Chapter 37: 1-3
The Laws of Immersing Utensils
1. A person who purchases glass or metal utensils or vessels used for a
meal from a gentile - even if they are new - may not use them at all, even
for cold foods, until he immerses them in a spring or in a mikvah it to be
used by a women for immersion* for purifying herself from the Niddah state.
(This immersion is required to distinguish the passage of the utensil from
the impurity of a gentile to the holiness of a Jew.)
* {Certain leniencies are permitted in the construction of a mikvaos used
by men for immersion.}
Before immersing a single utensil, the following blessing is recited:
Boruch Attoh A-d-o-n-o-i E-l-o-h-e-i-n-u Melech ho'olom asher kid'shonu
b'mitzvosov v'tzivonu al tevilas keli. Blessed are You, G-d, our Lord, King
of the Universe who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded
us concerning the immersion of a utensil.
When immersing two or more utensils, the blessing is recited in the plural
- asher kid'shonu b'mitzvosov v'tzivonu al tevilas kelim.
2.Since these utensils require immersion only in a place which is
acceptable for women to immerse themselves, one should take care not to
immerse the utensils in rivers which have swollen because of rain or the
melting of snow.* [There are many halachic difficulties concerning
immersion in such waters.] This problem frequently occurs before Pesach,
when the rivers swell. People err and immerse utensils in them. See also
Chapter 162, Laws 12 and 13.
* {See also Shulchon Oruch, Yoreh Be'oh 201:2. Because of the difficulty
involved in determining whether a stream is acceptable or not, it is
preferable to avoid this issue and immerse these utensils in a kosher mikvah}
3. Wooden vessels need not be immersed. If they are held together by metal
hoops (e.g., barrels), they should be immersed without a blessing.
Earthenware vessels also need not be immersed. If they are glazed, one
should immerse them without reciting a blessing. The same rule applies to
porcelain.
