A hot (120° F--49° C--or more), wet utensil transfers its gender to a countertop upon which it is placed, but only at the area of contact.
Status of Countertop

1. Gender status of the countertop:
   • D'rabanan, the countertop area of contact remains that gender until kashered (as long as the countertop material is kasherable).
   • D'oraita, the countertop reverts to kosher-neutral/pareve after 24 hours.
   Note If the utensil and counter were not wet (nor dirty with food) at the area of contact, there is b'di'avad no transfer of gender.
2. If you put a hot, wet utensil of the opposite gender on that same spot, that counter space may become non-kosher.

Status of Utensils
If the counter had not had a hot, wet utensil/container of food of the opposite gender placed on the same spot within 24 hours of each other, the utensils may be used and the utensils are still kosher.
Status of Food
This does not apply to food that is directly placed on the counter, in which case the food might become non-kosher.
 

Soap must be considered non-kosher unless it is certified kosher.  Soap without kosher supervision should not l'chatchila be used on food utensils--even if you use cold water and even on glass--because a soap residue adheres to the surfaces, even after careful rinsing. 
Soaps/Detergents
Bar soap is generally made from animal fat. Since all soaps do have taste and might be edible by a dog, they might not be nifsal for a dog and therefore cannot be used on eating utensils.

When washing your hands using the One-Time Method, in all cases except when washing for bread, here is what to use:

• Best: Cup that holds at least a revi'it of water.
• Next Best: Wash hands from a spigot within 12” of the ground, turning the spigot off and on between hands.
• Third Choice: If the spigot is more than 12” above the ground, simply hold your hands under a regular faucet in the flow of water so that your hands get wet all over.  No need to turn the water on and off.
  Note This is a b'di'avad case. 
• Fourth Choice: If there is no water, say whatever blessings you need to say anyway (for example, asher yatzar) rather than not saying the blessing at all. You will still have the tum'a on your hands (but you should rub your hands on cloth of clothing first).

Restrictions during the Nine Days before Tish'a b'Av are the same as for Three Weeks, plus:

• You may not eat meat or drink wine.
  Exceptions

  1. You may drink wine on Shabbat (but not on Rosh Chodesh Av or erev Shabbat.)
  2. You may drink wine for havdala (but ideally give the wine or grape juice to a child between ages 6 and 10).  
  3. You may eat meat or drink wine at a brit, siyum, or pidyon ha'ben.
• You may not wear freshly laundered clothes, or wear or buy new clothes.

• You may not wash yourself for pleasure.
  Note Showering or bathing to clean one's soiled body is permitted (except on Tish'a b'Av).  So you may bathe or shower during the Nine Days if you are dirty, sweaty, or smelly.
• You may not do any activities that involve luxury.
• You may not say she'hecheyanu except on Shabbat.
  Note Therefore you should not buy new fruits or new items that you will enjoy during the Nine Days.  But if you DO eat a new fruit or buy something new, you must say she'hecheyanu anyway.

If kosher food spills inside a non-kosher oven in which you are cooking uncovered kosher food (whether liquid or non-liquid), consult a rabbi about whether the uncovered kosher food may still be eaten.

To fulfill the two requirements for Shabbat evening kiddush:

1. Say, or hear, the Shabbat evening kiddush blessings/segments:
   • Borei pri ha'gafen (on wine or grape juice only), OR
     Ha'motzi (on two challot if you have no wine or grape juice, as chamar medina is not permitted for Shabbat evening kiddush. See Challot for Evening Kiddush) AND
   • Mekadeish HaShabbat.
2. Establish a halachic “meal” (kovei'a se'uda) by either:
   • Drinking 4 fl. oz. (119 ml) of wine (or grape juice) within 30 seconds, OR
   • Eating at least 1.9 fl. oz. (56 ml) of bread or mezonot of any type (within 4 minutes) shortly after saying or hearing kiddush.

You may not wash a neutral/ pareve dish in a meat or milk dishwasher--even if there are no dirty dishes with milk or meat on them and even if there are no other dishes in the dishwasher. If you did, the neutral/pareve dish may have become the gender of the dishwasher, but consult a rabbi for leniencies.

Examples

• You said the weekday version on Shabbat or Jewish festival--or the reverse.
• You began to say the version for a different Shabbat service (say, it is Shabbat mincha and you said the version for Shabbat shacharit).

When a spicy/charif food takes on the gender of the cutting/squeezing utensil:

• You may not cook or eat that food with food of the opposite gender.
• However, you MAY eat the opposite-gender food immediately after eating the gendered spicy food without waiting.

To fulfill the two requirements for Jewish festival evening kiddush:

1. Make Kiddush
   Say, or hear, the three Jewish festival evening kiddush blessings/segments:
   1. Borei pri ha'gafen (if on wine or grape juice—preferred option), OR
      Ha'motzi (on two challot if you have no wine or grape juice, since no chamar medina is allowed for Jewish festival evening kiddush; see Jewish Festivals: Kiddush: Challot for Kiddush) AND
   2. Asher bachar banu mi kol am.... mekadeish Yisrael v'hazmanim, AND
   3. She'hecheyanu on all Jewish festival nights, except the last two nights of Passover.  So say she'hecheyanu on:
      • Both nights of Rosh Hashana (in or outside of Eretz Yisrael),
      • First two nights of Passover (1 night in Eretz Yisrael),
      • Both nights of Shavuot (1 night in Eretz Yisrael),
      • First two nights of Sukkot (1 night in Eretz Yisrael), and
      • Nights of Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah (same day in Eretz Yisrael).
      Note There is never any requirement on an indvidual to drink kiddush wine (except at the Passover seder), but the kiddush wine must be drunk by one or more persons.
      Note A woman who had said she'hecheyanu when she lit the Jewish festival candles does NOT say she'hecheyanu again if she makes kiddush for herself, even when making kiddush at the Passover seder.
      Note There is no need to eat a new fruit after saying she'hecheyanu on the second night of  Shavuot, Passover, or Sukkot. This is not comparable to Rosh Hashana, since the second festival night was instituted due to uncertainty of the actual date of the holiday, while Rosh Hashana is considered to be one single, long day.
2. Establish a halachic “meal” (kovei'a se'uda).
   For how to establish a halachic meal, see Introduction to Jewish Festival “Eating a Meal” Requirements.

Here is a typical order of waking/morning prayers for weekdays (many people say these blessings at the synagogue instead of at home):

• Wake
  Wake and wash hands (Three-Times Method).
• Bathroom
  Take care of any toilet needs, wash your hands (One-Time Method).
  Say blessings al netilat yadayim and asher yatzar (until l'fgarim meitim).
• Torah Blessings

• Talit Katan
  Put on talit katan (for men).
  Say blessing if not married or if not putting on talit gadol later.
    Note You may put on the talit katan before washing your hands

• Birchot HaShachar

• Talit/Tefilin

 

• Talit (for married men or other men with that custom).
• Tefilin (for men).

• L'olam Yihei Adam/Korbanot

• L'olam yihei adam,
• Short shema,
• Paragraph ending mekadeish et shimcha ba'rabim,
• Readings on sacrifices/korbanot,
• 13 rules.

• Psukei D'Zimra

• Psalm 30/Mizmor Shir Chanukat habayit.
• Baruch she'amar through yishtabach (includes ashrei).

• Bar'chu/Shema/Amida

• Psalms/Alenu

Terms To Know

• Neitz, HaNeitz—Sunrise
• Alot HaShachar—72 minutes before sunrise
• MiSheyakir-- 36 minutes before sunrise in New York in winter and 40 minutes in summer. Nearer to the equator, the maximum time is shorter.

When Things Happen
Before Alot HaShachar (72 minutes before sunrise)
You can put on tzitzit/talit and tefilin without blessings.

Alot HaShachar
You can say:

• Birchot ha'shachar.
• Shema and amida, b'di'avad.

Mi'sheyakir (36-40 minutes before sunrise)
You can say:

• Blessings over tefilin and tzitzit/talit.
• Shema and amida as necessary.

K'Vatikin
You can say shema l'chatchila--and begin saying the amida exactly at sunrise.

By Third Halachic Hour of the Day
You have until the third halachic hour of the day to say:

• The blessing mekadeish et shimcha ba'rabim if you want to include the word Adonai.
• Morning shema.

By Fourth Halachic Hour of the Day
You have until the fourth halachic hour of the day to say any of the prayers from barchu until the end of the amida.

Halachic Mid-Day
You have until halachic mid-day, b'di'avad, to say the shacharit amida.

          

BAKING IN NON-KOSHER OVEN

An oven that has not been used for at least 24 hours is considered, d'oraita, to be neutral/pareve, but only if it is clean. D'rabanan, it is still not kosher, but this may be useful for when you can be lenient; e.g., if there is a safek.

Note Even when baking in a non-kosher oven, you must cook the food in a kosher utensil.

INTRODUCTION TO BAKING IN NON-KOSHER OVEN

Baking in a Non-Kosher Oven

How To Tell if Oven Is Clean

To determine whether a non-kosher oven with black or brown spots is clean, scratch them:

• If the substance crumbles, the spots are OK and you may bake non-liquid food in that oven without covering the food.
• If the spots do not crumble or they remain immovable or come off in flakes rather than crumbles, consider the oven not clean.

Uncovered Food; Clean (Non-Kosher) Oven

You may cook food uncovered in a non-kosher oven if:

• The oven rack and walls are clean, and
• The food is not “liquid.”
  
  Note Non-liquid is defined as not being liquid before cooking OR not being liquid after cooking, but the food does not need to be non-liquid at both times.  Examples of “non-liquid” foods:

  • Apple cobbler
  • Lasagna
  • Meat (that will create gravy at the end)
  • Pudding
  • Raw fish.

What To DoPlace two layers of foil under the baking utensil.

Double Wrapping

When To Double Wrap

Double-wrap food before baking in a non-kosher radiant-heat oven if:

• The rack and/or oven are not clean;
• The food that you are baking is liquid at any time during the cooking process; OR
• Some of the food you are baking spills onto the rack or oven surfaces.

How To Double Wrap

When wrapping food for cooking in a non-kosher oven, the wrapping material does not need to seal completely, but the:

• Food must be completely covered with two layers of foil or plastic;
• Layers must keep water vapor out from between the layers; and
• Surfaces of the utensil must all be covered.

Gender/Kashrut Status Transfer
Foods and kitchenware (pots, pans, dishes, utensils, and containers) can absorb taste from each other and so adopt a new gender or kosher status. They can change from:

• Kosher to non-kosher,
• Kosher pareve (neutral) to kosher dairy or kosher meat, or
• Kosher Passover to kosher (or non-kosher) non-Passover.

 
Note You can sometimes change a utensil/container to kosher-pareve (see Kashering, below), but you cannot change a

• Gendered food to neutral-pareve, or
• Non-kosher food to kosher.

 
Taste Absorption
Taste gets absorbed in three ways: Heat, pressure, and soaking. 
 
Heat
To absorb taste, and therefore gender or kashrut status, through heat, a food or utensil must be heated to 120° F or more while:

• Steamed with a halachically “liquid” food, or
• In wet physical contact with the food or utensil.

Examples

• Two hot pans, which are clean on their outsides, only transfer taste from one to the other if they are wet on the outside and are touching each other.
• A hot utensil placed onto a counter only transfers gender to the countertop if there is liquid or food at the point of contact.

Note  All liquids plays a major role in facilitating taste transfer.
NOTE Taste, gender, or non-kosher status do not travel upstream into the utensil that food is being poured from. Even if you pour hot liquid (pareve or of one gender) from a pot onto a non-kosher or opposite gender food, the genders are not transferred back through the stream of liquid to the pot, even if any or all of the elements are more than 120 degrees.
Situation You pour hot liquid from some pareve vegetables into a non-kosher sink that had hot in it within 24 hours. There are dishes or utensils in the sink.
Status The dishes do not change gender unless the hot liquid fills up from the sink onto them. If so, the dishes or utensils become non-kosher. But no gender change occurs through the stream of liquid back to the pot of vegetables.
 
Note If the non-kosher sink had not had anything hot (120 degrees or above) in it for at least 24 hours, no change of gender or kosher status happens at all.
 
Note On Passover, gender and chametz status DO get transferred through a stream of hot liquid.
 
Pressure
To absorb taste, and therefore gender or kashrut status, through pressure or short-term soaking, one of the items must be spicy/charif.
 
Soaking
To absorb taste, and therefore gender or kashrut status, through long-term soaking, the food must soak for specific amounts of time.
 
Note If the food or utensil is not hot (120° F or more), is not spicy/charif, and is not soaking for a long time, there is no gender or kashrut-status transfer.
Examples
You may use a non-kosher utensil for any cold food of the opposite gender, so you may:

• Eat cold (kosher) cereal out of a meat or non-kosher bowl, or
• Use a meat or non-kosher spoon to eat kosher ice cream.

Note Even though these are permissible, they may not be done regularly but only on an ad hoc basis.
 
Food and Kitchenware: Which Influences What
Hot or Spicy/Charif Foods
With hot (more than 120° F) or spicy/charif foods:
Foods and utensils/containers transfer taste to each other.
 
Cold or Non-Spicy Foods that Soak
With cold (less than 120° F) or non-spicy/charif foods that soak:

• Foods do not transfer taste to utensils/containers;
• Utensils/containers do NOT transfer taste to foods.

NOTE No substances (not salt, or any food...) absorb gender from the open air.
 
 
The 24-Hour Rule: Eino ben Yomo
Torah Law: Reverts to Kosher-Pareve
By Torah law, a utensil/container always reverts to kosher-pareve after 24 hours (since the taste of any absorbed food becomes ruined with time). 
 
Rabbinic Law: Must Be Kashered
However, by rabbinic law, the utensil/container must be kashered before using.
 
NOTE Even by Torah law, a hot or spicy/charif food can revive the milk-meat or non-kosher status of another utensil/container (see below) even after 24 hours.
 
Accidentally or Intentionally
Food Hot and Accidentally Placed; Utensil Not Hot for 24 Hours
Kosher food hotter than 120° F (49° C) remains kosher if accidentally placed into a non-kosher, clean utensil that has not been heated to 120° F or more for at least 24 hours.
REASON After 24 hours, b'di'avad, the utensil has reverted to being kosher-pareve.
NOTE If the utensil had been “used” (heated to 120° F or more) within the preceding 24 hours, the hot food that accidentally entered the utensil would be non-kosher. Ask a rabbi for possible exceptions.
 
Food Hot and Intentionally Placed
If the hot food had been put into the utensil intentionally, the food would not be kosher.
REASON Chazal made a rule (takana) that if you intentionally place food of one gender into a utensil of the opposite gender and heat it to 120° F or more, the food is not kosher.