1

Can sharpening a knife be done as a form of Ne'itzah for removing a Kelipah for Kashruth concerns?

1

1 Answer 1

2

Sharpening is the way mentioned in the mishnah in Avodah Zarah daf עה: 'ayin-heh, second side of the blatt. (=page 150) Look it up in TUR Yoreh De'ah 121 קכ"א

The end of the siman is dealing exactly with your question. The Beit Yoseph, who later wrote the Shulchan 'Aruch brings a lot of sources. Sharpening is also mentioned.

Please note that there used to be a major difference between small knives and big knives. Big knives were made from primitive steel (not stainless steel like today) and were always full of holes. The simplest way of cleaning a knife in those days, in the absence of soap, was to stick the knife in the ground where the earth was hard (usually a place where people walked) ten times (only three times according to a Yerushalmi.) This would wipe the knife but would not remove the food stuck inside the holes in the knife. In such a case the once-treif knife could only be used to cut COLD foods. Only heating the knife to a very high temperature could burn out food left inside the blade.

1
  • Welcome to Mi Yodeya and thanks for the answer, whose last paragraph would benefit from good-quality sources like you gave for the other two paragraphs. Please consider registering your account, which will give you access to more of the site's features. (You might also wish to change your username, unless you have some special attachment to the number 2323.)
    – msh210
    Jan 30, 2013 at 5:25

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .