Siman 105 — How Forbidden Food Transmits Its Taste: Pickling (Kavush), Heat, Roasting and Salting
The mechanisms of taste transfer between forbidden and permitted food: pickling (כבוש) for 24 hours cold = like cooking; the heat of a first vessel (כלי ראשון) in which "the hand recoils (יד סולדת)" cooks and forbids everything, against the second vessel (כלי שני); the lower prevails (תתאה גבר); roasting (צלי) forbids only a finger's thickness (כדי נטילה) — except fat that permeates (פעפוע); and salting (מליח כרותח): food too salty to be eaten as is acts like boiling — Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah 105 — 14 seifim
יורה דעה · סימן ק״ה
דין איסור שנפל לתוך היתר
🌱 Introduction Level · מתחילים
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A first approach to Siman 105: the 14 seifim of the Mehaber and the glosses of the Rama, Hebrew text and fluent English translation. How does a forbidden food communicate its taste to a permitted food that touches it or cooks with it? Through cold pickling (כבוש כמבושל), through the heat of a vessel (כלי ראשון / כלי שני), through contact where "the lower prevails" (תתאה גבר), through roasting (צלי, כדי נטילה) and permeating fat (פעפוע), and through salting (מליח כרותח). Each time the question is the same: does the taste pass, and how far?
Subject: The forbidden that fell into the permitted — pickling, heat, roasting, salting Source: שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן ק״ה
Compilation: הרב יוסף חיים סממה DAAT · daattorah.com
📑 Study plan
1.The text of the Mehaber: the 14 seifim, by thematic groups
2.Context: why this siman belongs to the laws of mixtures (תערובות)
3.The key concepts: כבוש, כלי ראשון / שני, תתאה גבר, כדי נטילה, פעפוע, מליח כרותח…
4.The channels of transfer: the pickling / heat / roasting / salting table
5.The Shach and the Taz: who they are, a few key entries
6.The gloss of the Rama (הגה)
7.מליח כרותח: what salting really does
8.Modern practical cases: marinade, first vessel, koshering salt
9.Synthesis and comprehension questions
1. The text of the Mehaber — the 14 seifim
Siman 105 is one of the great seats of the תורת ההיתר והאיסור (the science of the forbidden and the permitted). Its question is single but declined in a thousand ways: by what channels does a forbidden food transmit its taste (טעם) to a permitted food that touches it or cooks with it — and to what depth? The Mehaber (Rabbi Yossef Karo) reviews the great modes of transfer: cold pickling (seif 1), the heat of a vessel (seifim 2-3), roasting and permeating fat (seifim 4-8), and finally salting (seifim 9-14). The Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserles) adds his glosses (הגה) for Ashkenazi practice. Let us discover the seifim by groups.
Group A — Pickling and the heat of the vessel (seifim 1-3)
Seif 1 — כבוש כמבושל: 24-hour pickling counts as cooking
A forbidden item soaked with a permitted one for twenty-four hours (מעת לעת) cold is called "pickled" (כבוש), and it is like cooked (כמבושל): all of it becomes forbidden. But less than this — a rinse (הדחה) suffices. Gloss of the Rama: wherever we say "כבוש כמבושל," even what protrudes above the pickling liquid is forbidden, for the pickling below permeates upward (מפעפעת) as in cooking; some are lenient (יש מקילין) for what is outside the liquid. And a doubtful pickling (ספק כבוש) is forbidden, except for meat-and-milk, where one may be lenient, since by Torah law it is forbidden only through real cooking. — And if the forbidden item pickled in ציר (brine) or חומץ (vinegar): if it stayed long enough to be placed on the fire and begin to boil (כדי שירתיח) → like cooked; less than this → it forbids only כדי קליפה (a peel's thickness).
כבוש כמבושל — "the pickled is like the cooked": cold, a long soak (24 h) extracts and transfers taste as surely as cooking. An acidic or salty medium (ציר, חומץ) speeds it up: the threshold drops to the time it would take to bring to a boil.
The central idea: no fire is needed for taste to pass. Time (24 h) cold suffices, or else an aggressive medium (brine, vinegar) in much less time. The Rama adds two practical notes: (a) pickling permeates even above the liquid (though some are lenient); (b) a mere doubt of pickling forbids — except in meat-and-milk, lighter, because the Torah prohibition there requires real cooking. (See Siman 70 — meat that fell into brine.)
Seif 2 — כלי ראשון / כלי שני: the hierarchy of heat
The heat of a first vessel (כלי ראשון) — the one that was on the fire — as long as the hand recoils from it (יד סולדת בו), cooks and forbids [whatever falls in]. But the heat of a second vessel (כלי שני) — the one into which one poured — does not cook. Some say (יש אומרים) it neither expels nor absorbs [taste]; others say it does expel/absorb and forbids כדי קליפה. One should take heed of them a priori (לכתחילה); but a posteriori (בדיעבד) it is permitted without peeling: a mere rinse suffices.
The threshold and the container. Two parameters decide whether taste passes: the temperature (above יד סולדת בו, "the hand recoils") and the container. The rule of thumb: a כלי ראשון (left on the fire) cooks and forbids in depth; a כלי שני (into which one poured) is weaker — it does not cook, and at worst reaches only a peel. (See simanim 68, 92 and 95 on כלי שני and עירוי.)
A piece of hot forbidden food that fell onto a piece of hot permitted food that is a כלי ראשון, or even cold forbidden food onto hot permitted food → all is forbidden, for the lower prevails (תתאה גבר): it heats and expels [the taste] downward. All the more so cold permitted food onto hot forbidden food. But if the upper is hot and the lower is cold → it forbids only כדי קליפה, even if the hot upper one is the forbidden item. Gloss of the Rama: all this with the heat of a כלי ראשון. A forbidden item placed in a vessel of permitted food (or vice versa) → we also apply תתאה גבר, as between two pieces (see Siman 94, the milky knife). And it is forbidden to pour from a vessel containing kosher fat into a lit lamp containing forbidden fat; a posteriori (בדיעבד), no concern.
תתאה גבר = "the lower prevails." At direct contact of two bodies of different temperatures, the one below dictates the law. If the lower is hot (כלי ראשון), it "wins": it heats the whole and drives the taste in deeply → all forbidden. If only the upper is hot, the cold lower "cools" the contact → the effect is limited to a peel (קליפה). This principle also governs seifim 6 and 11.
Group B — Roasting and permeating fat (seifim 4-6)
Seif 4 — the rotev spreads, the צלי forbids only כדי נטילה
They said that all is forbidden only when the forbidden item fell into a dish with sauce, for the rotev (sauce) carries the forbidden food's exudate (פליטה) throughout the dish. But if the forbidden item — hot or cold — falls onto a roast (צלי) near the fire, it forbids only כדי נטילה, which is a finger's thickness (כעובי אצבע). Likewise a thigh roasted with its גיד (forbidden sinew), or a piece of forbidden food roasted in contact with a piece of permitted food → one removes כדי נטילה around the גיד or at the point of contact. And if the forbidden item fell onto a piece outside the rotev, without stirring or covering → כדי נטילה suffices; but if the piece is in the rotev, or even entirely outside it but one stirred or covered → the rotev carries the taste everywhere.
כדי נטילה — "enough to remove": a finger's thickness (כעובי אצבע) that one removes around the point of contact. It is the measure proper to a dry roast: without sauce to carry the taste, the forbidden item penetrates only locally.
With or without sauce, that is the key. The rotev (the sauce) is a vehicle: it carries the forbidden food's taste throughout the dish → everything is involved (and one reckons sixty). The dry roast (צלי) has no such vehicle: the taste stays near the contact → one removes only a finger's thickness. But beware: stirring or covering recreates a spreading effect, as if there were sauce.
Seif 5 — כחוש vs שמן: fat permeates everything (פעפוע)
They said one removes only כדי נטילה only for a lean thing (כחוש), lacking the power to permeate — like a thigh with its גיד. But a fatty kid (גדי שמן) roasted with its חֵלֶב: if there is not sixty against all the חֵלֶב, it is forbidden to eat even the tip of the ear at the far end, for, being fatty, [the taste] permeates everything (מפעפע בכולו). If it is lean, even without sixty, it forbids only כדי נטילה. And even if the forbidden piece is lean and the permitted piece is fatty, the fat [of the permitted] makes the forbidden permeate everything. And anything that permeates, fallen on a known spot of a roast, even if there is sixty, requires נטילת מקום (removing the spot). Gloss of the Rama: anything cooked without rotev or baked (אפוי) has the status of a roast. And some say we are not expert at distinguishing lean from fatty → one forbids in all cases up to sixty, and even with sixty, נטילת מקום; and so is the practice. But only for חֵלֶב or a fatty forbidden item; a lean forbidden item with no fat at all forbids only כדי נטילה.
Fat changes everything. A lean forbidden item stays local (כדי נטילה). But if there is fat — whether in the forbidden or in the permitted — the fat becomes a vehicle that permeates (מפעפע) the whole piece: one then requires sixty, and even with sixty one removes the spot (נטילת מקום). The Rama rules that, not being expert at judging lean/fatty, one treats every fatty forbidden item with sixty — but a forbidden item with no fat at all stays at כדי נטילה (see seif 9).
Something that permeates, in a roast: if one is hot and the other cold → the lower prevails (תתאה גבר). Therefore hot upon cold → it forbids only כדי קליפה; and cold upon hot → if there is not sixty against the forbidden item, all is forbidden.
תתאה גבר returns — roast version. Even in a roast (without sauce), once there is a difference of temperature, it is the lower that decides. Hot upon cold → the effect is checked, one peels (קליפה). Cold upon hot → the hot lower "wins," it makes the fat permeate the whole piece → one needs sixty, otherwise all is forbidden.
Group C — Forbidden in itself, or only absorbed (seifim 7-8)
A piece of forbidden food forbids its neighbor by contact only when its prohibition is by itself (מחמת עצמה) — like a נבילה or meat-and-milk. But if it has only a forbidden taste absorbed (בלוע) from elsewhere, it does not forbid the one touching it, even roasted together, as long as the absorbed item does not permeate. But if it absorbed something that permeates by nature, on account of fat (שומן), it does forbid its neighbor, whether roasted or by contact, for the absorbed forbidden item permeates and passes from piece to piece. Gloss of the Rama: all this is for two pieces; but a vessel (כלי) that absorbed a forbidden item forbids the permitted food touching it, even with a non-fatty forbidden item.
"Forbidden in itself" vs "only absorbed." A piece forbidden in itself (נבילה, meat-and-milk) contaminates what it touches. But a piece that has only absorbed a forbidden item does not transmit it further — except if what it absorbed is a permeating fat: then the fat travels from piece to piece. The Rama's novelty: a vessel that is imbued always transmits, even a non-fatty forbidden item. (Cf. Siman 92 on חתיכה נעשית נבילה; Siman 108 on ריחא.)
Seif 8 — the kidney (כוליא): the membrane separates
A kidney (כוליא) roasted in its חֵלֶב forbids only כדי קליפה, for the membrane (קרום) separates. Gloss of the Rama:some forbid (יש אוסרים) — and so is the practice, one does not change: its law is like any חֵלֶב roasted with meat. And if it was cooked thus, the kidney becomes נבילה and requires sixty against the whole of it. Likewise the membrane on the lobe (יותרת).
The membrane as barrier. According to the Mehaber, the kidney's thin skin (קרום) prevents the internal חֵלֶב from permeating the flesh → only כדי קליפה. The Rama is stricter: one treats the kidney like any חֵלֶב roasted with meat, and if one cooked it (with sauce), it becomes נבילה and requires sixty against its whole mass.
Group D — Salting: מליח כרותח (seifim 9-14)
Seif 9 — מליח כרותח: food too salty acts like boiling
Food too salty to be eaten as is (מליח שאינו נאכל מחמת מלחו) has the status of the boiling (כרותח): it expels [the taste] and forbids כדי קליפה. If it is the fat of the גיד, the tendons (קנוקנות) and the membranes → one must harden [over fire] and remove the spot. If it is actual חֵלֶב → one needs sixty to nullify it. If the meat salted with it is fatty, even the fat of the גיד requires sixty + נטילה or קליפה. All this for the piece to which the חֵלֶב is attached. As for the other pieces salted together: if each, on its own, lacks sixty against the חֵלֶב → they are forbidden, and do not combine to nullify it, for the חֵלֶב does not permeate from piece to piece without rotev. If one does not know whether it touched all → all forbidden; if one knows it touched only one without knowing which → all permitted (חד בתרי בטיל). Gloss of the Rama:some say that all salting forbids only כדי קליפה; and since we are not expert between fatty and lean, the practice is to estimate all salting at sixty, as in cooking. And a forbidden item with no fat at all, like חמץ on Pesach, by all opinions forbids only כדי קליפה.
מליח כרותח — "the salted is like the boiling": food salted to the point of being inedible as is (מליח שאינו נאכל מחמת מלחו) has the extracting power of boiling water. Like heat, it expels and transfers taste — but, unlike cooking, only at the surface (כדי קליפה), and it does not permeate from piece to piece without sauce.
Salt as "cold heat." Salting strong enough acts like boiling to draw out the taste. The base rule limits the effect to a peel (קליפה), and attached חֵלֶב requires sixty. But the Rama, lacking the expertise to judge fatty/lean, estimates all salting at sixty, as in cooking. Only a forbidden item with no fat at all (the חמץ) stays, by all opinions, at כדי קליפה.
All this when the forbidden and permitted are both salted, and even when the forbidden is salted and the permitted unsalted (תפל). But if the permitted is salted and the forbidden unsalted (תפל) → a rinse (הדחה) suffices. Gloss of the Rama:some forbid if they touched each other; and in case of loss, one may be lenient.
Who "pushes" the taste? The salted one. It is the salted side that has the extracting power. If the forbidden is salted, it drives its taste into the permitted → forbidden. But if only the permitted is salted and the forbidden is unsalted (תפל), it is the permitted that "pushes" — it does not draw in the forbidden's taste → a mere rinse suffices. (See Siman 70.)
What we said — that the fat forbids up to sixty — applies only when the salted forbidden item is below and the unsalted permitted is above, for the lower prevails (תתאה גבר). But if the unsalted permitted is below and the salted forbidden is above → it forbids only כדי קליפה. Gloss of the Rama:some dispute and say that in salting there is no difference between above and below; and so is the practice.
תתאה גבר, salting version. The Mehaber still applies "the lower prevails": salted forbidden item below → it pushes its taste upward, one needs sixty; salted forbidden item above → the effect falls back, one peels (קליפה). The Rama rules otherwise: for salting (unlike heat), there is no above/below distinction — and that is the practice.
Seif 12 — אין מליחה לכלים: salting does not draw out of a vessel
Cheeses made in molds of non-Jews, even if they were salted in them, are permitted. Gloss of the Rama: likewise, if permitted food was salted in a vessel of a forbidden item, even unperforated, it is permitted, for the salted is not "like the boiling" to the point of drawing out of a vessel what is absorbed in it; but only a posteriori (בדיעבד) — a priori (לכתחילה), it is forbidden.
אין מליחה לכלים — "there is no salting for vessels": unlike cooking, salting lacks the power to draw back out the forbidden taste absorbed in a vessel's wall. Hence the leniency (בדיעבד) for food salted in a forbidden vessel or mold.
Salting is weaker than fire. Salt extracts taste from a food, but not what lies dormant in the wall of a vessel. That is why cheese molded — or any permitted food salted — in a forbidden vessel remains permitted a posteriori. A priori, one does not do it.
Salt or spices that were in a meat dish → it is permitted to put them into milk. Gloss of the Rama: likewise if they were in a vessel of a forbidden item, because, being dry, they do not absorb from the vessel, provided the vessel is clean, with no forbidden item stuck to it; and one who is strict a priori (לכתחילה), may a blessing come upon him.
The dry does not drink. Salt and spices, being dry, absorb nothing from a vessel's wall — so they may pass from a meat dish into milk (or from a forbidden vessel) with no problem. The only condition: the vessel must be clean, with no stuck forbidden item. Being strict remains praiseworthy a priori.
Salt filled with blood (from the salting of meat) placed in a pot, or salted meat not rinsed placed in a pot → if there is sixty against the salt, it is permitted. Gloss of the Rama: although the salt still gives taste to the pot, since the salt is not forbidden by itself but on account of the blood within it, then wherever the forbidding agent (האוסר) cannot go, the item rendered forbidden (הנאסר) does not forbid more than what forbade it. (See Siman 69.)
אין הנאסר אוסר יותר מן האוסרו — "the item rendered forbidden does not forbid more than what forbade it": an object (here the salt) made forbidden by an agent (the blood) cannot transmit the prohibition further than the agent itself would. Where the blood would not reach, the salt that carries it does not forbid either.
The carrier does not exceed the source. The salt is forbidden not "by itself" but because it took on blood. Now the blood would be nullified by sixty. So sixty against the salt suffices: the salt, a mere carrier, cannot forbid beyond what the blood itself would do. (Cf. Siman 69, the salting of blood.)
2. Context — where this siman fits
Siman 105 belongs to the great laws of the forbidden and the permitted (איסור והיתר). After the simanim that treat each particular prohibition (blood, חֵלֶב, meat-and-milk) and mixtures in sauce (98, 101, 104), our siman poses the mechanical question: through what channel does a forbidden food's taste pass into the permitted, and with what force? Cold pickling, the heat of a vessel, contact, roasting, salting: each mode has its measure (rinse, קליפה, נטילה, sixty).
The great questions of the siman
Question
Where?
Typical answer
Pickling cold
Seif 1
24 h (or ציר/חומץ: כדי שירתיח) → like cooked; less → rinse
The heat of the vessel
Seifim 2-3
כלי ראשון cooks all; כלי שני weak; תתאה גבר at contact
Roasting and fat
Seifim 4-8
lean → כדי נטילה; fatty → 60 (פעפוע); קרום separates
אין מליחה לכלים; dry does not absorb; אין הנאסר אוסר יותר
The overarching idea: everything is a matter of channel and measure. What is the mode of transfer (time, heat, salt)? Is there a vehicle (sauce, fat) that spreads the taste everywhere, or does the effect stay local (קליפה, נטילה)? And always the underlying question: is there sixty?
3. The key concepts of this siman
To understand Siman 105, one must master a small technical vocabulary describing how taste transfers, permeates and is measured.
כבוש כמבושל — The pickled as the cooked: a forbidden item soaked 24 h cold with a permitted one transmits its taste like cooking. In an acidic or salty medium (ציר, חומץ), the threshold drops to the time it takes to bring to a boil (seif 1).
כלי ראשון / כלי שני — First / second vessel: the vessel left on the fire (כלי ראשון), as long as the hand recoils from it, cooks and forbids in depth; the one into which one poured (כלי שני) does not cook and at worst reaches only a peel (seif 2).
יד סולדת בו — Yad soledet: "the hand recoils." The heat threshold (≈ 45-71 °C per the opinions) below which a liquid no longer has the power to cook or to transfer taste. Decisive for the כלי ראשון (seif 2).
תתאה גבר — Tata'a gavar: "the lower prevails." At direct contact of two bodies, the one below dictates the law: hot below → all forbidden; hot above / cold below → only a peel (seifim 3, 6, 11).
כדי נטילה / פעפוע — A finger's thickness / permeation: in a lean roast, the forbidden item stays local — one removes כדי נטילה (כעובי אצבע). But fat permeates (מפעפע) the whole piece → one needs sixty (seifim 4-5).
מליח כרותח — The salted as the boiling: food too salty to be eaten as is has the extracting power of boiling water — it expels the taste and forbids כדי קליפה; the practice estimates all salting at sixty (seif 9).
Two limiting principles:אין מליחה לכלים — salting does not draw the absorbed taste out of a vessel (seif 12); and אין הנאסר אוסר יותר מן האוסרו — a carrier of a prohibition (the salt) does not forbid further than its source (the blood) would (seif 14).
4. The channels of transfer — the summary table
The whole siman boils down to one question: through what channel does taste pass, and with what measure? Here are the great channels and their effect.
Channel of transfer
Condition
Measure / result
Pickling (כבוש) cold
24 h (or ציר/חומץ: כדי שירתיח)
🔴 Like cooked → all forbidden; less → rinse / קליפה
Heat — כלי ראשון
יד סולדת בו
🔴 Cooks and forbids in depth
Heat — כלי שני
poured off the fire
🟡 At worst כדי קליפה; בדיעבד rinse
Contact — תתאה גבר
hot below / hot above
🔴 Hot below → all; 🟡 hot above → קליפה
Lean roast (צלי כחוש)
no sauce, no fat
🟡 כדי נטילה (a finger's thickness)
Fatty roast (פעפוע)
חֵלֶב or fatty forbidden item
🔴 Permeates all → sixty + נטילת מקום
Salting (מליח כרותח)
too salty to be eaten
🟡 כדי קליפה; attached חֵלֶב → 60; practice: 60
The logic in one sentence: taste passes through time (pickling), heat (vessel, contact) or salt (salting); and it spreads everywhere as soon as there is a vehicle — the sauce (rotev) or the fat (פעפוע) — otherwise it stays local (קליפה, נטילה).
The Rama's point (seifim 5, 9): not being expert at distinguishing lean from fatty, the practice is to estimate at sixty both roasting and salting, as in cooking — while keeping the נטילת מקום and the leniency of חמץ (no fat) at כדי קליפה.
5. The Shach and the Taz — the great commentators
In Yoreh De'ah, the Shulchan Arukh is never read alone. Two great commentaries accompany it on every page and structure practical study: the Shach and the Taz. These are the reference nossei kelim in Yoreh De'ah (no Mishna Berurah here, which comments only on Orach Chaim).
The Shach (ש״ך) — abbreviation of שפתי כהן, Siftei Kohen, by Rabbi Shabtai haKohen (Lithuania, 17th century). It is the reference commentary on Yoreh De'ah, of great analytic depth.
The Taz (ט״ז) — abbreviation of טורי זהב, Turei Zahav, by Rabbi David haLevi Segal (Poland, 17th century). Often in dialogue — and sometimes in disagreement — with the Shach.
A key entry of the Taz
Taz s.k. 4 — the כלי שני according to the Maharshal
The Taz cites the opinion of the Maharshal: even a כלי שני, as long as the hand recoils from it (יד סולדת בו), expels and absorbs like a כלי ראשון and forbids all of it — not merely a peel. The main view is to rule strictly like them, except in a case of great loss (הפסד גדול). The dispute therefore concerns the true force of the second vessel while it is still boiling-hot.
The Shach points out, in the name of the Rosh, the Mordechai and the Maharshal, that חומץ (vinegar) has the law of other liquids and requires twenty-four hours (מעת לעת) — and is not like ציר (brine) which expels at once (at the boiling threshold). He thus distinguishes vinegar from brine, against a reading that would equate them. One who is strict, treating vinegar like brine, may a blessing come upon him.
One sees the method: the Shach and the Taz do not repeat the Mehaber — they weigh the real force of each channel (the boiling-hot כלי שני, vinegar versus brine) and rule the practice. This is exactly what is deepened at the Lamdan level, with the positions of the Maharshal and the dispute over salting.
6. The gloss of the Rama (הגה)
The Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserles) adds to the Mehaber's text glosses that reflect Ashkenazi practice and refine the halakha. Here are his most striking interventions in our siman.
On seif 1 — pickling permeates even above the liquid; doubt forbids
Gloss of the Rama: אפילו מה שחוץ למשקה הכבוש נאסר… וספק כבוש אסור, אלא אם כן הוא בשר בחלב — "even what is above the pickling liquid is forbidden… and a doubtful pickling is forbidden, except in meat-and-milk". The pickling below permeates upward as in cooking (but yesh mekilin for what is outside); and a mere doubt already forbids — except in meat-and-milk, lighter, since the Torah prohibition there requires real cooking.
On seif 5 — we are not expert at lean/fatty (the practice)
Gloss of the Rama: ויש אומרים שאין אנו בקיאין לחלק בין כחוש לשמן, ואוסרין בכל ענין עד ששים… וכן נוהגין — "some say we are not expert at distinguishing lean from fatty, and they forbid in all cases up to sixty… and so is the practice". Moreover, anything cooked without sauce or baked (אפוי) has the status of a roast; but a forbidden item with no fat at all stays at כדי נטילה.
On seif 9 — estimate all salting at sixty
Gloss of the Rama: ולפי שאין אנו בקיאין בין שמן לכחוש, נוהגין לשער כל מליחה בששים כמו בבישול — "since we are not expert between fatty and lean, the practice is to estimate all salting at sixty, as in cooking". But a forbidden item with no fat at all (the חמץ on Pesach) forbids, by all opinions, only כדי קליפה.
On seifim 11-13 — no above/below in salting; vessels and dry salt
The Rama further specifies: in salting, no above/below difference (seif 11, against the Mehaber); salting does not draw the taste out of a vessel (seif 12, אין מליחה כרותח להפליט מן הכלי) — permitted בדיעבד; and dry salt or spices do not absorb (seif 13), provided the vessel is clean. Each time: strict לכתחילה, lenient בדיעבד.
The Rama carefully distinguishes the base law (the Mehaber, who details the fine measures: קליפה, נטילה, above/below) from Ashkenazi practice, which — lacking expertise — estimates everything at sixty (roasting, salting), while keeping targeted leniencies (חמץ with no fat, בדיעבד for vessels).
7. מליח כרותח — what salting really does
Seifim 9-14 — the great block of salting — deserve a pause. What exactly does "the salted is like the boiling" mean?
Everything rests on the degree of saltiness and the presence of a vehicle. Salt strong enough acts like boiling, but two differences make it weaker than cooking:
It forbids at the surface only כדי קליפה (not in depth like fire).
It does not permeate from piece to piece without rotev: pieces salted together do not combine to nullify the חֵלֶב.
It does not draw the taste out of a vessel (אין מליחה לכלים).
Case
Salted / unsalted
Measure
Both salted (or forbidden salted / permitted תפל)
🔴 The forbidden pushes
קליפה; attached חֵלֶב → 60 (practice: all at 60)
Permitted salted / forbidden תפל
🟢 The permitted pushes
Rinse (הדחה) suffices
Salted forbidden below (Mehaber)
🔴 תתאה גבר
Sixty
Salted forbidden above (Mehaber)
🟡
כדי קליפה (Rama: no above/below)
Salted in a forbidden vessel
🟢 אין מליחה לכלים
Permitted בדיעבד
Forbidden with no fat (חמץ)
🟢
כדי קליפה (all opinions)
And seif 14 adds the final touch: a carrier of a prohibition (salt laden with blood) does not forbid further than its source — sixty against the salt suffices, even though it "still gives taste," for אין הנאסר אוסר יותר מן האוסרו (cf. Siman 69).
8. Modern practical cases
How do these rules apply in our kitchens today? Here are three common situations illuminated by our siman.
Case 1 — A marinade that sat overnight
One leaves food to marinate in the refrigerator with a problematic ingredient (for instance a mix into which a non-kosher product slipped, or a cold meat-and-milk case). Seif 1 asks: how long? Beyond 24 h (מעת לעת), it is like cooked (כבוש כמבושל) → everything is involved. In an acidic or salty medium (vinegar, brine), the threshold drops much sooner (כדי שירתיח). Below that, a rinse suffices. For the halakha lema'asseh, consult your Rav.
Case 2 — A milky spoon in the meat pot on the fire
One has mistakenly dipped a milky spoon into a meat pot. Everything depends on the vessel (seifim 2-3): if the pot is still on the fire (כלי ראשון) and the hand recoils from it (יד סולדת), it cooks and forbids in depth → the question of sixty. If it has already been poured off (כלי שני), it is much weaker (at worst a peel, and בדיעבד a rinse). And at direct contact, the lower prevails (תתאה גבר). For the halakha lema'asseh, consult your Rav.
Case 3 — The koshering salt of meat
The salting that draws the blood out of meat (seifim 9-14) illustrates the whole מליח כרותח block: meat not rinsed placed in a pot, or salt laden with blood → if there is sixty against the salt, it is permitted (seif 14), for the salt merely carries the blood. And a vessel in which one only salted is not as if one had cooked (אין מליחה לכלים, seif 12): בדיעבד one is lenient. For the halakha lema'asseh, consult your Rav.
The thread of the three cases: before panicking, ask yourself three questions — through what channel could the taste have passed (time, heat, salt)? is there a vehicle (sauce, fat) that spreads everything, or does the effect stay local? and is there sixty? But the concrete decision always belongs to the Rav, who knows the factual details.
9. Synthesis of Siman 105
The essence of Siman 105 in a few sentences:
Pickling (כבוש): 24 h cold = like cooked; ציר/חומץ → כדי שירתיח; less → rinse; ספק כבוש forbidden, except meat-and-milk (seif 1).
כלי ראשון (יד סולדת) cooks and forbids all; כלי שני does not cook, at worst קליפה (seif 2).
תתאה גבר: the lower prevails at contact — hot below → all; hot above → קליפה (seif 3).
The rotev spreads the taste everywhere; the dry roast forbids only כדי נטילה (seif 4).
Fat permeates (פעפוע) → sixty + נטילת מקום; the lean stays at נטילה (seif 5); hot/cold → תתאה גבר (seif 6).
Forbidden in itself contaminates by contact; only absorbed does not — except permeating fat; a vessel always transmits (seif 7).
The kidney: the membrane (קרום) separates → קליפה; cooked → נבילה, sixty (seif 8).
מליח כרותח: too salty = boiling → קליפה; attached חֵלֶב → 60; practice: all at 60; חמץ (no fat) → קליפה (seif 9).
אין מליחה לכלים (seif 12); dry salt does not absorb (seif 13); אין הנאסר אוסר יותר מן האוסרו (seif 14).
Memory table
Situation
Measure
Pickling 24 h cold (or ציר/חומץ: כדי שירתיח)
🔴 Like cooked → all forbidden
כלי ראשון (יד סולדת) / כלי שני
🔴 Cooks all / 🟡 at worst קליפה
Contact: hot below / hot above (תתאה גבר)
🔴 All / 🟡 כדי קליפה
Lean roast / fatty roast (פעפוע)
🟡 כדי נטילה / 🔴 sixty + נטילת מקום
Salting: too salty / permitted salted-forbidden תפל
🟡 קליפה (practice: 60) / 🟢 rinse
Salted in a vessel / dry salt
🟢 בדיעבד permitted / 🟢 does not absorb
Salt laden with blood, sixty against the salt
🟢 Permitted (אין הנאסר אוסר יותר)
Comprehension questions
Check your understanding:
What is כבוש כמבושל? What does a medium of ציר or חומץ change (seif 1)? What does the Rama rule on doubt (ספק כבוש)?
Distinguish כלי ראשון from כלי שני. What is the role of יד סולדת בו (seif 2)?
Explain תתאה גבר. What is the result "hot below" and "hot above" (seif 3)?
Why does the rotev forbid everything, whereas the dry roast forbids only כדי נטילה (seif 4)?
What is פעפוע? Why does fat require sixty + נטילת מקום (seif 5)? And hot/cold (seif 6)?
Distinguish a forbidden item מחמת עצמו from one only בלוע. When does the absorbed contaminate (seif 7)? And the vessel?
Why does the kidney forbid only כדי קליפה per the Mehaber? What does the Rama rule (seif 8)?
What is מליח כרותח? What is the base measure, and what is the practice ruled by the Rama (seif 9)? And the חמץ?
Distinguish מליח from תפל: when does a rinse suffice (seif 10)? What does the Rama say on above/below (seif 11)?
Explain אין מליחה לכלים (seif 12) and אין הנאסר אוסר יותר מן האוסרו (seif 14).
To go further
If you want to deepen this siman:
📚 Level 2 — Lamdan: the pilpoul, the yesod of כבוש כמבושל and ספק כבוש, the dispute over כלי שני (Maharshal / Shach), the logic of תתאה גבר and פעפוע, the debate over salting
✨ Level 3 — Synthesis: the comparative tables (pickling / heat / roasting / salting), the golden rules and quick memorization of the 14 seifim
⚖️ Level 4 — Halakha lema'asse: the practical psika (Shach, Taz, Pri Megadim, Pithei Teshuva) and contemporary poskim on concrete cases
The sources of this level are available on Sefaria: