A Lesson in Hospitality

 

The Gemara (Chullin 105a) states that washing one’s hands after a meal is a chovah, an obligation, because of the Melach Sedomis, Sodom Salt. Tosfos explains that the Melach Sedomis, if touched to the eyes, would cause one’s eyes to become blind.

            However, there seems to be a problem. Many people either don’t wash after the meal or touch their eyes during the meal and still have 20/20 vision. Is Tosfos wrong? Does this salt really exist?

            In order to answer these questions, we must first analyze the origins of salt in the Torah. Salt is referenced many times in the Torah, but is often mentioned in conjunction with Sodom (Ber. 19:26, Dev. 29:22). The most common of these references follows: Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt because she looked back at Sodom being destroyed. This story includes the three aspects of Melach Sedomis: Salt, Sight, and Sodom.

            Sforno and the Rashbam explain that the “looking back” was not a problem in its own right. The angels had emphasized running very fast multiple times, and looking back causes one to slow down (Sforno, Rashbam Ber. 19:17). When people say, “There’s no looking back now”, they intend to say that you are jumping in headfirst. You are committed to reaching your goal with alacrity, and nothing can stop you.

            Also, Rashi quotes Bereishis Rabba saying that Lot’s wife turned to salt because she sinned with salt. This salt story happened earlier when Lot wanted to be hospitable and provide salt to his guests, but Lot’s wife, a native Sodomite, thought of hospitality as an evil practice. She went around town asking everyone for salt for her guests, with an emphasis on the word “guests”, and riled up the whole town against her husband whose hospitality was a crime in their eyes. This lack of hospitality caused Sodom to be destroyed and caused Lot’s wife to turn into a pillar of salt (Bereishis Rabba 50:4).

            Melach Sedomis, as elucidated through this example, is not necessarily a physical concern about our own wellbeing. Melach Sedomis, rather, is a concept that exists to teach us how to treat our guests. We must first and foremost be hospitable with alacrity. We should provide for our guests’ needs before our own and always be ready to lend a helping hand. This is why washing after the meal is a chovah, an obligation. The washing is a reminder that hospitality does not stop at the end of the meal. True hospitality is expressed from the time the guests walk in the door until the time they leave.

 

Written by Shmuel Michaels