For the source text click/tap here: Bava Batra 87
To download, click/tap here: PDF
The Mishnah teaches that when a person purchases a barrel of wine (or oil), the seller must let three drops of the liquid drip into the buyer's vessel after he empties its contents. Any leftover liquid that collects at the bottom of the seller's vessel when the seller tilts his vessel belongs to the seller.
Rebbi Elazar asks why should this case be different from the case involving Terumah? The Mishnah in Terumos (11:8) says that when a person empties a barrel of Terumah and then tilts the barrel so that liquid collects on the bottom, the liquid that collects is also Terumah. According to the logic of the Mishnah here, in the case in Terumos the liquid left in the barrel should be Chulin!
We explore the three drops in mythology and the bird of Mother Earth Gaia and her impact on ecology.