Mishnah Eduyot 3-3

The peels of the vegetable that are not usually eaten, which are part of the Terumah... Here we'll have two more discussions involving Rabbi Dosa and gifts given to the Kohanim (priests). The first one we'll talk about is a portion that's separated from produce grown in Eretz Yisrael and given to Kohanim. Kohanim and their families are allowed to eat it, but non-Kohanim are prohibited from eating it. There is a discussion between these two about non-Kohanim who want to eat Terumah produce that's usually thrown out. The Mishnah discusses the insides of a melon, the pits of a melon, and the juices that are not usually eaten, as well as the K'nivat Yarak, which are parts of the vegetable that are usually removed, like the leaves on the outside of the vegetable. Rabbi Dosa says that Zarim (non-Kohanim) are allowed to eat these scraps of food because they're not actually food. They're usually thrown out. People are in the habit of getting rid of them, and therefore they're not considered to be food. But the Chachamim (the Sages) forbid non-Kohanim from eating them. According to the Chachamim, they have the same status as food even though people don't usually eat them. They're edible, and the definition of food according to the Chachamim is something that is edible. Another gift that we'll discuss is Reshit HaGez, which is the shearing of the sheep every season. A farmer would have to give the wool to the Kohen, but he's only obligated to do so if minimum requirements are met, not if he just shaves one sheep. But through the way they learn it out from the Torah, you have a certain minimum that has to be done. If someone shears a minimum of five sheep and the wool that came from each sheep weighs at least a maneh (a traditional weight unit) and a half, then those sheep are obligated in Reshit HaGez. But if the wool of any of the five—we're talking about five at minimum—weighs less than a maneh, then the obligation of Reshit HaGez would not apply until you have a total of at least five sheep that give off a maneh and a half of wool. This is the opinion of Rabbi Dosa. The amount of their wool is any amount. If you shave five sheep, you're obligated to give their wool as Reshit HaGez. We understand this not literally to be any amount whatsoever, but the requirement of the Chachamim is less. Rabbi Dosa would say that each sheep has to give off 1.5 maneh, which is equivalent to 37.5 Sela'im (sela units), because each maneh equals 25 Sela'im. The Chachamim say that the minimum from all five sheep together is 60 Sela'im, which would mean a minimum of 12 Sela'im per sheep on its own, so they have a much smaller amount, but there still is a minimum according to them as well.