Pesachim 30b (ל:) — the Talmud in English

Similarly,

one may not smear

[spread]

the oven with tail fat. And if he did smear it, all the bread

that was baked in it

is forbidden!

For some of the fat from the tail fat was absorbed into the bread, and we are concerned that he may eat it together with dairy food.

And if he smeared the oven with tail fat, it is forbidden to bake bread in it

until he heats the oven!

For through heating the oven, all the tail fat is consumed.

And we conclude in resolution of the objection: It can be inferred that if the oven was heated, it is permitted to bake the bread in it.

A refutation

of the ruling

that

forbade

Rava bar Ahilai

the bread that was baked in an oven smeared with fat. And it follows that he forbade it even if it was baked after the oven had been heated.

And we conclude:

A refutation!

Ravina said to Rav Ashi: Since Rava bar Ahilai has been refuted,

and we do not accept his ruling, but rather heating is effective for an oven, burning all that was absorbed within it,

why did Rav say: Earthenware pots on Passover must be broken ?

After all, it is possible to heat them with coals, and thereby whiten them and burn the prohibition absorbed within them .

He said to him: There,

in the beraita, which teaches that heating is effective for an oven, it is speaking of a

metal oven.

But

here,

with regard to the pots that Rav forbade after Passover, it is speaking of

earthenware pots !

And the Torah testified concerning earthenware vessels that what is absorbed within them never leaves them, as will be explained below.

And if you wish, say: Both cases concern earthenware.

The beraita, too, is speaking of an earthenware oven. But an oven differs from a pot.

This

oven:

its heating

with the coals in it is

from the inside.

It is specifically in this manner that the fat smeared onto it is burned. But

these

[pots],

their heating is from the outside.

For the coals are not placed inside the pot, but outside it, and this heating is insufficient to whiten them from the inside.

And we explain:

And if you would say

that the same applies to pots, after all, they can be remedied by

having

them

heated from the inside—this, too, does not permit them. For if we permit their use by heating them from the inside, people will rule leniently for themselves and permit their use even when heated from the outside. Since

a person may be concerned

that it will crack

and

for its sake

[for the sake of the pot], he will refrain from heating it from the inside,

because it will break

[become broken] as a result.

And we conclude: The halakha follows the second answer, that even for earthenware, whitening by fire is effective, provided that it is heated from the inside.

Therefore, this bukhya

[a vessel made of clay roof tiles, in which a loaf is baked or fried], since the usual method of

heating it

is by placing coals

outside—

if a prohibition was absorbed into it, it is

forbidden!

We do not rely on the whitening effected in it.

But

if he fills it with coals

[filled it with coals] from the inside,

it is entirely proper!

We do not decree in its case lest one heat it from the outside, as we decree with regard to pots, because no one is concerned about damaging it.

Ravina said to Rav Ashi: These knives

that were used with leaven, if one wants to use them

on Passover, what do we do with them

in order to render them fit for use after the leaven?

He said to him,

Rav Ashi:

As for me, I use new ones

[new knives]

only!

Ravina understood from his response that he did not use leaven knives at all on Passover.

Ravina said to him,

Ravina:

That is fine for the Master, who can afford it,

with new knives, since you are wealthy. But what should one

who cannot afford it

do?

What

should he do?

Rav Ashi said to him:

I, too,

myself

do not make new knives for myself. Rather, I make my leaven knives

like new ones

[as new ones],

I mean.

I place

their handles

[the wooden handles of the knives]

in clay

[mud], so that they will not burn in the heat of the oven.

And

the

iron portions I place in the fire

[I place the iron blade of the knife in the fire] and whiten them.

Then I place the handles in boiling water

[and afterward remove the clay from the handles and render them fit through immersion in boiling water].

By law, immersion in boiling water is sufficient for a knife . Rather, Rav Ashi was stringent upon himself. Whenever he was able to whiten something in fire, he whitened it; and the handles, which he could not whiten, he sufficed with immersing in boiling water.

And we conclude:

And the halakha is: Both this and that

[the handle and the iron] are rendered fit through immersion

in boiling water,

and that is sufficient!

However, they must be immersed in boiling water

in a first vessel!

But if one poured the boiling water into a second vessel, it no longer has the power to release the prohibited substances absorbed in the vessels.

Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, said: A wooden stirring spoon

[a wooden spoon with which one stirs the cooked food in the pot] that was used with leaven

is purged in boiling water, and in a first vessel!

Because he

holds: As it absorbs, so does it release!

The same heat that caused the prohibition to be absorbed into the wood is required to release it from the wood. Just as the absorption occurred through the boiling of a first vessel, so boiling in a first vessel is required to release it.

They asked Marimar: These kunei vessels

[earthenware vessels coated with lead ] of leaven,

what is the ruling concerning using them on Passover?

Are they like earthenware vessels, for which purging in boiling water is ineffective? Or does the lead smooth their earthenware surface and prevent them from absorbing? Therefore, is purging effective for them?

And we explain: Lead

of the green variety

[which was mined from earth containing a metal called “tzarif”],

you need not ask about it

at all.

They are certainly forbidden,

the vessels coated with it, and purging is ineffective for them, because the “tzarif” is strong and absorbs permanently.

[Rashi. And in Ketubot 107b he wrote that the tzarif mixed with the lead does not seal the earthenware. Rather, it penetrates it and does not prevent it from absorbing.]

When you ask about it,

with regard to kunei vessels coated with black or white lead [red or white],

what

is their status? Does this lead prevent the earthenware from absorbing, or not?

And where they have

in these vessels

cracks

[fissures and cracks],

you need not ask about it

at all.

They certainly

absorb,

and are forbidden. When you ask about it,

with regard to smooth

kunei

[smooth] vessels,

what

is their status?

He said to them,

Marimar: But

we see them

these vessels

sweating

[releasing] the liquids inside them through their outer surface.

Apparently, they absorb

a great deal of the liquid into their walls.

And

therefore

they are forbidden

forever, like ordinary earthenware vessels; even purging is ineffective for them .

And what is the reason

that purging is ineffective for earthenware vessels? After all,

the Torah testified concerning an earthenware vessel that what is absorbed within its walls never leaves it

[the prohibited substances absorbed within it; the word “dofei”]

ever!

For concerning wooden and metal vessels that absorbed a prohibition, the Torah wrote, “it shall be rinsed.” And if they are vessels whose usual use is through fire, their remedy is passing them through fire. But concerning an earthenware vessel it is written, “it shall be broken” . Apparently, it has no remedy .

And we challenge this:

And how is it different with regard to idolatrous wine, concerning which Marimar expounded: kunei vessels

that were used with idolatrous wine,

whether black, white, or green, are permitted!

Apparently, their status is not that of an earthenware vessel, from which what is absorbed never leaves it. Why, then, did he forbid kunei vessels of every type on Passover?

And if you would say

as an answer that the case of

idolatrous wine

is different, since its prohibition is only

rabbinic,

and therefore they were lenient with kunei vessels into which it had been absorbed, unlike

leaven

on Passover, whose prohibition is

biblical—

this cannot be said, because

whatever the Sages instituted, they instituted in the model of a biblical law!

And since Torah prohibitions render these vessels forbidden through absorption, one must be stringent with them even regarding rabbinic prohibitions.

He said to him: This

[leaven],

its use

in these vessels throughout the year is

with hot substances.

But

this

[idolatrous wine]

is used with cold substances!

And the vessel absorbs from the liquid only when it is used with hot substances.

Rava bar Abba said that Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi said that Shmuel said: With regard to all vessels that were used with leaven in a cold manner, one may use them

on Passover for

matza.

For the vessel absorbs only from hot substances, as stated .

Except for a sourdough vessel

[a vessel in which sourdough is soaked, and in which it is sometimes left for an entire night], because it absorbs even from cold sourdough,

since its leavening

of the sourdough

is strong,

it is absorbed into the vessel .

Rav Ashi said: And a vessel for ḥaroset

[a vessel in which vinegar and flour are placed, and the flour becomes leavened through the sourness of the vinegar],

has the status of a sourdough vessel!

Since its leavening is strong, it is absorbed into the vessel even while cold.

Rava said: These kneading troughs

[troughs, bowls]

of Meḥoza, since they regularly knead leaven in them and leave leaven in them

[they are accustomed to knead leaven in them and leave the leaven in them for an extended period],

have the status of a sourdough vessel whose leavening is strong!

And they too become forbidden on Passover, even though they were used only with cold substances.