Ask The Rabbi

Ask The Rabbi

category:  Jewish Law

Baalei Teshuva with friends from the past

My husband and I are baalei-tshuva. My husband keeps contact with friends from his past, some of whom are women, and does not hide it from me. I’m not sure how to deal with this. I understand that one needs to respect one’s spouse, but where is the boundary? How should I react in the context of a Torah observant life? How should the home be run with regard to this topic? How should both of us behave with regard to our friends from the past? All the best and thanks in advance!

In the halachos of kashrus we find that the mixing of milk and meat can either by done by the milk and meat mixing.
Or by their taste mixing The taste of food can transfer either when the food is at the heat of 45 Celsius (while some are machmir at 40 Celsius) or if the food is sharp and cut with a knife. if the food is not sharp or hot the taste which is in the food will not transfer over via the vessels which are being used unless the vessel being used is unclean as the hen there is actual food left there which is giving over the taste.
Therefore, theoretically speaking if you wash down the mixer after usage you can surely use it for dairy and thereafter for pareve with no concern at all.
For this reason there is no problem to use the same machine for both dairy and pareve yet if the machine is not totally clean you should wipe it down the machine after using for dairy before you use it for pareve if you want the pareve to certainly remain pareve.

Sources

ראה יורה דעה סי’ צ”ד ס”ו סי’ צ”ו סי’ א’ וס”ה וראה סי’ צ”א ס”ב.