Chaya Sara: Salt on the Challah

As Halachaboy my goal is to provide halachos you might not be aware of, and to hopefully get your mind working to start thinking up these questions by yourself. So, let me ask you a question: Why do we put salt on our Challah on Shabbas? If you are like most people you probably remember learning that now-a-days since we don't have a Bais HaMikdash nor a Mizbeach, our household tables are considered miniature Mizbeachs. And just as every Karbon required an application of salt, so too we add salt to our Challah. This idea is based on the Medrash quoted by ParshaMan last week. The Medrash writes that the world is made up of three parts: one part desert, one part settled land, and one part sea. The sea said to G-d: "Master of the Universe! The Torah will be given in the desert; the Holy Temple will be built on settled land; and what about me?" Said G-d: "The people of Israel will offer your salt upon the Altar." But let me ask you two questions I have on this: 1. If this is true, why don't we put salt on every food item? If our tables our a Mizbeach, why is only Challah considered a Karbon and not every other food we eat? 2. Further, this idea can't be true because on Rosh Hashanah and for some of us through Sukkos instead of salt we put honey on our Challah and the pasuk in Vayikra (my bar mitzva parsha) clearly forbids the pouring of honey on the Mizbeach. Thus, I would like to offer two other reasons (one more practical, the other chassidish) as to why we add salt to our Challah on Shabbas: 1. Salt is used to give flavor. When making a bracha on something, one should try to make it on the best possible item. F or example, when you go to restaurant and you need to wash for your slice of pizza, you shouldn't make the Hamotzei on the soggy, stale bread waiting at the washing station. By waiting to make the bracha on your hot, yummy pizza it shows a respect for Hashem and the Bracha. So to when eating bread one should place salt on it first as a way of honoring the blessing, by making sure that the piece of bread you eat after saying the blessing is delicious. This follows the Torah idea that physical pleasure can be used as a vehicle in the service of Hashem. This, however, only applies if you would normally put salt on your bread to flavor it. 2. A second answer given is based on last week's parsha and the story of Lot and his wife. Why was it that Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt? Perhaps, we can say that salt is not a necessity, it only enhances the food already there. While both Lot and his wife were committed to helping the needy and Hachnasos Orchim, they disagreed in how to perform such Chessed. Lot felt that guests should be treated as well as one's own family member, while his wife felt it was enough to sustain them and providing them the luxuries of life weren't required. Due to her stinginess, Lot's wife turned into salt. To rectify this bad trait, we go out of our way on Shabbas and Yuntif, when guests are present, to show our guests that not o nly are we going to provide them with their basic needs, but we are also going to go above and beyond and provide them with the tasty delicacies of life. This is the message we send by salting the Challah.