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Despite being depicted as a flawed character, Lot demonstrates a remarkable dedication to welcoming guests, offering the angels matzot and directing his wife to bring salt, even at the risk of confrontation. This raises questions about why Lot would go to such lengths and observe customs like serving matzot during a time that prefigures Pesach.
These insights into Lot’s actions give us a glimpse of the redeeming qualities that led to his salvation, ultimately allowing him to become the forefather of nations such as Amon and Moav, from whom significant figures like Ruth the convert and Naamah HaAmoni, one of King Solomon’s wives, would emerge. Before delving deeper into Lot’s actions, let’s revisit Rebbe Nachman’s teachings in Likutey Moharan, Lesson 24, which offer a powerful framework for understanding mitzvot out of joy, and Divine perception.
Rebbe Nachman explains that performing mitzvot with joy is essential for spiritual growth and advancement. The joy a person brings to a mitzvah is often reflected in the lengths they’re willing to go to fulfill it, whether through self-sacrifice or zealous dedication. Rebbe Nachman even advised dedicating oneself to one mitzvah in particular—observing it with consistency and care, not by taking on extreme practices, but by engaging in a way that’s meaningful and unwavering.
When a mitzvah is performed with joy, it gains momentum, setting off a ripple effect that impacts not just the individual, but also their surroundings and the world. This momentum brings a person and the mitzvah to a point of spiritual ascent, reaching the level known as the Keter, or “crown,” which separates humanity from the Infinite Light. The Keter serves as a boundary, pushing back anyone who reaches it, preventing complete merging with the Divine. Yet, in this “pushback”—which appears as life’s setbacks, delays, suffering and obstacles—one can glimpse the Infinite Light, provided they approach these challenges with faith and joy.
The Torah presents Lot as a deeply flawed individual, showing a clear shift away from Avraham’s righteous path. As Rashi explains in last week’s Parshah, Lot chose to distance himself from Avraham and his G-d, seeking instead a life of physical comfort and pleasure. Sodom and Amora offered him precisely that: a place rich with worldly allure, like a “Las Vegas” of ancient times—a center for indulgence and earthly delights. Lot was drawn to Sodom not only for its beauty and material wealth but also for its reputation as a hub of immorality and indulgence, a place where anything goes.
However, Lot’s story isn’t that simple. Despite his immersion in Sodom’s culture, he retained certain values he had learned in Avraham’s household—specifically, the mitzvah of hakhnasat orchim (hospitality). Even though it was illegal in Sodom to host guests, Lot couldn’t entirely abandon this mitzvah. He took risks to welcome the angels disguised as travelers, a trait he had learned from Avraham. In fact, Lot went out of his way to make matzot for them, which Rashi points out was due to it being Pesach, even though the actual Exodus was yet to happen. He insisted on this specific food and even fought with his wife to prepare it, which reveals the hidden complexity within Lot: his struggle to retain a spark of goodness amidst an environment of intense corruption.
Lot’s wife, on the other hand, rejected his commitment to this mitzvah. She opposed his attempt to show hospitality, scoffing at his request for salt and, as the Midrash explains, deliberately exposed Lot’s actions to the townspeople by asking neighbors for salt. This betrayal ultimately led to her punishment, as she was turned into a pillar of salt—a fitting consequence for someone who used salt to endanger her own family. Here, we see a stark contrast between Lot’s faint connection to Avraham’s values and his wife’s complete rejection of them.
Why did Lot, someone so steeped in Sodom’s values, go to such lengths to honor this mitzvah? The matzot and salt he prepared reflect deeper spiritual concepts. Matzah symbolizes pure intellect, a mind untainted by doubts and confusions, untouched by the “leavening” of negative influences. Salt, often associated with joy and enhancing food, symbolizes the added dimension of doing a mitzvah with simcha, amplifying its power and effect. Lot may not have been able to fully embrace Avraham’s path, but his actions reveal a residual desire to connect to holiness and preserve some connection to his past. These hints of virtue and remnants of Avraham’s teachings in Lot eventually bore fruit through his descendants—Ruth and Naamah—who played pivotal roles in the Davidic lineage and the ultimate rectification of the world.
Lot’s preparation of matzah points to the intellect’s purest form—an unsoured, unfermented clarity that stands in contrast to chametz, or leaven. Chametz, representing a soured and convoluted mindset, signifies the times when the mind becomes clouded by doubts and distortions. By preparing matzah, Lot connected to this higher state of intellect, which is fully aligned with emunah (faith) and devoid of room for doubt. In this way, matzah embodies the untainted perception of Hashem’s presence and the clarity associated with faith. It reflects a direct, unsullied connection to the Divine, and it connects to the essence of Pesach—where faith and simple trust in Hashem override logic and reasoning. Lot’s preparation of matzah signifies his inner recognition of these truths, even if he struggled to live by them consistently.
Salt, on the other hand, aligns with joy, or simcha, in Rebbe Nachman’s teachings. Just as salt enhances and brings life to food, simcha brings zest, vibrancy, and meaning to mitzvah observance. Salt in the Beit Hamikdash was required for every offering, symbolizing that every act of service to Hashem should ideally be infused with joy, as joy enhances the sanctity and depth of every mitzvah. Lot’s insistence on providing salt, even at the risk of his wife’s displeasure and ultimately her betrayal, highlighted his commitment to this concept of joyful mitzvah performance. Although Lot struggled with his environment and his personal flaws, these actions indicated his deeper desire for spiritual clarity and connection.
The Torah points out these seemingly small acts of Lot—providing matzah and salt—to emphasize the hidden potential for righteousness within him. Even as Lot struggled to fully embody these ideals, his efforts reflect his underlying connection to the values of faith and joy in mitzvot. This inner goodness and awareness were reflected in his descendants, Ruth and Naamah, who would both marry into the Davidic line. Ruth, the ancestor of King David, and Naamah, the wife of King Solomon, played crucial roles in the lineage leading to Mashiach. Lot’s hidden spark of goodness, activated in part by these small but significant acts, set the stage for the Davidic dynasty.
Lot’s story teaches that even small acts, fueled by hidden goodness and executed with joy and faith, can contribute to the larger Divine plan. We can learn from his self-sacrifice to embrace simcha in our mitzvah observance, aiming toward clarity and faith that connect us to Hashem. Through this, may we merit to reveal hidden sparks within ourselves and contribute to bringing about the final redemption.
This article also appears on the BRI breslov.org website: https://breslov.org/lots-matzah-and-salt/
For a video presentation of this article: https://youtu.be/jz_US7IHoh8
Shabbat Shalom.
Meir Elkabas
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