Parshas Vayikra (5785) - "Velo Sashbis Melach" - the matter of salt in the service of Hashem

00:00 [unclear] Once, a group of Torah scholars came to the Alter Rebbe and asked him about studying Chassidus. They wanted to understand: What is the study of Chassidus? Is it relevant to them, and should they study it? The Alter Rebbe, after all, traveled from town to town spreading the wellsprings of Chassidus. Over the years, [unclear] more and more, and the explanations in Chassidus grew more extensive. They wanted to understand what Chassidus is about and why it needs to be studied. So they asked the Alter Rebbe these questions: Why study Chassidus? What is its purpose? The Alter Rebbe answered them: It is an explicit Gemara. The Gemara in Shabbos, page 31, discusses the verse, “And there shall be faithfulness in your times, strength, salvation,” and so on—all those expressions. The Gemara says the verse concerns the time when the soul ascends above, to the Heavenly Court, where it is judged and asked various questions. Each word of the verse represents another question: “Did you conduct your business faithfully?” “Did you set fixed times for Torah study?” “Did you anticipate the salvation?” and so on. The soul is asked a number of questions: What did it do in this world in its Torah study and its service of Hashem? After all these questions, the Gemara concludes that all this is only if fear of Hashem is its treasure. That is how the verse continues: “And there shall be faithfulness in your times, strength, salvation”—all these things—and it ends, “The fear of Hashem is his treasure.”

01:46 The Gemara says that if fear of Hashem is his treasure, if all these things are accompanied by the treasure of yiras Shamayim, then all these things [unclear] have wholeness, and everything is in order. But if, G-d forbid, yiras Shamayim is lacking, the whole matter [unclear]—all the other things. The Gemara gives an analogy: A father told his son to take a sack of wheat up to the attic, the storeroom on the second floor. The son made the effort, took the wheat and carried it upstairs. The father asked him, “Well, did you do it?” He said, “Yes.” The father asked, “Did you mix a kav of chumton into it?” Did you mix a kav of chumton into the wheat? What is a kav of chumton? Rashi says it is a kind of salt, “salty earth,” salty soil mixed into wheat. It keeps the wheat from spoiling. Moisture, dampness, can ruin the wheat and make it rot. But when this salt, this salty earth, is mixed in, it preserves the whole thing. The father says to his son: If you mixed in a kav of chumton, this salt, that is good; the wheat will be preserved and will last. But—

03:32 If not, “It would have been better had you not brought it up”; the whole thing will not last. It would have been better not to go to the trouble of carrying up all the wheat. The Gemara says that, in the analogy, the kav of chumton is the treasure of yiras Shamayim, which preserves the whole thing—the wheat, the Torah one studies. And the Alter Rebbe told them that this is the purpose of studying Chassidus. Studying Chassidus is the kav of chumton that preserves and gives lasting strength to the study of nigleh, the revealed dimension of Torah—to the halachos and all the laws, to every aspect of Jewish conduct, Torah and mitzvos, in which a Jew is engaged throughout the day. The kav of chumton is the study of Chassidus, the inner dimension of Torah. The Torah scholars asked the Alter Rebbe: If so, why study so much Chassidus? After all, it is only a kav of chumton. We know that a kav of chumton is a tiny amount. You take a little salt and sprinkle it; it does not need to be [unclear]. Yet the Alter Rebbe established that Chassidus should be studied with [unclear], through lengthy, extensive study of almost [unclear]—when seemingly a kav of chumton means a minuscule amount, a mere speck. The Alter Rebbe explained that the Gemara’s wording is “Did you mix it into them?” The Alter Rebbe said: “Did you mix it into them?”—and that takes time. The mixing. The kav of chumton itself is a kav of chumton, a little salt, but the work involved in studying Chassidus—

05:05 is the mixing: that the study of Chassidus should permeate the study of nigleh. In every halachah, every verse, every teaching of our Sages, every Tosafos, every legal ruling, every subject one studies, yiras Shamayim should be felt; the G-dliness within the Torah, the Giver of the Torah within the Torah, should be felt. And there must be “an abundance of produce through the strength of an ox.” As for the kav of chumton itself, a person can sprinkle a kav of chumton. But it has to be mixed in so that it penetrates the grain and becomes one with it, preserving it from spoilage and bringing about a change in every aspect of one’s conduct. “An abundance of produce”—that takes a long time. In our parsha, Parshas Vayikra, we find the subject of salt in the offerings: “You shall not omit the salt of the covenant of your G-d.” The Torah says that when an offering is brought, salt must be brought. The wording of the verse is, “Every one of your meal offerings you shall season with salt.” The verse says, in verse 13: First, “Every one of your meal offerings you shall season with salt”—every meal offering must be salted. Then, “You shall not omit the salt of the covenant of your G-d from your meal offering”—the salt, “the covenant of your G-d,” cannot be absent from the meal offering. And the verse concludes, “With all your offerings you shall offer salt.” Salt must also be brought with every offering. Here we see something interesting that needs to be understood. We need to understand the purpose of salt in the offerings in general, and why the Torah makes it a whole mitzvah, requiring salt with offerings. And the main question is that, interestingly, the Torah first states the

06:53 law of salt in connection with a meal offering, and only afterward continues, “With all your offerings you shall offer salt.” There is another point here: There is salt for the meal offerings, and then there is salt for the other offerings. What are these two aspects—salt for the meal offerings and salt for the other offerings? The general idea of salt, as we said, is connected to the kav of chumton. The Alter Rebbe explains in the maamar “You Shall Not Omit Salt,” as is discussed at length in Chassidus, that the whole point of salt in the offerings is the idea of the kav of chumton: it preserves the grain and gives the whole thing lasting strength. As for wheat: a meal offering is made from wheat. Wheat alludes to Torah: “Come, partake of my bread.” Torah needs to be connected with wheat. Bread and wheat represent the study of Torah, the meal offering. In Torah study there is the inner dimension of Torah and the revealed dimension of Torah. The difference between them is that in the revealed dimension of Torah, His blessed wisdom is clothed in human intellect. It enters the mind and can be understood; that is why it is called bread. Bread that a person eats becomes nourishment for his body, gives him life, sustains him, and becomes

08:35 his blood and flesh, and so on. A person eats, and as the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya, the food becomes his blood and flesh, and so on; it permeates the whole person and becomes part of his body. The same is true of Torah. When a person studies a legal ruling that comes from the wisdom and will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—Reuven says this, Shimon says that—and he studies the ruling in depth, then, as the Alter Rebbe explains in chapter 5 of Likkutei Amarim, Tanya, through that in-depth study, the intellect, the person understanding, and the idea understood become one, and the person becomes one with the halachah. When one thinks deeply about Reuven saying one thing, Shimon saying another, and the ruling being such-and-such, and studies it thoroughly, the Alter Rebbe says that there is “a wondrous union, the like or equal of which is not found at all in the physical world, for them to become truly one and united from every side and angle.” This is the great, wondrous union achieved through Torah study. That is why Torah is nourishment: the Torah is within me, permeates the whole person, and becomes his blood and flesh, and so on. This is the nature of Torah’s halachos and of the revealed dimension of Torah. But the thing is, when one studies the revealed dimension of Torah, since it is clothed in physical things, in physical matters, [unclear], a person can become absorbed in it. He can eat it, chew it over, understand it; it becomes his blood and flesh, and so on. This,

10:01 That does not negate their reality, but sometimes one can forget the greatness. On the contrary, when one is occupied with many material matters, one can lose the sense of G-dliness—to the point of forgetting the Giver of the Torah, forgetting the greatness. And this is indeed the advantage of what the Alter Rebbe calls grasping the essence: one understands the thing itself. But the drawback is that G-dliness is concealed and hidden in the revealed dimension of Torah, and the Giver of the Torah does not shine forth. This is the advantage of the inner dimension of Torah. On the one hand, the inner dimension of Torah is precisely the opposite of the revealed dimension. These are abstract, lofty matters. They cannot be grasped so readily by the human mind. They are G-dly matters. From the outset, we are speaking about G-dliness, about sovev kol almin, about G-dliness that is boundless and spiritual—something a person in the physical world, clothed in a physical body, cannot fully grasp. One can understand as much of it as the mind can contain. This is called [unclear]. But we do not have the essence of the thing; we do not see Atzilus, we do not see—we do not have the G-dliness itself. We know, think, contemplate, understand, try to understand, but we do not have the thing itself. On the other hand, here G-dliness is clearly felt. When we speak about Hakadosh Boruch Hu, we are actually speaking about Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And so the Gemara comes and says

11:37 that the inner dimension of Torah is compared to salt. This, in fact, is the difference between salt and wheat. Wheat, like rice, is food that becomes blood and flesh and so on, and it has a taste. But salt, by itself, has no taste. Salt is the opposite. “A land of salt”—you cannot eat it. Nevertheless, salt has the power to bring good flavor into food. And not only that: it also keeps food from spoiling. As the Gemara says here, this is the kav of chumtin that is placed with the wheat. Salt has this quality. It is not, in itself, something to eat, but through salt, everything edible is preserved. Bland food without salt—when you eat a piece of bread with no salt in it, it is harder to eat. A piece of meat without salt is harder to eat. We are not talking about the laws of salting, but about flavor. Salt also preserves food: the kav of chumtin, the salt, has the power to preserve things, so they do not spoil. And what is the parallel in serving Hashem? The Alter Rebbe will explain that the kav of chumtin alludes to the inner dimension of Torah. This is what the Gemara is saying. Take the wheat: the wheat represents the halachos of the revealed dimension of Torah. And that is indeed the goal. There must be

13:08 study of the revealed dimension of Torah. The purpose of the giving of the Torah is that we study the revealed dimension, observe and study the halachos, and engage with all the laws the Gemara discusses and all the questions it raises. Nevertheless, for all these things to endure, so that they do not, G-d forbid, spoil, become overly material, or distance a person from G-dliness—something that can happen, as the Gemara says, “If he is not worthy, it becomes a potion of death for him,” the opposite of life. In other words, the learning is not [unclear], and it can even distance a person from G-dliness. That is why we need the “kav of chumtin,” the salt. As we said, salt has both qualities: it is itself the opposite of flavor and has no flavor of its own, yet it gives flavor to everything else. It also brings preservation and protection. For when the study of the inner dimension of Torah is lacking—and as we can plainly see, when one studies the inner dimension of Torah and speaks about Hakadosh Boruch Hu, one naturally remembers the Giver of the Torah. It brings G-dliness into the study of the revealed dimension too, so that this study is undertaken with fear of Heaven and self-nullification before G-dliness. There is a well-known story connected specifically with Pesach. It is told that the Rebbe Rashab, may his soul rest in Gan Eden, and the gaon Reb Chaim of Brisk once met at a gathering. As is known, they had a real connection and met at a number of

14:33 gatherings. There are several stories about this. On one occasion, they spoke specifically about studying the revealed dimension of Torah and studying Chassidus. It is told that Reb Chaim asked the Rebbe Rashab: What is the point of studying Chassidus? The Rebbe Rashab said that when one studies the revealed dimension of Torah, one can fall into pride and self-importance because of the Torah insights one develops. But when one studies the inner dimension of Torah, one speaks about Hakadosh Boruch Hu and self-nullification, and then one cannot come to pride. Reb Chaim of Brisk asked: Why not? A person who studies the inner dimension of Torah can also take pride in that. He understood that one studies subjects involving intellectual understanding, Chabad; could pride not also grow out of studying Chassidus? The Rebbe Rashab answered that this is the halachah in tractate Pesachim: the Gemara says that if one finds chametz on the Yom Tov of Pesach, one does not transgress “It shall not be seen or found”? [unclear]. The Gemara says that when a person is entirely occupied with getting rid of it, there is no concern that he will, G-d forbid, come to derive benefit from the chametz. This is how the Rebbe Rashab explained it to Reb Chaim of Brisk: when one studies the teachings of Chassidus and speaks about nullifying the ego, there is no concern that this learning will lead to self-importance.

16:06 This is the meaning of the verse here, and these are its two aspects: the inner dimension of Torah brings vitality into the revealed dimension of Torah. Here we are speaking of a minchah offering. A minchah offering is made from fine flour, from wheat, and wheat alludes to Torah. Studying the inner dimension of Torah brings vitality, G-dliness, and self-nullification into the study of the revealed dimension. And the Torah says something further: there is salt associated with animals. This is the role of salt in the service of prayer. There is salt associated with Torah study, in the minchah offering; and salt is also needed with animal offerings. Chassidus explains that this is the work of refining and purifying the animal soul. And the refinement and purification of the animal soul take place primarily through the service of prayer. Here too, salt—the inner dimension of Torah—is important, so that the service of prayer will be as it should be. As is well known, Chassidus explains that the whole purpose of the service of prayer corresponds to the offerings: to offer up the animal soul. Here the Rebbe explained the verse, “When a person brings an offering from among you to Hashem,” saying that “from among you” refers to [unclear] of the animal soul. One takes the negative character traits of the animal soul, “from the cattle and from the flock”: an animal soul on the level of cattle and an animal soul on the level of sheep. All the different faculties within

17:28 our animal soul. Through the service of prayer, we raise it onto the altar and make it an offering to Hashem. So we say that with the animal too—in the service of prayer, in the work of refining and purifying the animal soul—salt is needed: bringing into it the light of the inner dimension of Torah. That is salt: although in itself it is the opposite of flavor, it gives flavor. And so it is in the physical world: salt itself has no taste [unclear]; it is salty. But through it, things are sweetened; we sweeten [unclear], we sweeten the severities. Similarly, studying the inner dimension of Torah makes it possible to sweeten the work of refining our character traits, so that the service of prayer is as it should be, in the proper way. All this concerns the meaning of salt, both in the minchah offering and in the other offerings. That is why we find that even today, as stated in the Shulchan Aruch, there should be salt on the table. Whenever we eat a meal, “He said to me: This is the table that is before Hashem”; salt is needed on the table at the time of eating, which corresponds to the offerings. And so we must also [unclear] in salt, yes, three times, when eating bread. All this is the same idea, as we said above: it alludes to the work that

18:53 the inner dimension of Torah—the kav of chumtin, which is [unclear]—brings endurance, strength, and sweetness. This applies both to studying the revealed dimension of Torah, represented by wheat, and to refining and purifying the character traits of the animal soul, represented by the offerings. And I want to understand one more point: Why do we say that salt has no place on Pesach? With matzah there is a halachah, [unclear], and that is the point. On Pesach, in Parshas Vayikra, we find that matzah must be made without salt, and we do not dip the matzah in salt either. What is the reason for this? Because at the beginning of one’s service, the essential thing is simple faith. Matzah represents the beginning of the service. At the beginning, at the Exodus from Egypt, neither the revealed dimension of Torah nor the inner dimension of Torah is yet relevant. Matzah alludes to self-nullification. It has no flavor, no sweetness, and so there is no salt then. I am not yet engaged in the work of the inner dimension of Torah, nor even in the work of the revealed dimension. Here, when eating matzah, nothing more is needed. We eat the [unclear]; we eat that which heals a person of all the ailments of the soul that have accumulated and attached themselves to him.

20:15 When they are [unclear] from simple faith, the whole matter of salt is not relevant; all that is needed is plain matzah. When does the salt come in? We can see that the Rebbe, who [unclear], did not dip the matzah in salt when eating matzah. But later in the meal, he would take a piece of matzah and put a little salt on it, as is customary on Pesach: we do not dip it in salt, but place the salt on the matzah, so that there is at least an element of bread and salt. That is the proper order. What the Torah tells us—“You shall not withhold the salt of the covenant of your G-d”—refers to the inner dimension of Torah, which is the kav chumtin that gives vitality, permanence, and strength. That is why, in our generation, studying the inner dimension of Torah is especially important in these days, [unclear] the Geulah. Since the condition for Moshiach’s coming is “Your wellsprings shall spread outward,” we must strengthen our study of the inner dimension of Torah even more, even [unclear], because it brings life and permanence to every aspect of serving Hashem, and connects the inner dimension of Torah with the revealed dimension of Torah. [unclear] one Torah, and may we soon, in our days, merit the true “new Torah,” the revelation of the inner dimension of Torah, the Torah of Moshiach, speedily in our days, amen.