Personal salt cellar that belonged to the greatest wonder-worker of recent generations, the Admo”r Rabbi Chaim Zanvl Abramowitz of Ribnitz. He would regularly dip his “hamotzi” bread in it at his
tisches , on Shabbat and during festivals. It is the earliest Jewish segulah for abundant livelihood and protection from calamity!
Numerous and powerful segulahs have been written about salt in sefarim by Kabbalists and in Kabbalistic works, more than regarding any other substance. It appears to be the substance with the most natural segulah capacity. The Ben Ish Chai writes in his sefarim that salt is considered a lofty matter in the concealed Torah. The reason for this is explained – salt’s unique characteristic in that it never spoils, and it even preserves other substances with which it comes into contact. Following are several examples of the many brought from sifrei kodesh :
a small lump of salt held in one’s hand while reciting the blessing for the omer during all forty-nine days of the omer is a segulah to calm a stormy sea ( Otzar HaSegulot , Jerusalem, 1991, p. 113)
Putting one’s feet in warm water with some salt, dust, bran and ashes taken from three paths is also a segulah for fear (ibid, p. 51)
Sefer Shivat Tziyon (13a) states as follows: A person should be very careful that salt is placed on his table at every meal in addition to the honey. It drives away damagers. It provides protection against them, and sweetens calamitous decrees ( Otzar HaSegulot V’HaKavanot , Jerusalem 2011, p. 104)
Holding some salt during Sefirat HaOmer is a segulah and great secret for protection from the evil eye ( Segulot Yisrael 60:34).
Proven segulah – putting salt on one’s table repels the prosecutor ( Birkat HaShulchan , Bnei Brak, 2011, p. 79).
Segulah for safe travel from the Ramba”n: When one sets out on his way, take some salt and say “Shir HaMa’alot HaBotchim” (Psalm 125) over it six times. Throw salt in front of the enemy to be saved – tried-and-true ( Devek Me’ach , Livorno 1874, p. 104, in the name of Over Orach leaf 174).
Most precious segulah from the sacred Rasha”sh – to keep a bag of salt on one’s person during the first night of Sefirat HaOmer . The salt that was with him at the moment he counted has wondrous properties and is considered an expert amulet against the evil eye, evil spirits and damagers ( Divrei Yoshiyahu by Rabbi Pinto, Ashdod, 2011, p. 59).
Segulah for the evil eye, brought in S’ Zechariah – Take mayim shtukim , put a bit of salt in it and then use it to extinguish three hot coals. Dip [your] hands in it from the back, and use it to wash the hands and face of a person who is ill – tried-and-true ( Divrei Menachem by Menachem Mendel of Rimanov, New York, 1985, p. 72).
“And I have removed disease from your midst” [והסירותי מחל”ה מקרבך ]. Illness [מחלה] is the same letters as bread [הלח”ם] and (the) salt [המל”ח] because salt is also good (ibid, p. 74).
According to the gemara in Horiyot 13b, a segulah to restore one’s studies is to use his middle finger or his ring finger to dip in salt, and then taste it – and not to use the other fingers for this ( Piskei Teshuvot 170:24, note 108).
Five things were said about a grain of salt: it brightens one’s eyes, causes a happy expression, etc. ( Chuppat Eliyahu Rabbah Sha’ar III, as brought at the end of Reishit Chochmah ).
If one wants to know whether a woman is expecting a boy or a girl, it is a segulah to sprinkle a bit of salt on the woman’s head without her knowledge, and then speak with her. If she begins to speak from the male perspective, it is a boy, and if she starts to speak from the female perspective, it is a girl ( Raphael HaMalach , p. 39).
The Shinova Rebbe would say that the salt dish placed on the table for dipping must be full, and this is a segulah for sustenance. ( Divrei Yechezkel HaChadash ).
The strength of these segulahs doubles and triples when the salt that is used is from the salt cellar used by one of the leading wonder-workers active in recent generations. It was a fixture on his table during his lofty tisches , and he would use it to dip slices from his “hamotzi” in salt and make a blessing, to influence an abundance of livelihood and protection to his congregants and the entire Jewish people.
Very few segulahs appear in the revealed Torah and not exclusively in the concealed Torah. They are considered strong and “more natural” because the halachah in the Torah was given to everyone, not only to Kabbalists – it is the natural way the world works. The salt segulah is one of the few segulahs that appear already in the Shulchan Aruch (Ram”a 167:5) where it says that salt protects from calamities”!
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the Admo”r Rabbi Chaim Zanvl Abramowitz .
Beautiful silver salt cellar, with decorations.
Very fine condition. May usage marks.
Signed confirmation included from the Admo”r’s attendant, Rabbi Ben Tziyon Adler.
“I, the undersigned, hereby confirm that the salt cellar in this picture was used by the Ribnitzer Rebbe at his tisches on Shabbat and during holidays. I had the privilege of serving the Rebbe beginning in 1976. Signed, Ben Tziyon Adler”
