Salt is In, Honey is Out

Do not make any meal offering that is sacrificed to God out of leaven; for you shall make no leaven, nor any honey, smoke as an offering made by fire unto God. Moreover, you must salt every meal offering. Do not leave out the salt of your God's covenant from your meal offerings; you must offer salt with all your offerings.                           Leviticus 2:11,13

Netziv explains that leavening symbolizes human additions to the natural state made by the Creator, and the Torah forbids it use (save with the two loaves of bread offered on Shavuot) to teach that one who truly wants to approach God must avoid human devices and machinations. Experiencing closeness to God and believing in Him as the Prime Cause depend upon mortals' realization that God is all powerful and therefore man's plans can succeed only if He so wills.

      Addressing the continuation of verse 11, Netziv explains that all things which sweeten the flavor of food can be called "honey," since that is the prime sweetener. (Apparently, sugar was introduced into the Middle East after the time of the Torah.) Thus, the Torah forbids adding sweeteners of any sort to the sacrifices. Even though honey is a "simple divine creation," prohibiting its use in sacrifices teaches that whatever is brought to the altar must be in its natural state.

        Based upon his above comments, Netziv ponders the fact that the Torah mandates salting all sacrifices, despite the fact that salt is an additive, and obviously not part of the sacrificial animal's natural state.

        Netziv suggests that salt symbolizes divine providence as a function of human behavior. Salt by itself is not fit for human consumption, and as well, it can ruin things, yet when used properly it will enhance and preserve food. Thus it is with all aspects of nature, Netziv asserts: "the basis of light is darkness, and the basis of all good is evil, and out of darkness comes enlightenment to human eyes." That is, the Creator designed His world in such a manner that a particular thing can be beneficial or harmful, good or bad, constructive or destructive. A situation of absolute good or absolute evil within creation would have led to one of two possibilities: humans being totally righteous or totally evil, and would not have allowed for the possibility of providence based upon human deeds.

          Based upon this elucidation, salt symbolizes God's creation of the world in a way which allows Him to supervise His creatures in general and Israel in particular.

           Thus, the verse speaks of the "the salt of your God's covenant," and as a reminder to reflect on the "covenant of providence," the Torah requires adding salt to the sacrifices while forbidding the use of sweeteners.