GOOD MORNING! Sometime in the early 1980’s my parents hosted a Russian émigré for a Shabbat meal. He had just recently escaped the oppressive USSR and we were anxious to hear his story, which he was happy to share.

For some reason, the only thing that I recall from that conversation was his description of what it was like to shop in Moscow. He explained that basically all food was rationed, even staples like bread, meat, chicken, milk, eggs, etc. He said the only thing that shops displayed in their windows were stacks and stacks of salt containers. Salt was the only item that was plentiful and readily available.

To anyone living in the 20th century that would not have been surprising. Even while food shopping today, it is almost guaranteed that the lowest cost item in your cart is the container of salt. However, this was not always the case. For almost the entire length of human history, salt was one of the most highly sought after commodities and it was extremely expensive.

Humans, like all life forms, need a steady supply of salt in order to survive. The human body contains enough salt to fill almost four salt shakers. Without sodium, which the body cannot manufacture, the body would be unable to transport nutrients or oxygen, transmit nerve impulses, or move muscles (like the heart). If a person were to totally stop taking in sodium he would be dead within a few weeks. On the other hand, consuming too much salt (basically one gram for every kilogram of body weight) will cause death. As we shall soon see, salt is, and always has been, a key to human civilization.

To begin with, salt’s ability to preserve food was a foundation of civilization. It helped eliminate the dependence on the seasonal availability of food and it allowed for travel over long distances. If you wanted to eat a steak but didn’t have salt, you couldn’t simply slaughter a cow because, even after feeding your entire family, you would have over a thousand pounds of meat left over that would soon begin to spoil without any way to preserve it.

Throughout history, salt created and destroyed empires. It was of such a high value that it caused mass population shifts, attracted invaders, and caused numerous wars. Both the Roman and Chinese empires were built and funded by the salt trade. Rulers and governments heavily taxed salt and the French Revolution was triggered, in part, by what was perceived to be an unfair tax on salt.

Salt was quite literally worth its weight in gold; in fact, the word salary comes from the word salt (so does the word salad, because of the ancient practice of salting leafy vegetables). In the American frontier during the 18th century salt was four times more expensive per pound than beef. President Jefferson cited control of a mountain of salt (that supposedly lay by the Missouri River) in his justification for funding the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Salt also has an eternal quality to it – it simply cannot go bad. I remember once looking at package of pink Himalayan salt on which they claimed that the mined salt was actually millions of years old. I found it hilarious that the package contained an expiration date (best if used by…) – it seemed like they dug it up just in time!

(What does it mean “to take something with a grain of salt”? While the exact origin is unknown, here is my personal conjecture. In 77 C.E. Pliny the Elder published his famous treatise The Natural History. In the chapter on walnuts he gives a recipe for a prophylactic concoction to protect one from poisons (being poisoned was apparently a big concern in those days). The recipe contained walnuts, dried figs, certain herbs, leaves, and ends with “addito salis grano” – take it with a grain of salt. Thus I think the modern term to take something you heard with a grain of salt refers to the self-protective measure of “not swallowing the Kool-Aid” – meaning don’t necessarily believe everything you hear as it may come to harm you.)

There is much more to say about salt; there are many different types of sodium and even food grade salt comes in a variety of different forms and colors. If anyone really wants more information on the fascinating history of this extraordinary mineral I highly recommend the book Salt by Mark Kurlansky. As odd as it may seem, it is a captivating story.

It should therefore come as no surprise that something as remarkable as salt also has great significance within Judaism. We find in the Torah (Leviticus 2:13) the commandment, “with all your offerings you shall offer salt,” i.e. salt was a mandatory requirement for every offering brought on the altar.

The sages of the midrash explain that during the six days of creation God separated the waters “above and below.” The waters below refer to the fact that 70% of the earth is covered by water – of which 97% is saltwater. The “waters below” were distraught that they had been removed from their lofty environs; so God assured the “waters below” that they would have a significant role to play in the service of the Holy Temple and thus salt is permanently required on every sacrifice to commemorate the promise that God made to the element of water.

There is a fascinating verse found in the book of Ezekiel (which contains many prophecies related to the construction of the Holy Temple): “The altar of wood was three cubits high, and its length two cubits; and it had corners; its length and its walls were of wood; and he said to me, ‘This is the table that is before the Lord’” (41:22).

The sages of the Talmud (Chagigah 27a) are bothered by the fact the verse begins by describing the altar yet it ends with the words “this is the table that is before the Lord.” Why begin with the altar and end with defining it as the table before God? The answer is that the prophet is teaching us that when there is no longer a Temple and therefore no altar, the tables in our homes take the place of the altar.

Rashi in his interpretation of this passage in the Talmud explains that just as the altar in the Holy Temple helped us achieve atonement through various sacrifices, nowadays we receive atonement by inviting guests to our home for meals. Thus, the tables in our homes represent the altar.

This is also the reason that we have salt on our tables. Rabbi Yosef Karo, the great medieval codifier of Jewish law, ruled (OC 167:5) that before we “break bread” we must bring salt to the table. Rabbi Moshe Isserless (Rema) in his comment on this law explains that the reason for this is because our tables represent the altar and just as the altar always required salt so too do our tables. Elsewhere Rabbi Karo rules that we must cover the knives on our tables similar to the fact that the altar was not permitted to be built from stones that were cut by metal (Beis Yosef OC 180).

In this week’s Torah reading we have another example of the covenant of salt. This week’s Torah portion recalls the rebellion led by Moses’ cousin Korach. The full story of Korach and his followers taking on Moses and Aaron appears in Numbers (16:1-35). I recommend that you read it in its entirety to get the full picture of what happened.

A brief summarization; Korach challenges Moses’ authority of appointing his brother as the high priest. He manages to gain support from some of Moses’ prior antagonists and some 250 families. Moses is very disturbed to be accused of blatant nepotism (Aaron had been, in fact, appointed by Divine command), grows angry (see Numbers 16:15), and challenges all the disputants to a showdown the next day with his brother Aaron.

The test consists of bringing the incense offering to the tabernacle and seeing whose offering God will choose to accept. Long story short, the following day God appears to the entire assemblage and destroys the 250 conspiratorial families with a heavenly fire and Korach and his family are swallowed alive as the earth opens up beneath them. Yay! Good guys win; bad guys lose.

After this challenge to the authority of Aaron as the true high priest, the Almighty makes an extraordinary promise to Aaron and his children; they are forevermore the only family of priests. “All the offerings of the holy things, which the people of Israel offer to the Lord, have I given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, by a statute forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord to you and to your seed with you” (Numbers 18:19).

How does God guarantee to them that this is a permanent arrangement? The Almighty struck with them a “covenant of salt” – just as salt lasts forever, so too does His covenant with Aaron and his children. They and their linear descendants until the end of time are the only legitimate cohanim – priests. In a similar fashion we find that God promised King David that the rights to sovereign kingship will never leave his family – and God also strikes a “covenant of salt” with the descendants of King David (see II Chronicles 13:5).

A parting thought on salt: The most physical element of saltwater is the salt (after all, the water evaporates back to its heavenly source) and that salt becomes a part of every sacrifice in the service of the Almighty – thus demonstrating that we are capable of elevating even the most physical element into something very spiritual.

Korach, Numbers 16:1 - 18:32

There are two rebellions this week. First, Korach, a Levite, is passed over for the leadership of his tribe and challenges Moses over the position of high priest. No good rebellion can be “sold” as a means for personal gain, so Korach convinces 250 men of renown that they must stand up for a matter of principle – that each and every one of them has the right to the office of high priest (which Moses had announced that God had designated his brother, Aaron, to serve).

Fascinatingly, all 250 followers of Korach accept Moses’ challenge to bring an offering of incense to see who God will choose to fill the one position. This means that every man figured he would be the one out of 250 to not only be chosen, but to survive the ordeal. Moses announces that if the earth splits and swallows up the rebels it is a sign that he (Moses) is acting on God’s authority. And thus it happened!

The next day, the entire Israelite community rises in a second rebellion and complains to Moses, “You have killed God’s people!” The Almighty brings a plague that kills 14,700 people and only stops when Aaron offers an incense offering.

To settle the question once and for all, Moses has the head of each tribe bring a staff with his name on it. The next morning only Aaron’s staff had blossomed and brought forth almonds. The people were shown this sign. Aaron’s staff was placed in front of the curtain of the ark as testimony for all time.