Why do we dip challah in salt?
judaism | March 13, 2003
On Friday night, there is a sequence of rituals to begin the Shabbat meal: sanctification of the wine (kiddush), washing of the hands (netilat yada’im), and sanctification of the bread (motzei).
After the bread is torn (or cut) there is a widespread custom to dip the challah in salt (or sprinkle salt on top) before eating it.
I’ve often* been asked why we do this, and I’ve not been satisfied with any answer so far.
The usual answer is that the sacrifices were salted. In lieu of having a sacrificial system, our dining tables become the altar.
Never shall you suspend the salt covenant of your G-d... with all your offerings you shall offer salt. —Leviticus 2:13
But this begs the question, why were the sacrifices salted to begin with?
The world is one part wilderness, one part settled land, and one part sea. Said the sea to G-d: “Master of the Universe! The Torah will be given in the wilderness; the Holy Temple will be built on settled land; and what about me?” Said G-d: “The people of Israel will offer your salt upon the Altar.” —Yalkut HaReuveni
This beautiful commentary maps quite well to the three items we consume:
- the wine is like the wilderness — fermentation requires wild, airborne yeast;
- the bread is like the settled land — bread is created through cultivation and human intervention; and
- the salt is like the ocean — the sea: where life began and purity begins....
When we drink the kiddush wine and eat the salted challah, we have a completed representation of the created world — in our mouths!
Incorporating the fire–light of the Shabbat candles, we have a Four Worlds elemental system: wine/air, bread/earth, salt/water, candles/fire.
See also: Rav. Zalman’s Intro the The Four Worlds.
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* I’ve been asked this question almost as often as I’ve been asked why we point to the Torah during hagbah and galilah, which hand or finger we point with, etc. That’s for another post.
Posted March 13, 2003 10:59 PM
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