QUESTION:  Here is a riddle: A non-kosher food falls into a pot of soup; the soup may be eaten but the pot requires kashering. How is this possible?

ANSWER: This case is discussed by the Rema (YD 103:2). If a non-kosher item falls into a pot of kosher food and imparts a negative taste, the non-kosher item is batel (nullified) and the kosher food may be eaten. Negative tastes are nullified in a simple majority and do not require 60. For example, if a cup of non-kosher wine vinegar spills into a pot of maple syrup oatmeal, most people would find the combination unappetizing. If the oatmeal is the majority, the vinegar will be batel, and the oatmeal may be eaten. Still, Rema requires that the pot be kashered. Rema was concerned that if the pot was left unkashered, the absorbed taste of vinegar might impart a positive flavor into a subsequent food, which would make that food non-kosher. Because of this possibility, the pot must be kashered, even though the food that has been cooked in the pot remains kosher.

____________________________________________________

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.