After filling your car’s gas tank, you might be tempted to stretch and pump just a little more in. But gas stations warn against this, often with a sign that cajoles: “Do not top off.” That’s because topping off your tank is bad for your car, the environment and your wallet.
But while topping off your gas tank is a bad idea, the rabbis on today’s daf insist that some kinds of topping off are not only good, but — at least sometimes — legally required.
The mishnah teaches that one who sells liquids is:
…obligated to drip for him three extra drops.
Someone selling oil or wine first pours that liquid into a measuring cup in order to measure it out for the customer. Then, the seller transfers the purchased liquid into the buyer’s container so they can take it home. To make sure the buyer gets the full measure, the rabbis obligate the seller to keep the measuring cup turned upside down until the flow pauses and then drips three extra drops of liquid — in other words, to “top off,” if you will, the buyer’s purchase.
There is a trade-off here between fairness and expediency. On the one hand, one might argue that time is money and the seller is tediously obligated to wait until three drops have fallen from the measuring cup into the buyer’s vessel. On the other hand, one could point out the seller only has to wait for three drops to fall — even if there is a lot more liquid clinging to the sides of the vessel — to ensure the customer gets what they pay for. The results may differ depending on whether one is selling a thin liquid, like vinegar, or a viscous liquid, like honey.
Other contexts also matter. The mishnah continues:
And a storekeeper is not obligated to drip three drops.
The mishnah seems to be saying that if someone has a small business, maybe run out of their home, they likely have the time to wait for each customer’s liquid purchase to be topped off. But if they are a busy store owner with a long line of customers waiting to buy something, it’s unreasonable to expect them to have that kind of time — especially when the store is busy.
The mishnah then concludes: Rabbi Yehuda says: Shabbat eve at nightfall, one is exempt.
Friday afternoon, as Shabbat approaches, Rabbi Yehuda thinks no one is expected to have the time to wait for three drips on each of their customers’ purchases.
The Talmud then asks what Rabbi Yehuda is actually disagreeing with. Is he disagreeing with the earlier statement that a seller is required to drip three drops and saying that’s only true if it isn’t Friday afternoon (which is a more lenient take than the original one)? Or is he only disagreeing with the second statement that a storekeeper is exempt, and insisting that no, a storekeeper must top off their customers, unless it’s Friday afternoon (which is a more stringent take than the original one). Is he trying to add a leniency or a stringency?
The Talmud resolves this question by pointing to a different tradition in which Rabbi Yehuda makes his position clear:
Come and hear as it is taught Rabbi Yehuda says: On Shabbat eve at nightfall a storekeeper is exempt because the storekeeper is busy.
For Rabbi Yehuda, even a busy storekeeper must take the extra time to ensure that his sales are fair, and that customers get what they paid for — unless Shabbat is coming! In that case, the store is presumably busy, and time is tight. So if you want to make sure that you get everything you paid for on Fridays, shop early.
Read all of Bava Batra 87 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on September 20, 2024. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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