Salt on challah – Ask the Rabbi
Q. Why do we put salt on the challah?
A. Salt was a popular condiment from early times. In Biblical days it was in widespread use in Eretz Yisra’el as a product of the Dead Sea. It was a preservative. It gave food extra taste, and it was used to absorb the blood in meat.
It was placed on the sacrifices in the Temple, and though the sacrificial service is in limbo, we recall it and help to make the table in a Jewish house into a symbolic altar by sprinkling salt on bread or dipping the bread in salt.
