Netilas Yadayim - Disposable Cup

QUESTION: Can one use a disposable plastic cup for netilas yadayim before eating bread?

ANSWER: Netilas yadayim for bread requires the use of a cup. Shulchan Aruch (OC 159:1) writes that even inexpensive cups such as those made from dried mud or hollowed out stone are acceptable for netilas yadayim, provided that they can hold a revi’is of water (approximately 3-4 ounces). It would seem that the same should apply to a disposable cup. Indeed, many poskim, including the Tzitz Eliezer (12:23) and Rav Shmuel Wosner zt”l (M’Beis Levi 5753 vol. 3), write that a disposable plastic cup may be used, since there is no deficiency in the cup. The intent to throw it away at the end of the meal does not remove its current status as a cup. Rav Wosner cautions against using paper cups, since they deteriorate quickly.

Rav Schachter shlita ruled that since even a disposable cup is often used multiple times in the course of a meal, it clearly qualifies as a keli. However, since some poskim question whether a disposable cup should be used, it is best to avoid using a disposable cup if a permanent cup is available. 

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.