- Halacha
- Kashering Dishes
50
Question
What the deeper meaning behind toivelling certain dishes ?
Answer
ב"ה
Shalom
The Torah tells that after the battle of Bnei Yisrael with the Midianites, (Bamidbar 31:21-23) , the utensils which were taken with the spoils, must be made Kosher from forbidden non-kosher things which they had absorbed. In addition, the Torah says "Vetaher", meaning the utensils have to be purified as well in the water of a Mikveh.
The Talmud Yerushalmi [The Talmud written in Eretz Yisrael]
((תלמוד ירושלמי, מסכת עבודה זרה, פרק ה', הלכה ט"ו, בית יוסף יורה דעה סי' קכ
explains that the utensils undergo a form of conversion, as it were, in the process of leaving the possession of the gentile and entering to the holiness of Israel. (See also ספר בן איש חי - הלכות שנה שניה - פרשת מטות ).
The Meiri (a commentator on the Talmud, Avoda Zara 75) explains a bit further and says that the purifying immersion of the utensil in a Mikveh, is to prepare the utensil spiritually which will now absorb the holiness of Kosher food.
We can therefore, view the toiveling of the dishes as part of the entire context of the mitzvot, which are part of elevating the Jewish people to higher spiritual and eternal values.
All the best

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