Archives for clarification

[Tammmitha]

I’m having a hard time here with some of these shailos as many I have asked and read many years ago (15+) and now see that the answers are completely opposite. Does anyone have access to those archives of questions?
The most recent one being about glass jars. I seem to recall it was specifically answered that if one doesn’t intend to use the glass jar (like a Snapple bottle) when purchasing it and then afterward decides to use it it does not need tevila. Am I wrong? Was that ever an answer? It was a very long time ago. @chaimyabadi

[ralph.lasry]

Any glass jar or bottle would require tevilah if you decided to use it for food. If you bought food in a glass bottle/jar you can eat it until empty but you cannot put anything back in until it is toveled.

This means if you take out a pickle from a pickle jar you cannot put that pickle back in without tevilah.

This was always the halacha.

[chaimyabadi]

Yes this is always what my father holds. I’ll look at some older copies and see if I find anything. The archives got lost when website crashed years ago

[ralph.lasry]

Items that come in glass or metal utensils such as pickle jars, wine bottles etc. do not need Tevilah unless something is put back into them. For example, if one wanted to pour wine back into the bottle, he would have to be Tovel it first. A simple solution is to make a condition that from now on, any time you buy something from the store that has a glass or metal jar, you are only purchasing the content inside the jar and not the jar itself. This way you do not own it and may reuse it without any worries of having to Tovel it.

Laws of Tvilat Kelim

All metal or glass utensils that are owned by a Jew and used for food are required to be dipped in a Kosher Mikveh before they can be used. This requirement only applies to utensils that were made by or purchased from a Non-Jew. The reason for this is because the utensils of a Non-Jew are considered impure and must be purified when transferred to the possession of a Jew. This is achieved by dipping it in a Kosher Mikveh. Utensils made in Israel don’t need tevilah unless they were made by a N…

[Tammmitha]

So if I dont own it I can reuse it? Is that how it was answered before and how I understood it? That I can reuse a Snapple bottle without toveling if I only buy it for the food…

[ralph.lasry]

If you don’t own it and no Jew owns it then it would not require Tevilah.

It’s not enough to buy it for it’s content. That would mean you own the bottle for it’s content. You need to only buy it’s contents and not the bottle for this to work so long as you don’t decide to take ownership of it at a later point.

This also means that technically anyone can knock on your door and pour out it’s content and take the bottle since the bottle is hefker.

[ralph.lasry]

Here is the Rav’s teshuva on this topic.

[Tammmitha]

Thank you so much!