A woman was once expecting company and decided to prepare a dairy meal for her guests. Her only set of silverware large enough to accommodate the expected number of guests was a meat set, and she therefore wanted to perform Hag’ala – immersion in boiling water – on this set of silverware so it could be used with dairy foods. Her plan was then to repeat Hag’ala after that meal, so that she could once again use the silverware with meat. Is this allowed according to Halacha?
Divergent customs exist in this regard. The Magen Abraham (Rabbi Abraham Gombiner, 1637-1683) and the Hatam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer of Pressburg, 1762-1839) write that although converting utensils from meat to dairy and vice versa is, strictly speaking, entirely permissible, it is customary not to do so. According to the strict Halacha, Hag’ala effectively removes all particles of meat from the utensil, thus allowing it to be used with dairy, and vice versa. Nevertheless, these scholars write, the custom evolved to refrain from converting utensils from meat to dairy or from dairy to meat. If people regularly convert their utensils in this manner, confusion will likely arise as people will forget whether any given utensil was last used for meat or for dairy. This concern led communities to adopt the custom not to convert utensils, so that all utensils will be permanently designated for either meat or dairy, thus avoiding confusion.
Sepharadim, however, did not accept this custom. They instead rely on the ruling of the Peri Hadash (Rav Hizkiya Da Silva, 1659-1698) that one may perform Hag’ala on his utensils to convert them from meat and dairy, and vice versa, as he wishes. The Hid"a (Rav Haim Yosef David Azulai, 1724-1806) explained that we are not authorized to enact new prohibitions after the end of the Talmudic period. The Sages before and during the time of the Talmud were empowered to enact provisions to safeguard against Torah violations, but the Rabbis living after that period do not have this authority. (This argument was posed by the Aruch Ha’shulhan, as well.) Therefore, this custom is not binding upon Sepharadim, and Sepharadim may convert meat utensils to dairy utensils, and vice vera, through the process of Hag’ala without any restrictions. Hag’ala may be performed to convert a meat utensil into dairy even if it had been used with meat within the previous twenty-four hours (and vice versa). The utensil is immersed in boiling water and then immersed in cold water, and at that point it may be used for either meat or dairy.
It should be noted that Ashkenazim do allow converting a utensil in this manner if it is in any event immersed for use on Pesah. For example, if a person wishes to perform Hag’ala on a set of dairy dishes so they can be used during Pesah, he may designate them for use with meat. Since the utensils are in any event being immersed to be made suitable for Pesah use, they may also be converted into dairy utensils.
Summary: According to Sephardic practice, it is permissible to convert meat utensils into dairy utensils, and vice versa, through the process of Hag’ala (immersion in boiling water), without any restrictions.
