OU KOSHER GUIDE- PART TWO

CONTINUING STORY………

On page 16 of the booklet, we read: “Glass. All types including Corning Ware, Corelle, Fiberglass, porcelain enamel (porcelain sinks and enamel pots) and Pyrex” cannot be kashered.

Most interesting. The overwhelming majority of posekim rule that glass may certainly be kashered. Traditional Ashkenasi posekim rule that glass may be kashered via the three day dunk. This position is based on a faulty inference from the halachic stance that marinating is cooking. Sefardim take a much saner approach and say “wash the glass.” Simple.

This stance is somewhat baffling. On the one hand, yes, the OU says to follow the strict view. On the other hand, they seem to say that one should follow the majority of rabbis. Huh?

On page 19, the OU states, “Porcelain sinks cannot be kashered.” For starters, almost all Sefardic posekim disagree. Second, there are Asheknasi rabbis who disagree with the OU’s stance. To be charitable, the OU is not alone on this pesak.

However, think about this carefully. The sink is not where we cook food. The sink is never a kli rishon (first untensil). Why do we need bother to kasher it when cleaning would actually suffice? Even so, if we believe that cleaning is not enough, why wouldn’t using boiling water do the trick?