Season to taste

Isn't it amazing that we can read the Torah all the time, over and over again and still manage to miss stuff? I was completely surprised to read VaYikra chapter 2 verse 13. I know we use salt for kashering meat, but why in the world does G-d ask for it on the altar and makes it mandatory? And, even more puzzling, why is salt referred to as "B'rit"? How is  salt related to the covenant with G-d? And why have I never noticed this before?

Rashi reminds us that G-d made a covenant with the salty sea water to include them in altar worship in compensation for being separated from heaven. Ramban, on the other hand, says that just as salt can be either destructive (if, say, it is sprinkled over plants) or helpful (when, for example, it is used to preserve food), so does using it on the altar remind us that worship can be useful if done right but can turn on us if we use it for evil.

Salt is surely interesting. We don't need a lot of it but if we don't have some - we get really sick. The rule of "More is better" (that applies to, say, chocolate, pizza and ice cream) does not apply to salt. I think we can safely assume that the amount of salt used for sacrifices was not enormous. Salt was expensive and not so easy to obtain. G-d would not ask for large amounts of it to be burned off. That's too wasteful. So, just like in cooking, the ancient Israelites probably used reasonable amounts of salt for altar worship. 

Nowadays, prayers have replaced the korbanot. So what about the salt? If the korban was the main thing and the salt was the thing that lent it 'flavor', what parallel can we draw to our modern day worship that will allow us to obey the command "You may not discontinue the salt of your G-d's covenant from upon your meal offering"?

What is the "body" of the prayer? What is the thing that enhances its 'flavor'? I'm sure it's different for everyone. Probably even different for the same person on different occasions. For me, the words are the main dish. They are the most noticeable, the largest part of the prayer session, the 'meat'. But what makes my prayer special is what happens, not on my lips, but in my heart when I pray. It just so happens that, just like my spice cabinet, my heart has different seasonings for different prayers. When one prays for the health of one's loved ones, one feels a different feeling than when praying a thanksgiving prayer (after the loved one has recovered nicely). And praying for money (to pay the hospital bills, for example) evokes yet another set of emotions.

Words are very important in prayer but without kavannah, they are sort of bland. Remember that G-d said we are not allowed to omit the salt. Because korbanot are all good and well, but it's the kavannah that He is looking for. So don't omit the salt.

Hubby is on a crusade (or maybe a jihad) against salt, claiming it is the source of all evil (after sugar and his wife.) Easy for him to do as he cannot tell if a dish has salt in it or not. So he just complains about it all the time. Which keeps him happily and harmlessly occupied.

Which also explains why I haven't made the following dish in ages. Can you imagine the reaction if I present him with food that was baked in salt????


Salt baked chicken

Real simple:  Take a baking dish. Pour kosher salt into it so it will create a ring of salt with a very shallow center and higher edges (you'll probably need about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of salt). Nestle a whole chicken in the very shallow center so the chicken sits on a little bit of salt but is surrounded by a circle of higher level of salt. Try to get the salt to touch the chicken on all sides but don't fret about it too much.
Bake at 400F for about an hour or a little more, until the chicken is fully cooked. The chicken will look a little shrunken and the skin may be sort of dry (some call it crispy). The salt will have absorbed much of the fat in the chicken so in a way this is quite healthy.
Discard salt (I know, horrible waste) and serve the chicken after brushing off some of the salt that sticks to it. 



Salt your food to taste. And don't forget to salt your prayers the same way.