Why is there two sinks in a Jewish home?

Answer 1

They can't prepare meat and everything else in the same sink, this would deem the meat not-kosher.

But the truth is that there are NOT two sinks in every Jewish home. Not every Jewish home keeps kosher, plus it is possible to keep kosher with one sink...you would just have to use removable wash basins inside the sink.

Answer 2

Under traditional Jewish Law, dishes that are for meat cannot touch dishes for dairy. Only some Jews use 2 dishwashers. Others clean the dishwasher in between washing meat plates and dairy plates.

Answer 3

In Judaism, dairy and meat are kept completely separate. Those who can afford it may have two kitchens, one for dairy food preparation and one for the preparation of foods containing meat.

Not everyone has two kitchens, some have two fridges and two ovens. Some just have two sets of everything (dishes, pots and pans, etc) but only one oven and fridge.

Answer 4

Most do not. I'm an Orthodox rabbi and have never seen a sink in a Jewish dining room.

Those who do, the extra sink will usually be in its own little alcove adjacent to the dining room or the restroom. It is for the purpose of washing the hands before eating and/or after leaving the restroom, depending on the number of sinks in the home, which ones are located where, etc.

Answer 5

I'm a kitchen and bath designer designing a Rabbi's home currently, with a sink off the dining/living room. He told me it is to avoid cross-contamination.

Answer 6

Most do not have two. I've been in lots of Jewish houses, Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, and Hassidic, Ashkenazic and Sephardic, rabbis and laity, wealthy and poor. I've never been in one that had two kitchens. But ...

The Jewish laws that require separating Passover cooking from every day cooking would be much easier to keep if you could just close off your every-day kitchen during Passover, and close it off outside of Passover. And it might be handy to have a separate dairy kitchen distinct from your meat kitchen in order to simplify keeping meat and dairy foods entirely separate. That ends up arguing for 3 or 4 kitchens, but the few genuinely wealthy Jews I've known always seemed to have something better to spend their money on than extra kitchens.