Shabbos 42
“A person may place a jug of water into a basin of water, both hot into cold and cold into hot.”
The Rabbis have left the bathhouse and returned to the kitchen. Today they turn their attention to pouring hot water into cold and cold water into hot. I imagine the group of Rabbis huddled over two pots (a first vessel – kli rishon and second vessel kli sheni) to determine what is permissible as cold and hot water are poured from one to another. They would have exerted a lot of energy as they poured a large quantity of cold water into an urn emptied of hot water to determine if that scenario is permissible (it is).
The examination of cooking by the Rabbis turns to the treatment of spices. We learn that on the Sabbath spices may not be placed into a boiling pot that is removed from a flame, because it could result in a method of cooking. However, it is permissible to pour food over spices that are placed in a secondary vessel – such as a bowl or tureen – because the food is not at risk of being cooked. Rabbi Yehuda extends the argument by declaring that “into all stew pots one may place spices on Shabbat; into all pots, even those that are boiling, one may place spices, except for one that contains vinegar or brine.”
Rav Yosef and Rabbi Abaye disagree on the treatment of salt. Rav Yosef says that salt is like any spice and is not allowed to be placed into the primary vessel that is on a fire but can be placed into a secondary vessel where it will not be cooked. Rabbi Abaye offers an alternative view implying that salt will also get cooked in a secondary vessel: “Didn’t Rabbi Hiyya already teach that salt is not like a spice?” Rav Nahman also weighed in on the discussion by declaring that’s “salt requires cooking for as long as the meat of an ox does, i.e., it requires extensive cooking.”
I agree with Rabbi Hiyya. Salt truly is from other spices. It has a special place in Jewish culture. Temple sacrifices included salt and our table salt is a reminder of the sacredness of our meals (as we learned in Berakhot.) Salt in many cultures is believed to keep evil away. How many times have we seen our grandmothers throw salt over their shoulders? Salt has medicinal qualities as well. Before the lock-down, you could book time in a Himalayan salt room to assist in the treatment of respiratory illnesses and scrub away the day’s grime with sea salt. Eating salt assists with maintaining the balance of electrolytes in our body. Salt has had a bad reputation in medical circles that have advised that it can lead to high blood pressure. But some recent research has debunked past warnings against the harmful effects of salt.
Salt carries with it a sense of longing and in the case of Lot’s wife, perhaps loss of what she was leaving behind. Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back on Sodom as she was fleeing with her family from the destruction of the city. Our memories have a salty quality to them as we remember our past with both fondness and regret. When we cry for what we have lost, it is difficult not to feel as though we are being turned into pillars of salt, like Lot’s wife, who was never named, but whose plight resonates with what we are living through today.