Duchka D'Sakina

OU Kosher

QUESTION: What does “duchka d’sakina” (literally the pressure of a knife) refer to?

ANSWER: The Gemara (Chullin 111b) states that if one cut a radish with a fleishig knife, the radish will absorb a meaty taste. Therefore, this radish may not be served with dairy. Rashi (Chullin 112a) offers two explanations as to why the radish may not be eaten with meat.

  1. Knives often have residue on them even when they appear clean. Due to the force of the knife cutting through the radish, some of that meaty residue will transfer to the surface of the radish.
  2. Because radishes are spicy foods, the force of the knife cutting through the radish will transfer flavors that were previously absorbed in the knife into the radish itself.

Shulchan Aruch (YD 96) rules like both of these explanations of Rashi. Therefore, if one cut bread or other non-spicy vegetables with a fleishig knife, these items may not be served with dairy, unless one scrapes away wherever a cut was made. If one cut radishes, onions or other spicy foods with a fleishig knife, the spicy food must be considered fleishig. Since these items absorb the meaty flavor, it is not enough to simply scrape away the place where the cut was made.

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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.