2022/5782

Adopted from Rav Tanchum Cohen based on Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt"l.

Parashat VaYikra begins with a list of Korbanot and how to bring them. There are cattle Korbanot, bird Korbanot, and vegetarian Korbanot. There is one shared procedure that happens with all Korbanot: the offering of salt on the Korbanot. When mentioning the salt, the Torah adds in something peculiar: “VeLo Tashbit Melach Berit Elokecha Mei’al Minchatecha,” “Do not leave out the salt of your covenant with Hashem from the meal offerings” (VaYikra 2:13). What is so important about salting the Korbanot? Why is it called a Brit?

Rashi comments on this that the Brit goes back to the 6 days of creation. Rashi explains that on the 2nd day of creation, so as not to “offend” the Mayim Tachtonim, the lower waters, for being put down below, Hashem made a Brit with the Mayim Tachtonim that they would be used for Nisuch HaMayim (sprinkling water on the Mizbei’ach on Sukkot) and offering salt on the Korbanot (ibid. s.v. Melach Berit). Rashi’s answer leads to more questions! Why would the Mayim Tachtonim feel bad? If Hashem wants to give the lower waters a role in the Beit HaMikdash, why use salt? Why not perform Nisuch HaMayim year-round with every Korban?

Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky suggests that, to understand this Rashi, one must first understand how salt is extracted from the sea. To obtain sea salt, people would place sea water in a shallow area and leave it out to evaporate and eventually be left with salt. The lowest part of the sea water is the salt. 

Hashem specifically wants the salt. One would have thought that Hashem wants the upper, lighter part of the water, not the lower, earthier, salt. No, Hashem shows that even the lower, denser, earthier part of the water has a specific use for Avodat Hashem. 

Rav Yaakov relates this back to the Brit with the Mayim Tachtonim. One might think that only the Mayim Elyonim, the upper waters, are holy, while the Mayim Tachtonim, which were brought down to earth, lacking spirituality and useless. The Brit Melach, the covenant of the salt, teaches us that we should not make the mistake of assuming that only the spiritual parts of our lives can be used for Avodat Hashem, but the things that are more earthy have no Avodat Hashem potential. The opposite is true; salt is used for all Korbanot, which are some of the holiest ways of connecting to Hashem. This captures the idea that specifically through finding Hashem in the physical parts of our lives do we achieve our greatest gains in Avodat Hashem. May we all try to find Hashem in every aspect of our lives, especially the physical ones.