עברית
Halachot and Customs
Immersion of Clay Utensils
Question
Hello Rabbi!
I read questions that were asked here about the immersion of utensils. I did not understand why clay utensils are not required to be immersed in addition to plastic. How can it be that clay does not need immersion? I was always sure it did, until now I have been immersing clay if it was imported.
Answer
Hello and greetings,
Here are the halachot regarding this matter from Yalkut Yosef, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah, Siman 120 - Laws of Immersion of Utensils.
It is necessary to immerse both utensils made from all kinds of metals and utensils made from glass, as well as Pyrex and Durlex utensils imported from abroad. However, utensils made from clay, or utensils coated with clay, do not need immersion, as do utensils made from plastic or nylon, and all porcelain utensils are exempt from immersion. There is no authority that would require to be strict and immerse porcelain utensils, based on a stringency, since there is no custom to do so. Nowadays, in many places around the world, most porcelain utensils are coated with glass, and therefore they require immersion, see below Section 3.
3. Clay utensils coated on the inside and outside with glass or other material require immersion with a blessing. If they are only coated on the inside, they should be immersed without a blessing.
4. Clay utensils coated only on the inside with glass or other material have a dispute regarding their need for immersion, and the ruling is that they should be immersed without a blessing, as stated above. If they are large clay barrels that are coated, they do not need to be immersed at all, due to the considerable effort involved in immersing them. It is good to give them as a gift to a gentile and then borrow them back as a loan.
Wishing you success,
Benjamin Shmueli
