Halachos of Vacation Homes & Hotels, R’ Tzvi Yaakov Stein

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*These Halachos apply to all year round NOT for Pesach.

Kitchen

⁃ Sink can be used as normal. Preferable not to put food directly on the sink.

⁃ Countertops and tables can be used as normal. Also preferred not to put food
directly on them.

⁃ Nothing needs to be done to the refrigerator.

⁃ Ice from an ice maker is allowed.

⁃ Coffee maker can be used without kashering. If you see non kosher flavored
coffee there, then make a kosher coffee in it (spill out the coffee) and that will make the coffee maker kosher.

⁃ Keurig is the same as above.

⁃ Nothing needs to be done to the stovetop. It will self kasher when turned on.

⁃ Oven can be turned on highest for an hour and it will be kashered.

⁃ If that’s not possible, single covering the food is fine.

⁃ Oven use: the following Halachos apply for baking dairy in a clean meat oven or meat in a clean dairy oven (even if used in the last 24 hours): If it’s covered (even one cover) it’s allowed. If it’s uncovered and it’s solid food (e.g. challahor cake) it’s allowed. If it’s liquid, turn the oven on 550 for an hour and it will bekashered. Parve, even liquid, can be baked, even uncovered, in a meat or dairyoven and it will remain parve. In all of the above situations, it’s better to put foil down on the grates before baking in case something spills.

⁃ Toaster oven can only be used if it’s perfectly clean and the turn it on highest temperature for two hours.

⁃ Drinking glasses can be used.

⁃ Preferable not to use metal utensils etc.

⁃ Kasher microwave: Clean well, make sure it hasn’t been used for 24 hours, boil water until it fogs up. The glass should have hot water poured on it.

 

Tevilas Keilem

⁃ Disposable utensils don’t need tevila. Even if they’ll be used multiple times (tin
pans etc.)

⁃ Non disposable utensils need tevila even if they’ll only be used ONE time.

⁃ When buying utensils that require tevila and there’s no Mikva around, have in mind that you’re not halachically acquiring the utensils from the store. They will then still belong to goy and they won’t require tevila. This is only a short term solution.

⁃ Toveling utensils in a lake may be a problem because it’s kashrus will depend on the source of the water.

Miscellaneous

⁃ Fresh cut up fruit can be bought from large grocery stores.

⁃ A kosher grill can be placed on top of a treif grill (for example, in a park or campgrounds).

⁃ Some have an issue with buying certain drinks from Starbucks because they wash the utensils together with non kosher utensils. This is a chumra. According to the basic Halacha, coffee can be brought from most non kosher establishments (assuming the flavors etc. are kosher). This chumra only applies to stores not kiosks etc. CRC Chicago website has a detailed list of what’s allowed and what’s not allowed (see here).

⁃ One is required to travel eighteen minutes in order to daven with a minyan.

⁃ One is required to travel seventy two minutes in the direction they’re going in order to get water to wash the hands for bread or travel out of the way for eighteen minutes.

⁃ If neither one is possible then one can wrap the hands fully and then eat the bread. Just wrapping the bread is not enough.

⁃ Washing in a bathroom is ok if the hands are dried outside of the bathroom.

⁃ When leaving children’s home with a female babysitter, make sure that there’s no yichud issues.



6 COMMENTS

  1. I believe that most Poskim would not agree with alot of what is written about using a non Jewish kitchen. Look at the Ki Haim Chayanu series sponsored by Aguda and Star K to see what they feel are the requirements for using a non Jewish kitchen. For starters…. “preferred””? one is allowed to use metal utensils without kashering?? It is only preferred not to?? Sink?? and if food falls in the sink?? Very common in normal use of a kitchen. Oven- it must be thoroughly cleaned before any kashering with special attention paid to the doors and seals …. Many poskim hold you cannot kasher a microwave at all….. I think -acc to my limited knowledge- that this article is a big michshol for people…

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