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The idea of giving an item that is difficult to immerse in a mikvah to a non-Jew and then borrowing it back is known to me (see for example the answer from “Lechayam” to the related question Electric Appliances and Mikva) .

But Star-K only allow it for one day:

“Another suggestion would be to give the utensil in question to a non-Jew as an outright gift and borrow it back from the non-Jew. However, this procedure only helps for one day, such as for Shabbos.”

I have heard another idea – to give the utensil in question to another Jew as an outright gift and borrow it back from him.

Is there a source for this idea?

Community
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Avrohom Yitzchok
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1 Answers1

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Tosfos says explicitly (A"Z 75b sv אבל שואלין לא) that a utensil borrowed from another Jew would still be obligated in tevila - once the object is owned by a Jew, it becomes obligated in tevilas kelim, unlike a case where it's still owned by a non-Jew.

Not sure why the star-k article linked to in the question says that, as long as the item still belongs to a non-Jew there's no obligation to tovel it. It could be that it's best to avoid "borrowing" since it could lead to problems, and people might accidentally "steal" their utensils back, but technically as long as the non-Jew owns it there's no obligation to tovel.

MTL
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Oysergevaintlach
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  • +1, great answer! ....I hope you don't mind that I edited your answer, but I thought that some links might make it look prettier.....if you don't like something I did you can always fix it here – MTL Sep 17 '14 at 03:18
  • And welcome to Mi Yodeya! – MTL Sep 17 '14 at 03:19
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    But what if it never became obligated under the ownership of the first Jew because it wasn't Klei Seudah at the time? – Double AA Sep 17 '14 at 03:20
  • Thanks @Shokhet! Looks much better.. @doubleAA According to the Gemara above, only obligated to tovel the kli if it was a kli seuda when acquired from the non-Jew. If a Jew makes it into a kli seuda, then not obligated to tovel. – Oysergevaintlach Sep 18 '14 at 03:59