28 Jul 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.
Minhagim like waiting 6 hours
between eating meat & milk. Can
they be changed?
Minhagim should not be changed. Once
you start changing family customs, you are
on a slippery slope. What really protects
klal Yisroel and is the beauty of our people
is Mesoros Avoseinu. We keep the customs
of our forefathers under all circumstances.
Keeping our customs is critical to our
destiny. Of course, regarding a woman who

marries a man, the halacha is very clear, she
should accept her husband’s minhagim.
If you come from a family that did not wait
six hours between meat and dairy and your
husband’s family does wait, you should wait.
If there is a pressing need why you feel that
you cannot follow the established custom,
you need to go to a rav to be matir neder.
This is the only way to do it. All minhagim
have the halachic status of a neder (a vow)
and must be brought to a Rav with a good
reason to be matir the neder. Just to decide
that my family until now always waited 6
hours between meat and dairy and now I
am changing that minhag is not permissible.
You can go to the opposite side and be
machmir, but you cannot be meikil (lenient)
without consulting a Rav.