For the source text click/tap here: Menachot 20
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One of the examples in the Mishna is the need to salt the meal offering before placing it on the altar. Since salt is not repeated, the tanna of the Mishna does not deem it an essential part of the minḥa offering.
The Gemara on our daf points out that this ruling regarding salt and the korban minḥa is not agreed upon by all. A baraita is quoted where we find that Rabbi Yehuda understands a passage in the Torah to require that all sacrifices be brought with salt (according to the reading in our Gemara, the passage in question is from Sefer Bamidbar 18:19.
Rabbeinu Tam in Tosafot argues that that passage does not relate to sacrifices, and suggests an alternative reading, which has Rabbi Yehuda’s source as Vayikra 2:13, where it clearly states that the covenant of salt should never be left out when bringing sacrifices).
We explore the talmudic insistence on the biblical law of salt accompanying korbanot and the mythical meaning of salt in other cultural rituals.
