Question: I purchased an electric coffee machine, and I am quite sure that if I immerse it in a mikva the appliance will be ruined. Are there any Halachic solutions for this predicament?
Introduction:
The mitzvah of tevilas keilim is the obligation to immerse klei se’udoh (i.e. utensils used in conjunction with food) purchased from a non-Jew in a kosher mikva (enumerated in Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De’ah Siman 120). The obligation of tevilas keilim applies to metal or glass utensils specifically and not to klei se’udoh made from other materials.
Discussion:
Electrical appliances that are classified as klei se’udoh are also obligated in tevilas keilim, if the main component(s) of the utensil are metal (or glass where applicable). For example, an electric hand blender is obligated in tevilas keilim because the main component of the appliance is the metal blade.
It should be mentioned that the Chelkas Ya’akov (Shu”t Yoreh De’ah Siman 41) maintains that since the electrical appliance is only useable while connected to the mains, it is not a kli that is mekabel tumah, because regarding dinei tumah a kli that is attached to the ground, and is manufactured with the intent to attach it to the ground, is not mekabel tumah. The Chelkas Ya’akov extrapolates from standard principles of kabolas tumah to tevilas keilim and thus maintains that regarding an appliance that can only be used while plugged in, its “attachment” to the ground (through the electric wire) nullifies the kli status and therefore he completely exempts these appliances from tevilas keilim.
However, according to the majority of contemporary Poskim (Shu”t Minchas Yitzchok Chelek 2 Siman 72; Shu”t Shevet Halevi Chelek 2 Siman 57; Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach in Minchas Shlomo Chelek 2 Siman 66:4; and this also appears to be the view of Aruch Hashulchan Yoreh De’ah Siman 120 Se’if 39 regarding other utensils that are attached to the ground) electrical appliances are subject to tevilas keilim, although they are used while connected to the mains, because the parameters of keilim regarding tevilas keilim are different to the parameters of keilim for kabolas tumah, and additionally, even in cases where the attachment to the ground will nullify the kli status, the item in question must be firmly connected to the ground and a mere connection through the electric wire is not sufficient to consider the kli attached to the ground.
Tevilas keilim is impractical for electrical appliances because immersion in water can often damage electrical appliances. We find several possible solutions in the Poskim regarding how to tovel electrical appliances, or how to avoid the obligation of tevilas keilim:
1) Preventing water from entering the appliance – one practical solution to enable the immersion of electrical appliances is to first wet one’s fingers or hand with mikva water, and then to grasp the appliance being immersed loosely, but in a way that prevents water from entering the appliance (c.f. Shulchan Aruch and Remo Yoreh De’ah Siman 120 Se’if 2; Taz s.k. 4; Shach s.k. 6; Sefer Tevilas Keilim page 207). Since grasping a kli in this way does not constitute a chatzitzoh because there is water between his hand and the utensil, the appliance can be immersed in this way and it is of no Halachic consequence that water will not actually enter the appliance.
2) “Repairing” the utensil with a Jewish craftsman – regarding a utensil that is too large to immerse in the mikva the Chochmas Odom (Klal 73 Se’if 13) advises to first pierce the utensil (and create a hole large enough that will nullify the kli status from the utensil) and then a Jewish craftsman should repair the utensil. The Chochmas Odom explains (in Binas Odom #66) that since the utensil was rendered unusable while pierced, the tumas akum disappears and when the utensil is subsequently repaired and rendered usable by the Jewish craftsman it is exempted from tevilas keilim because it is now considered a new utensil (“ponim chadoshos”).
The Chochmas Odom is quoted by the Pischei Teshuva in the beginning of Siman 120 (s.k. 1) and no dissenting opinion is quoted.
However, Rav Wosner (Shu”t Shevet Halevi Chelek 10 Siman 128) argues that the solution of the Chochmas Odom is built on the principle of “ma’amid” (i.e. that an integral part of the utensil has been created by a Jew) and ma’amid is not the only factor in determining whether or not a kli is obligated in tevilas keilim (Rav Wosner quotes the Rosh who clearly posits that the status of ma’amid remains a sofek, and even the Shach who does use the principle of ma’amid in determining whether or not a utensil is obligated in tevilas keilim doesn’t use the principle of ma’amid by itself).
Therefore, posits Rav Wosner, the principle of ma’amid will be followed to obligate a kli in tevilas keilim, but it will not exempt a kli that is otherwise obligated in tevilas keilim from tevila. (Furthermore, it is clear in the Taz s.k. 13 and the Pri Chodosh s.k. 33 that in such a scenario the utensil is still obligated in tevilas keilim.) Therefore, according to Rav Wosner, repairing the appliance with a Jewish craftsman is not an acceptable solution to avoid the obligation of tevilas keilim.