“Do not let the salt of G-D’s covenant be lacking …. with all your offerings, bring salt” (Lev. 2:13).

Our present-day custom of sprinkling a little salt on our bread or dipping our bread into salt before the blessing ha-motsi stems from the above verse in our Sidra. Our rabbis equate the Jewish home with the bet mikdash (Temple), our table with the mizbeakh (altar) and our food with the Temple offerings. A Jewish meal feeds not only the stomach but also the soul. A simple berakha elevates the bread we eat to the status of a korban, an offering to G-D. And an offering to G-D requires salt to flavor it.

Naturally we think of salt as a mere accessory. Nowadays it receives a pretty bad press particularly from medical and health experts. The fact remains that – albeit in small doses – it is a vital commodity.

Fascinatingly the sacred Hebrew language corroborates this. The word for salt is melakh – mem, lamed, chet –........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)