Comentario sobre Terumot 8:4

ישפך – and there isn’t here because of the destruction of heave-offering because it is forbidden to drink of it, lest a snake drank from it.

Introduction Our mishnah teaches that it was forbidden to drink water, wine and milk that had been left uncovered for fear that a snake had put poison into the mixture. Whether this was a realistic fear, or a superstition shared by many people, I don’t know. We should note that by the middle ages most halakhic authorities had stated that this halakhah no longer applies.

ושארכל המשקים מותרים – because a snake does not drink from them, but that the honey and brine and pickle (containing fish-hash and sometimes wine) and pounded garlic, all of these are mentioned in the Gemara (Tractate Hullin 49b) for prohibition, for the snake drinks from them.

If wine of terumah was left uncovered, it must be poured out, and there is no need to say this in the case of hullin. Normally, it is forbidden to cause terumah to come to ruin. Pure terumah must be eaten. However, if the terumah wine was left uncovered, the rabbis considered it dangerous to drink it. The concern for the danger to one’s life overrides the prohibition of causing terumah to be lost and therefore, if the terumah wine was left uncovered, he should spill it out. It is obvious that he should spill out hullin (non-sacred) wine that had been left uncovered.

כמה ישתה – how much should stand uncovered.

Three kinds of liquids are forbidden if they were left uncovered: water, wine and milk, but all other drinks are permitted. It was assumed that snakes wouldn’t drink from anything but water, wine and milk. Therefore, only these three are prohibited if left uncovered. I wonder if they had had Coca-Cola back then, would snakes have drunk from it?

הרחש – the snake, and because it walks on its belly, it is called רחש/a creeping thing/reptile, for it does not appear like walking but rather, like moving/vibrating and shaking.

How long do they remain uncovered for them to become prohibited? The time it takes the snake to creep out from a place near by and drink. The liquid must be left uncovered long enough for a snake to sneak up and inject his poison into it. If you just leave your cup uncovered for a moment while you get something from the refrigerator (to be anachronistic) you can still go back and finish your drink. But if you go out to the backyard to play football with your kids for a few minutes, leaving your glass of milk on the table, you may be at risk.

ממקום קרוב – the explained it (Tractate Hullin 10b), in order that it can go out from underneath the ear of he utensil, and it will drink and return to its hole.