Q. I seem to remember that I learned in the gemora that you are supposed to eat a bit of salt after having finished eating any meal. Since salt seems to be unhealthy these days, does the above still apply?
A. Indeed the Talmud (Brochos 40a) mentions the above adding that one should also drink water after drinking other drinks. The Talmud also warns that one that does not follow the above, should worry during the day of having bad mouth-odor, and at night of the sickness named askara, that the Talmud (ibid. 8a) opines is the worst of all deaths.
However, Mishna Berura (179: 18) quoting Magen Avraham mentions that there is a well known principle in Halacha that with the passage of time "Nishtanu Hatevaim" many things in nature have changed (See Tosafos Moed Kattan 11a). Therefore, Yam Shel Shlomo (Chulin 8: 12) Maharil and others, enjoin from using the medicine or medical advice provided in the Talmud in our days.
Remah (O.H. 170: 22) does cite the above passage, but adds that we are not used to follow it today since most of our food already contains salt.
Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a added to the above that it depends on the individual and his diet requirements. Some individuals in different locations may actually suffer from salt deficiency.
We may add that the Talmud (Horios 13b) mentions as a seggula for retrieving forgotten learning, to dip one's finger in salt and taste it. In Chassidus, we also find a number of Zohar and Caballistic references, to the constant maintenance of salt on the table and its consume at the end of the meal, as it is compared to the mizbeach and to the korbanot that were sacrificed on it.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
Important Numbers
