Why Was Looking Back So Bad? Why Did Lot’s Wife Turn Into A Pillar of Salt?

     There is a midrash which teaches that Lot’s wife was turned into salt as a middah keneged midda, measure for measure, punishment for having disdain of the custom of putting salt on the table for guests. Why was it, is it, so important to have salt on the table when guests are present? There is an idea that having salt on the table protects a person from the yetzer hara, the inclination to do evil and withhold from doing good. When hosting someone for a meal, how could the yetzer hara attack the host? The host may feel, even if he or she has invited the guest, resentful of the fact that they are providing food and drink for this person. This resentment may unveil itself in what they do not place on the table and moreover in an unwelcoming demeanor. That is why the host must make sure to place salt on the table, “to blind the eyes," “to knock out the teeth,” of the yetzer hara, so to speak By placing what was an expensive item like salt on the table, the host does a reinforcing action for his yetzer tov, the inclination to do good. Besides the expense, salt would likely have the effect of the guest eating and drinking more than they might otherwise without the salt. Keep in mind what a major chore it used to be to get water.

     Lot's wife was of Sedom and she shared its culture of selfishness, a culture which passed laws against hospitality. According to the midrash, she accidentally endangered Lot’s guests by asking a neighbor for salt. Ultimately though, the cause of her punishment was that she looked back at the destruction of Sedom. Why were they told to not look back? This gets to the heart of where the people of Sedom went wrong. It’s a dangerous thing to compare your lot in life to others. To be happy and thankful to G-d for what you have is praiseworthy. To share and be hospitable is your G-d given duty. The danger comes from when a person begins to feel an air of entitlement, and experiences happiness when others have less, so much so that even if at no cost to them, would want that person to not achieve or gain in life. This was why Lot’s wife incurred guilt by looking back. While being a citizen of Sedom, she felt entitled above non-citizens to live a life of selfish luxury. Then, even while Sedom was being destroyed, she wanted to compare her lot in life to those who were perishing, taking pleasure at others' misfortune. She looked back to get that evil feeling of being in a better situation than her fellow human beings. Rather than learning that one is expected by G-d to become one with mankind, in wanting and working towards the best for all, she still had a “me above others” mentality.

     Perhaps this is why salt was put on each korban, each sacrifice. Even though the bringer would spend money on the sacrifice, by putting salt on the korban, he or she showed G-d that they truly desired to bring it,. The salt showed that they were grateful for Hashem being their guest and accepting their offering. Looking back a few parshas, this is why G-d did not accept Kayin's korban. Kayin showed that his heart was not truly in his offering by bringing of not the best fruits, like a host who doesn't really want his guests there. Hevel brought of the best, like a host who puts expensive items such as salt on the table. In general, bringing a korban is an act of faith. Some korbanot, from one perspective, would seem to be bal tashchit, the deliberate wasting of G-d's gifts, because G-d gets no physical pleasure from any korban offered to him. What is interesting is that when the act of bringing a korban was first invented, Kayin or Hevel did not burn their offerings. They simply had some sense gratitude to say “Thank You” to Hashem for what they had, and their means of saying “Thank You” was to set some of their bounty up as offerings to Hashem. They probably did not know what was going to happen. Apparently it was Hashem who decided to use a fire to accept the korbanot. For Hashem there is no such thing as bal tashchit with regards to food and the like, because Hashem can "create" or cause these things to exist by His sheer will. For someone who wholeheartedly brings a korban, he accepts and expresses that his possessions come from Hashem, and Hashem will provide him as befits him. Likewise, the unencumbered host accepts and expresses his faith that his possessions come from Hashem by not worrying about what his guests are costing him, but instead worrying about how best to make them feel welcome and cared for.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Mordechai Martin Goodman