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Salt, a natural resource vital to the lives of all people, is a recurrent motif
in Jewish cultural and religious life. In Biblical times, salt symbolized the
making of a covenant, and played a central role in
the sacrificial cult.[1]
With the destruction of the Temple, the custom arose of sprinkling salt on bread
over which the benediction is recited before the meal. Because of its preservative
qualities, salt was attributed magical powers, affording
protection against evil spirits and invoking hope for permanence and blessing:
Newborns babies were rubbed with salt, and new homeowners were given the gift
of bread with salt. Salt is also used in kashering meat,
as it draws out the blood which is forbidden for consumption according to Jewish
law.[2]
Summer reminds of
the beach, the beach reminds of us of waves, and the waves of salty water.
And for this reason, we devote this summer edition of jhom.com (No. 32!!)
to SALT.
In the Personalities
section, we move on to Else
Lasker-Schüler, poet, writer, artist, and an influential member
of the artistic community that emerged in the first years of the 20th
century. Sometimes referred to as the "Berlin Moderns" because
of their important contribution to the new modernist style, members of
this community included some of the greatest writers, poets, artists,
critics and editors of this century.
We urge you to make
use of the new Readers' Exchange — a
bulletin board where readers can ask each other questions and help each
other out with answers. Of
course, content questions may still be sent to our Shoot column.
Coming soon… Classified Ads!!
Pleasant reading and a relaxing
summer!
Simcha Shtull
Editor
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