If a person purchases a utensil, such as a plate, to give as a gift, may he first immerse it in a Mikveh to spare the recipient the trouble of immersing the utensil?
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Jerusalem, 1910-1995) ruled that immersing a utensil before giving it as a gift is ineffective, and does not absolve the recipient from immersing the utensil after he receives it. The obligation of Tevila (immersion) takes effect only when a person assumes ownership over a utensil for the purpose of using it with food. Therefore, before the gift is given, the utensil is not yet owned for the purpose of using with food; it is owned only for the purpose of being given as a gift. Hence, since the obligation does not yet take effect, the immersion is ineffective, and the recipient would be required to immerse the utensil again upon receiving the gift.
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman then addresses the question of whether a person in this situation can give the utensil temporarily to a third party who would receive it on behalf of the intended recipient. There is Halachic concept known as "Mezakeh Al Yedei Acheirim," which means that a person can take possession of an item on behalf of somebody else, and that other person then acquires legal ownership over that object. At first glance, therefore, if one gives the utensil to a third party to acquire on behalf of the intended recipient, the utensil is now under the recipient's ownership, and the immersion should thus be valid.
However, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman rules that this technique would not be effective in validating the immersion. Even once a third party takes possession of the utensil on behalf of the recipient, it remains to be seen whether or not the recipient intends to use the utensil with food. He may decide to return it to the store, give it as a gift to somebody else, or use it for some purpose not involving food. Therefore, even at this point, the utensil has yet to come under a person's ownership for the specific purpose of use with food. As such, the Tevila obligation has yet to take effect, and immersing the utensil before giving it as a gift would not absolve the recipient from immersing it after receiving the gift.
Therefore, if one gives a new utensil as a gift, he should not first immerse it, and he should instead inform the recipient that it requires immersion.
See “Tevilat Kelim” by Svi Cohen, perek8, Halacha 6, and letter from Rabbi Zalman Auerbach Z”L at the end of his book.
The Halacha, it is not proper to dip Kellim when you are going to give them to somebody as a gift. You should tell them as a matter of fact that it is not dipped, so they should not be confused and they should dip it themselves.
