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Tevillas Keilim on Used things
I was reading up on tevillas keilim and saw the following statements on this site:
Utensils require tevila if they were given by a Jew to a Yehudi as a gift or if they were bought from a aino Yehudi .
this would lead me to think that if one BOUGHT from a Jew, one would not be required to tovel
it is not proper or necessary to investigate if the host complies with the laws of tevilas keilim since we assume G-d fearing Jews comply with the halacha
with these 2 ideas, I have questions --
What happens if I buy from a Jew? Do I have to ask him if the utensils were immersed or should I (like as in the second case, which is for when I am eating at someone's house) assume that they were?
What happens if I know the seller is Jewish but I don't know who he is or have any way of contacting him (for example if I'm buying off of a website which only allows Jewish users)?
Could I start a business in which I buy utensils and then sell them anonymously to Jews so that they don't have to worry about tovelling them?
2 answers
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As I understand it, the Tevilah requirement comes in when:
- A vessel for use with preparing or eating food is manufactured by a non-Jew
- A vessel for use with preparing or eating food is owned by a non-Jew
Manufactured by a Jew, sold to a non-Jew, sold to a Jew - requires Tevilah
Manufactured by a Jew, sold to a Jew, sold to another Jew - does not require Tevilah
Manufactured by a Jew, sold to a Jew, given to a non-Jew, given to a Jew - requires Tevilah
and so on. An interesting twist is that re-manufacturing by a Jew (possible example: disassembling an appliance beyond the normal amount done for cleaning and then reassembling it) also counts - i.e., then it is considered manufactured by a Jew and does not need Tevilah.
While there is a similarity to Kashrus, this is independent. Classic example is that if you have vessels that need to be Toveled and don't have time to do so before Shabbos (or other situations, but Shabbos is the usual example) you can give them to a non-Jewish neighbor and then borrow them back. You now have Kosher vessels (never actually used by the non-Jew) that are owned by a non-Jew and non-Jews don't need to (in fact, can't) do Tevilas Keilim while they own the vessels, so they are perfectly fine to use. A vessel that was purchased (or a gift or inherited) from a non-observant Jew may require both Kashering and Tevilah before use. A non-Kosher vessel might be perfectly fine to use from a Kashrus standpoint for certain uses (e.g., for use with a cold beverage) yet still need Tevilah because it is owned by a Jew and was at some point owned by a non-Jew.
As far as buying vessels from a Jew where they were manufactured by a non-Jew or previously owned by a non-Jew, if the Jew you buy them from is a reseller and not an ordinary consumer then not only must you assume they have not been Toveled, but they are actually not allowed to "pre-Tovel" them for you. They could Tovel them after you purchase them, as a service, and there are stores which have a Mikvah on premises so that customers can Tovel their vessels before they go home. On the other hand, if a Kosher restaurant or caterer that is owned by a Jew (and therefore would have had to Tovel all their vessels) sells off their used vessels, they would not require Tevilah.
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One foundational point that might shed some clarity:
- The requirement for tevilas keilim is only for utensils that are owned and being used with food by a Jew, but were previously owned by a non-Jew. If you own such a utensil but will not be using it for food (or at all), you have no requirement to immerse it.
So, if you buy utensils from a Jew that were personally used by him, then you don't need to immerse them because you can assume that has already been done. But if you buy utensils from a Jew that were only purchased for the purpose of resale, then he would have no obligation to immerse them, and you cannot assume they were immersed.
And no, such a business wouldn't be viable, because the purchasers would have to assume they would need to immerse them.
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