18 Jun KASHRUS QUESTIONS & ANSWERS WITH RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT

Does one
need to
tovel electric
appliances?
There are many different
appliances; there is no one rule.
For example, an urn should be
toiveled. Obviously, after you toivel
an urn, you should not use it for a
while until it’s completely dry or

you’ll risk ruining it. Other people
ask about a toaster oven. In terms
of a toaster oven, the only thing
that has to be toiveled is the pan
that you’re baking on. One of the
most popular questions we get is
about the coffee maker, the Keurig
machine. The Keurig machines
are almost completely plastic, and
moreover they will not survive
being put into the mikva, so there
are many reasons to be lenient.
Number one, because it’s mainly
plastic. Number 2, because they
won’t survive being put in the
mikva. Number 3, because the way
they’re used is by plugging them
in and there are opinions that say
that something that needs to be
connected to the ground, doesn’t
need tevila. You can’t use your
coffee maker without connecting
it to your plug. Given all those

reasons, one doesn’t have to
toivel their coffee maker.

Does one need separate
peelers & cutting boards
for vegetables for both
milchigs & fleishigs?
You don’t necessarily need
to separate. If you’re only
cutting tomatoes, cucumbers,
and peppers, it’s not a big
deal. But if you cut an onion
and the onion is fleishig, the
knife becomes fleishig, and vice
versa. So, because you have sharp
vegetables; onions, garlic, radishes
etc., my strong recommendation
is to have separate cutting boards
and peelers.

Could bringing my knife
in for sharpening cause a

kashrus problem?
The sharpening itself is not a
kashrus issue. They take the knife
and put it through a sharpener,
there’s nothing not kosher about
it. The issue is, you need to be
confident that the knife you gave
is the knife you get back. If at all
possible, you should use a company
that sharpens only kosher knives.