On 16b the Gemara says that one of the reasons that we were gozer tumah on glass utensils that someone made a hole in and then remade it into a new utensil is because it is a gezaira because of the seven days of tumah we normally have. However Rashi on 16a D"H Litumasun Yeshaina says that after you fix a glass untensil you must be toivel it in a mikveh. Is Rashi only going one the other reasons brought later or is there a way to explain Rashi even according to the first pshat?
Aharon Tzvi Weiss, Staten Island, NY
The Gemara ascribes the Rabbanan's Gezeirah of Tum'ah on glass vessels either to the fact that they are similar to metal vessels (since they can be repaired even after they are broken) or, as Rav Ashi explains, because they are made of sand and are therefore similar to earthenware vessels.
The reason that you wrote pertains to Tum'ah Yeshanah (old Tum'ah that returns to broken vessels that have been repaired) of metal vessels (and not glass).
When Rashi explains refers to Toveling a glass vessel that one fixed, he is commenting on the Havah Amina (the initial suggestion) of the Gemara, which is in fact, rejected.
Kol Tuv,
Eliezer Chrysler