Treasure Hunt

I decided that since I basically subsist on tea/coffee, it would be ridiculous for me to boil water yet again this Pesach using a small pot on the stove. As I'm sure you can imagine, on Yom Tov when the fire is set on a low flame, you wind up waiting a looooonnnng time for that pre-shul cup of joe.

This year, I told myself, I'm going to give myself a treat: I'll buy an urn! My very first year here I went nuts at Moisha's since I had just moved into the neighbourhood and bought one of their lovely urns come Pesach. But of course that baby got converted into my Shabbos urn year-round pronto. Leaving me with my present situation.

Anyhow, I tried psyching myself up the last week to lay out the required $55, but what with the economy and a big ? hanging over my current employer, I figured splurging like that was just too extravagant. I told myself that instead I would buy a new blech (my husband has one, but it's all bendy/wavy, which becomes a problem when you're trying to balance a full kettle on it) and a tea kettle. Of course, since the last time I got a blech was several years ago, I forgot that my stove is an irregular size and that I would have to measure it in order to procure anything. Needless to say, this realization only came to mind once I had dragged myself all the way up Avenue M to the variety shop at Ocean Avenue. They do have a great selection though, if anyone's looking.

Today I decided to call my friend M (very James Bond, I know), who is one of my two bastions of knowledge for all things Flatbush. She informed me that she got an urn recently for bubkas at The Buzz. So despite my general aversion to The Buzz (crowded, noisy, etc. etc.), I went there earlier this evening. It was jam-packed, as expected, but the merchandise did not disappoint. Turns out they had two smaller urns to choose between: a pump pot for $29.99 and an old-fashioned urn for $19.99. I was originally going to go with the pump pot, but decided by the time the cashier called next and it was my turn that I should go with the old-fashioned urn (it was difficult to push down the dispenser on the model for the pump pot, so I imagined I would wind up breaking it by the end of the chag).

So I happily carried the urn home and it's now sitting in my closet along with the other miscellaneous Pesach items I'm waiting to put out once the entire kitchen is Pesadik. But here's the interesting part of this whole saga. When I spoke to M, she told me that according to Reb Dovid Cohen, shlita, you don't have to toivel an urn. Instead, all you have to do is take a screwdriver, remove one screw from the urn, and then screw the one screw back in. No water necessary. Rather, because you have participated in assembling the urn, it is now a "Jewish" urn, thereby circumventing the need for insertion in the mikveh. Isn't that just the most ingenious thinking ever? I was so excited by how brilliant and original the logic is...

Those are my current tips for anyone doing Pesach shoppping. Speaking of which, if anyone knows where I can find some machine-made spelt matzah, please let me know...