Can china plates that have not been used in years be kashered? They belonged to my late grandmother, who kept kosher, but I don’t know any details of how they might have become treif.
Using a Late Grandmother’s Old China Plates When Their Kashrut Status Is Unknown
Question
Answer
If you don’t know that it’s treif, it’s probably kosher.
Sources
The Gemara asks where the Sages got the principle of “okei milta a’chezkei”: we leave a matter on its established presumption (chazakah). It derives this from the verse about the kohen leaving a house with tzara’at and quarantining it: we assume the house kept its earlier status. In the same way, dishes that belonged to a grandmother who kept kosher keep their presumption of being kosher. Unless you know they became treif, they are probably kosher.
- Gemara Chullin 10b — the source for the rule “leave a matter on its presumption” (okei milta a’chezkei), learned from the house with tzara’at
Author
Rabbi Shay Tahan
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