Avodah Zarah, Daf Ayin Vav, Part 5

 

Introduction

Today s sugya explains how one kashers by making white hot and how one kashers by boiling.

 

ועד כמה מלבנן? א"ר מני עד שתשיר קליפתן

וכיצד מגעילן א"ר הונא יורה קטנה בתוך יורה גדולה

 

For how long must they be made white-hot?

R. Mani said: Until the outer layer falls off.

And how is scalding done?

R. Huna said: A small vessel must be placed inside a large vessel.

 

The amoraim here explain how the two major forms of kashering are performed.

 

יורה גדולה מאי ת"ש דההוא דודא דהואי בי רב עקביה אהדר ליה גדנפא דלישא אפומא ומליוה מיא וארתחה

אמר רבא מאן חכים למעבד כי הא מילתא אי לאו רב עקביה דגברא רבא הוא קסבר כבולעו כך פולטו מה בולעו בנצוצות אף פולטו בנצוצות:

 

A large pot what is to be done with it? Come and hear: There was a pot in the house of R. Akaviah. He made for it a rim of dough around its edges and filled it with water which he boiled up.

Rava said: Who could have been clever enough to do this if not R. Akaviah who is a great man! He held that as [a vessel] absorbs so it discharges; as [its rim] absorbs by the splashings [of the food which is cooked in the pot] so [the boiling water] would cause [the rim] to emit [the taste] through its splashings.

 

How does one kasher a large pot, one that cannot be boiled inside a larger pot? One makes a rim of dough around its edges and then builds it up so that the water basically boils over. The rim will get hot water splashed on it. This is sufficient to kasher it, for just as the rim absorbed taste by having the forbidden substance splash on it, so it can emit taste in the same way.

 

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