Korach. Why Do Jews Dip Their Bread in Salt Before Eating It?

Judaism is full of strange rituals.

Many of them seem to have disappeared with the destruction of the Temple. Yet they have actually survived in our daily lives, hidden behind familiar but often mysterious gestures—those repeated cultural habits we call rituals.

For millennia, often without fully realizing it, Jews have continued to reenact the symbolism of bringing offerings to the Altar, now transformed into the dinner table, through a simple yet curious gesture.

I'm speaking of that moment, after the blessing over the challah—the braided loaves prepared for Shabbat—when everyone is gathered around the Friday night table and the person who recites the blessing dips the bread into salt before sharing it with those present.

Rituals lose their power when they no longer carry meaning. And too often, Jewish rituals are transmitted without any hint of what they actually mean. This is why it is so important for us to inquire into what they are here to teach us on a symbolic level.

This week, in his commentary on Parashat Korach, the Hasidic master Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev offers a profound explanation of this custom, drawing on the teaching of one of the great medieval kabbalists of Catalonia, Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, better known as the Ramban (Nachmanides).

Parashat Korach is yet another moment of truth for the Children of Israel in the wilderness. And as always, the story contains a lesson not only for its protagonists, but for each of us today.

At one level, Parashat Korach is a story about populism.

It illustrates a familiar pattern: when the thirst for power combines with envy, noble arguments can be used in bad faith to challenge legitimate authority for the wrong reasons.

After the authority of Moses and Aaron is reaffirmed, the parashah concludes with a reminder of the duties of the priests and their right to receive the terumah—the sacred portions offered by the people.

The Torah describes these offerings as nothing less than a covenant:

Numbers 18:19

כֹּ֣ל | תְּרוּמֹ֣ת הַקֳּדָשִׁ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָרִ֥ימוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֘ לַֽיהֹוָה֒ נָתַ֣תִּי לְךָ֗ וּלְבָנֶ֧יךָ וְלִבְנֹתֶ֛יךָ אִתְּךָ֖ לְחָק־עוֹלָ֑ם בְּרִית֩ מֶ֨לַח עוֹלָ֥ם הִוא֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה לְךָ֖ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ֥ אִתָּֽךְ:

"All the holy offerings that the children of Israel shall raise up to the Lord, I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as an everlasting statute. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord, for you and for your descendants with you."

This is one of several covenants that structure the biblical narrative.

And this one—the covenant associated with the priestly gifts—is called a "covenant of salt." Brith Melach בְּרִית֩ מֶ֨לַח

Why salt?

According to the Ramban, salt is a deeply meaningful substance because it contains within itself the powers of both fire and water.

If we think about how salt is formed, it emerges when seawater evaporates under the heat of the sun.

For the Ramban, this makes salt an expression of "the power of fire that iswithin water" כח אש אשר במים

On the kabbalistic level, fire and water—two of the fundamental elements of creation—symbolize two essential spiritual qualities in the tree of Life of the Sephirot.

Water represents chesed: loving-kindness, generosity, abundance, unconditional love, the maternal archetype.

Fire represents gevurah: strength, restraint, discipline, and the capacity to establish healthy boundaries. It is also associated with din, judgment or severity.

Salt, therefore, embodies the union of these two forces.

This is precisely what the Kedushat Levi learns from the verse.

Commenting on Korach's desire to erase distinctions and make everyone priests, he explains that Korach wanted a world governed entirely by chesed. But the world cannot endure on kindness alone. It requires both kindness and judgment, compassion and limits.

The covenant of salt reminds us that every relationship must contain both.

With ourselves.

With our children.

With our partners.

With our colleagues.

With anyone.

The question, then, is where in your life the balance needs to be restored.

Do you tend to be too harsh? Then perhaps more kindness is needed.

Do you tend to be endlessly understanding and accommodating, yet find yourself feeling unseen or disrespected?

Then perhaps stronger boundaries are called for.

This is the profound lesson hidden within the simple act of dipping bread into salt.

So this Shabbat, when you bless the challah and dip it into the salt, remember what the ritual is inviting us to practice.

A balance between kindness and boundaries.

Because every healthy relationship depends on that fundamental equilibrium.