“Any meal offering that you sacrifice to Hashem shall not
be chametz (leavened), for you shall not burn yeast or honey [as] a fire
offering to Hashem…Offer salt on all your sacrifices.” (Vayikra/Leviticus 2:11,13)
Why are we prohibited from using yeast and honey in the sacrifices,
and obligated to use salt?
Yeast is an additive that puffs up the dough, changing its
state from flat to fluffy. Honey is an additive that sweetens food, changing its
taste. Salt, too, is an additive, but its job is to enhance flavor
rather than change it. Instead of adding new flavor or quality to the
food, salt brings out flavor already present.
Rabbi Zelig Pliskin in Growth Through Torah cites Rabbi
Mordechai Gifter: “When serving the A-mighty, you should follow the model of
salt. That is, utilize all the abilities and talents that you have to serve Him.
Do not be like yeast that causes distortion to what is there. Do not be like honey
that is very sweet but is something borrowed from the outside. Be yourself, but make every effort to be all
that you can be.”
Rabbi Pliskin notes the custom to dip bread in salt at the
beginning of a meal, which serves to remind us of the sacrifices described in
this week’s Torah portion. He writes that the table salt can also serve as a
reminder to be ourselves and to fully utilize all of our talents and abilities.
As parents, we must help each of our children to identify their
individual, unique talents and abilities. Then, we must be the “salt” that helps
bring out each child’s potential to its fullest.
http://www.aish.com/tp/b/1-min-vort/With-a-Grain-of-Salt.html
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