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Does a kettle 1, whose body made of plastic, need tevila? (Do we consider the body, or the metallic resistor?)

1 A very classic electrical kettle, ie a jug with a warming resistor immersed into the liquid. There is an electric-connected base so that when the you put the kettle on the base, current flows through the resistor and water comes to ebullition. Afterwards you take the jug from the basis and you can bring it to the table.

mbloch
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yO_
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  • Always CYLOR for a final decision in real halachic matters. – ezra Apr 02 '18 at 13:04
  • Without a picture or clearer description of the kind of item you are talking about, I don't see how anyone can answer this. Some people below made guesses (maybe not even the same guesses) but that's not how this site is supposed to work and just adds to the lack of usability of the answers – Double AA Apr 02 '18 at 13:07

2 Answers2

5

Plastic doesn't require tevila but metal does (d'oraita according to many, see OU here under A). As such, if the metallic resistor touches the water (and I assume it does) then you need tevila with a blessing.

On utensils made of metal and plastic, kashrut.com (on top, letter b) writes

A utensil made of a material requiring tevilah should be immersed inclusive of any plastic or wooden parts attached to it. A utensil made of wood or plastic requires tevilah if any metal is attached to it, providing that the metal touches the food and is vital for the utensil’s use. A utensil made of separable parts requires tevilah only for its metal parts.

The OK writes

Electrical equipment that comes into direct contact with food requires tevila – for example, if one has an electric water urn, electric hot plate or popcorn maker, one needs to toivel at least the parts (if they come apart) of the equipment that touches the food. The wire does not need to be toiveled. (Some poskim hold that the wire should be toiveled.) It is preferable to wait a few days until the appliance is completely dry after it was toiveled before using. If one is concerned that it may get ruined, one should discuss this matter with a rov.

Kashrut.com here says the same for a pyrex kettle and practicalhalacha here for a tea kettle.

For more sources see Kof-K bottom of p. 5.

And as always (thanks Ezra for the reminder), don't trust what strangers write on the Internet and ask a rav for practical rulings.

mbloch
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  • OK, I see there is two problems here: 1) how to determine the essential material of a keli made of several 2) whether an electrical earth makes the keli "made to be connected to the ground". The question was about the first part, even if a practical psak (that is not the intent here) on the kettle problem depends also of the second part. So, your link from Kashrut.com (item b) answers to the question. Maybe consider editing your answer to emphasize it and quoting it? – yO_ Apr 02 '18 at 20:03
  • @yO_ this is a good point, thanks for this - and I did adaopt your suggestion – mbloch Apr 03 '18 at 04:42
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There are many poskim that hold that electric items do not need tevila at all since they are not really food utensils.

Any object that is made to be used when connected to the ground does not need tevila.

This is derived from the Shev Yaakov (Question 31) who talks about large pots that are fixed to ovens. From this the modern poskim derived that toasters etc do not require tevila.

A long discussion about this (in Hebrew) can be found here: enter link description here

theblitz
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  • Are there really that many poskim who hold this? – Double AA Apr 02 '18 at 12:10
  • @DoubleAA The link is well worth the read. I saw a few days ago that Rav Shlomo Zalman said it too but now I can't find the link. So, I can't substantiate that. – theblitz Apr 02 '18 at 12:29
  • @DoubleAA One important point is that most electrical items are earthed so they really are connected to the ground. BTW, my the rav Rabbi Cooper said this MANY years ago. – theblitz Apr 02 '18 at 12:30
  • I don't see why it's relevant how many years ago Rabbi Cooper said this. Also it's factually not true that these items need to be attached to the ground; a car battery on the counter will totally do the trick. Remember as well that everything not flying in the air is grounded. The fact that some electrical appliances have a metal edge which allows them to be grounded via a very low electric resistance pathway is obviously halakhically irrelevant, unless you want to define a maximal number of Ohms required to be "grounded". – Double AA Apr 02 '18 at 12:34
  • This footnote quotes R Shlomo Zalman (among many others) as obligating a toaster to be dipped http://halachipedia.com/index.php?title=Tevilat_Keilim#cite_note-50 – Double AA Apr 02 '18 at 12:43
  • @DoubleAA see many sources bottom of 5 & 6 of here - when seeing this I think the minimum would be to toivel without bracha. What I personally would do in case of doubt and in practice is to toivel something with bracha before with the intent that the bracha also applies to the electric appliance in case it needs it – mbloch Apr 02 '18 at 12:57
  • @mbloch :) Was about to add a link to that myself. Effectively a standard halachic answer "There are many opinions and you can choose". – theblitz Apr 02 '18 at 13:00
  • @theblitz please do so - comments are not meant to be permanent - and consider if your answer still holds – mbloch Apr 02 '18 at 13:00
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    @theblitz I don't see anywhere in that link that you can choose which opinion you want to follow!! – Double AA Apr 02 '18 at 13:03
  • Always CYLOR for a final decision in real halachic matters. – ezra Apr 02 '18 at 13:04
  • The link brings interesting material, but IMHO the conclusions seem rather surprising. For example, why an electric button would make the entire keli 'not a keli seuda'?!... – yO_ Apr 02 '18 at 20:28
  • @DoubleAA Look at section 2 in the link I provided. He clearly states that electrical items, since they have a fixed place and are connected to the ground, they are patur from tevilla. – theblitz Apr 03 '18 at 18:02
  • It's not clear to me that an electric socket counts as Mechubbar. They are easily detached and reattached. It's not like you nailed your immersion blender into the wall. Would anyone allow a Mezuzah to be attached to a doorpost via electric socket technology? – Double AA Apr 03 '18 at 18:10
  • @DoubleAA He clearly states there: "ועוד, שהכלים הללו הרי פועלים רק במחובר לקרקע, והם נוצרו ע"מ להתחבר בחיבור חשמלי, ובלי זה אינם משמשים למאומה. נמצא, שלדעת השב יעקב, התפארת ישראל והחלקת יעקב, שכל כלי המיוצר כדי להתחבר לקרקע אינו מקבל טומאה, כלים חשמליים פטורים מטבילה. – theblitz Apr 03 '18 at 19:05
  • He does state that. Does it convince you given my points above? Are you convinced plugging into a wall is mechubar lekarka? Are you convinced electrical appliances must be mechubar lekarka? Are you convinced they are immobile? He can assert things but he need not be convincing – Double AA Apr 03 '18 at 19:13
  • Although this is in fact the opinion of many poskim, whether this would apply to an electric kettle, which one takes out of its base to pour, seems to me to be another question. – wfb Dec 30 '18 at 15:00