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If I buy a food-utensil from a gentile to give as a gift to a Jew, can I tovel it before giving it to him, or must he do it himself as the final intended owner? Is there a difference between glass and metal in this regard?

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Tevilath Kelim (by R. Zvi Cohen) 8:6 says that you shouldn't immerse it. In the footnote there he cites Mekor Chaim 14, who says that this is because the giver didn't buy the utensil with the intent to use it for food preparation.

(CYLOR, of course.)

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    @HachamGabriel, he doesn't say anything about a berachah, but in the previous paragraph (and its footnote) he cites R. Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss and (יבלח"ט) R. Shmuel Wosner about the case of a seller, that his immersion would accomplish nothing because the chiyuv hasn't taken effect yet. So it sounds like according to this, no disqualification is possible - no matter what the seller or giver did, the buyer would still have to immerse it with a berachah. – Alex Feb 13 '12 at 3:14
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    So if the giver resolves to use it once, then he can tovel it with a bracha. – Double AA♦ Feb 13 '12 at 4:30
  • What if you know the recipient won't Tovel it? – Seth J Dec 11 '12 at 18:18
  • @SethJ Perhaps you can tovel it to use for yourself once. – Double AA♦ Feb 3 '13 at 6:39
  • If it's Klei Otzar at purchase time, then it should be Patur forever, because it's a Jew who made it into a Kli Seudah. – Double AA♦ Sep 18 '14 at 4:13
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You can not tovel something for the recipient if he didnt designate you as a messenger to do so. If you know he wouldnt do it himself then give him a gift in a plastic container or volunteer to do it for him once you have given it.

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    Hi Jeff, welcome to Mi Yodeya! Do you have a source to edit in for your assertion that toveling the dish requires the owner's permission? – Double AA♦ Feb 3 '13 at 6:28
  • Dont remember the source but as a prove i can say that all jewsih stores would be selling dishes and pots pre-toveled if there was such an option. – Jeff Feb 3 '13 at 6:33
  • That just proves they can't tovel it, not that the reason is because the buyer didn't designate the store owner as a messenger. (It could also just be that they are cheap/lazy.) – Double AA♦ Feb 3 '13 at 6:37
  • If there was a way to tovel it and to charge extra for it they would do it and many people would gladly pay extra for such service. – Jeff Feb 3 '13 at 6:42
  • Perhaps, but that doesn't explain why they can't do it. – Double AA♦ Feb 3 '13 at 6:43

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