Ba’al nefesh, -master of his soul [and … wants to fix his soul,] the best way for him or her to do this is (to serve Hashem in a manner of) midah keneged midah (measure for a measure), meaning to say in similar matters. He should invest that same energy in holy matters, with greater strength.”[6]

Based on this, the above laws can be interpreted to teach us the following:

·         Anything which absorbed with heat must be kashered with heat, i.e. if a person sinned with passion and excitement, their Teshuva must be done with passion and emotional “fire”.

·         Something used with cold must simply be washed off, i.e. if a person sinned but did not do so with an intense desire, he must simply decide to no longer heed the call of his evil inclination. It is not necessary for him to impose strict acts of penance on himself.

·         An earthenware vessel cannot be koshered and must be broken, i.e., one who sinned extensively in such a manner that the evil penetrated his very being and is difficult to extract (this is similar to earthenware – see above) must “break his heart” with feelings of bitter remorse over his sins. G-d, in his mercy, is “close to those with broken hearts”[7] and will certainly accept his Teshuvah.[8] 

Old Utensils

If one mistakenly cooked in a clean, non-kosher utensil, but that utensil had not been used within the last 24 hours, the food is considered kosher. Similarly, if one used a milk pot to cook a meat dish or vice versa, but the pot in question had not been used (with meat or dairy respectively) for the previous 24 hours the food is deemed kosher.[9]

The reason for this is that the Talmud says that when a flavor is absorbed by a utensil and remains absorbed in its walls for the span of 24 hours, that flavor is considered to have been ruined and no longer contributes a good taste to the food.[10] The food that is cooked in such a pot is still considered kosher since its taste was not enhanced at all by the non-kosher food.

The only exception to this is if one cooks a sharp or very spicy food (e.g., one who fries onions or make a chili pepper sauce.) In such a case the food is forbidden even if it was cooked in an “old” non-kosher pot. The reason for this is that these foods have the capacity to transform stale flavors and make them palatable.[11] (See below)

In fact, by Torah law, once 24 hours have passed, a utensil no longer needs kashering. The rabbis, however, ruled that one must kasher pots even after 24 hours have passed, lest one mistakenly use non-kosher pots within those24 hours.[12]

Pots of Midian - Old or New?

The question has been asked: Why did the soldiers have to kasher the utensils captured from Midian when they returned? Certainly at least 24 hours had passed since they were last used by the Midianites for non-kosher food. By Torah law, such vessels should be considered kosher.

Several answers have been offered:

·         While the Jewish soldiers were on the way back from the war, their non - Jewish captives were using the utensils to cook their food. Thus, the non-kosher flavor was still “fresh.”[13]

·         Since the Torah had not yet forbidden the use of non-kosher vessels, the Jewish soldiers themselves had been cooking with these utensils while traveling back from the war.[14] The law is that if one cooks kosher food in a “fresh” non-kosher pot, the non-kosher taste gets refreshed and is considered a good taste for another 24 hours. This refreshing can continue indefinitely as long as each cooking session is within twenty four hours.[15] Therefore if one cooks with such a pot the food would be rendered non-kosher.

·         It has been suggested that the purpose of the Jewish soldiers kashering these utensils was to enable them to cook sharp foods in the pots.  As mentioned, the law is that cooking a sharp food in an “old” pot reinvigorates the taste and can therefore become forbidden (see below).[16]

Sharp Foods

As explained above, sharp foods have the capacity to transform bad tastes into good ones. In addition, sharp foods have the ability to extract the essential taste of the utensil in which they are being cooked or chopped. Therefore, they have the same status as that utensil. So, whereas if one cooked potatoes in a meat pan, the potatoes are not considered fleishik (meaty)[17], if one fries onions in a meat pan, the onions are considered fleishik.[18] The same applies if an onion (or another spicy food) was cut with a meat knife.[19]

Here is a brief digest of the laws in this regard.

Which Foods Are Sharp?[20]

Based on the Talmud,[21] Shulchan Aruch,[22] and later sources,[23] the following foods are considered sharp:

·         Radishes

·         Onions

·         Garlic

·         Horseradish

·         Hot peppers

·         Ginger

·         Lemons

·         Leeks

·         Salty herring

·         Spicy pickles

·         All foods that are difficult to eat on their own due to their spiciness

Some include:

·         Sour apples[24]

·         Tart fruits

Most of the above foods lose their sharpness after being cooked.[25]

Practical Applications

If a person cut one of the above foods with a dairy or meat knife, that food is considered to be milchik (dairy) or fleishik (meaty) respectively. This is true even if the knife had not been used within the previous 24 hours.[26]

Some say that the entire food becomes milchik or flieshik in the above cases.[27] Some say that only a finger’s depth on either side of the “cut” acquires that status.[28] However, it is better to be strict in this regard.[29]

Similarly, if one fries spicy foods in an “old” pan, the foods attain the status of the pot and are considered to have the same status as that pan.[30]

Becoming Fleishik

Despite the above, one need not wait six hours after eating an onion that was cooked in a meat pot or cut with a meat knife before drinking milk.[31] If however, one is fleishik (i.e., they are within six hours of having consumed meat), they may not eat onions cooked in a dairy pot or cut with a meat knife.[32] Some permit this.[33]

It is recommended that one use a pareve knife to cut onions and similar foods. Doing so will save one from many Halachic complications.

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[1] Numbers, 31

[2] Ibid, 22 and 239

[3] See O.C. 451

[4] Levit. 6, 21

[5] See Roke’ach, Hilchot Teshuvah no. 6, Shela Sha’ar Ha’otiyot, page 71, Menorat HaMa’or of Rav Yisrael ben Yosef Alankuah, Hilchot Teshuvah, Noda BeYehuda, O.C. 35, Bait Yisrael by Rav Alter Shapiro, end of Parshat Metzorah.

Several examples of this concept:

 

·         The Mishkan (Sanctuary in the desert) was built with large amounts of gold. Since the Jews had sinned by worshipping the Golden Calf, they had to atone for this by using gold to serve G-d (Midrash Pli’ah im Biur Zichron Menachem, beginning of Parshat Pikudie).

·         Similarly, it was Aharon that had to be involved in consecrating the Mishkan since he was involved in the building of the Golden Calf.

·         In order to atone for sins done in private (particularly sins of thought), one must study Torah in private (No’am Elimelch Parshat Ki Tavo).

[6] Sefer HaMa’amarim, 5683, pg. 253

[7] Psalms, 34, 19

[8] Avodat Yisrael of the Kozhnitzer Maggid, end of Drush for Shabbat HaGadol.

[9] See Y.D. 122

[10] Avodah Zara 75b and 76a

[11] See Y.D. 96

[12] Avodah Zarah ibid

[13] Ritva 67b See there for an alternate explanation.

[14] Kraisi Uplaisi, Y.D. 103, 6

[15] See Shach Y.D. 94, 22

[16] See Pardes Yosef on Numbers ibid This answer does not seem to be correct based on Avodah Zara 75b.

[17] See Y.D. 95 This is known as the principle of Nat bar Nat (a twice diminished taste). But see Rama there (se’if 2) that in the first place such foods should not be mixed with foods of the opposite “gender” (whether meat or milk).

[18] See Y.D. 103, 6

[19] Ibid, 96, 1

[20] Concerning cutting with “old” knives, the Mechaber seems to rule that these foods do not have the power to transform a bad taste to a good one (96, 1). Concerning cooking in an “old” pot he rules that spicy foods can reinvigorate the taste (103, 6). See Rabbi Akiva Eiger (on Siman 96, Taz 10) as to how to resolve this contradiction.

In any case, the Halacha for Sefardim on this matter are slightly more lenient than for Ashkenazim.  One should consult their Rabbi.

[21] Avodah Zarah 39a, Chullin 11b

[22] Y.D. ibid

[23] See Shach and Taz on ibid See also “Davar Charif” by Rabbi Moshe Tuviah Dinkel, chapter 2

[24] See Bait Yosef Y.D. 96 D.H. Katuv BeOrchot Chayim

[25] See Pitchai Teshuvah on Y.D. ibid, 4

[26] Y.D. ibid, 1 second opinion brought in the Mechaber

[27] Rama ibid in the name of the Rashba

[28] Mechaber, ibid in the name of the Ra’avad and other Rishonim

[29] Sefardim may follow the more lenient view

[30] Y.D. 103, 6

[31] See Shach 10 on Y.D. 89, and Rabbi Akiva Eiger and Bait Meir there

[32] Pri Megadim on O.C. Eishel Avraham, 494, 6 I also heard this ruling from Rav Moshe Shaul Klien in Bnei Brak.

[33]See Darkei Teshuvah, 42 on ibid