Why Do We Bring Bread and Salt to Someone Moving Into a New Home?

Bread is regarded as the most basic food. In the TalmudTalmudתַּלְמוּדThe Jewish legal work that comprises the Mishnah and the Gemara. There are two works of Talmud: The Palestinian Talmud was compiled between 200-450 C.E. in the land of Israel and is also called the Jerusalem Talmud or Talmud Yerushalmi. The Babylonian Talmud or Talmud Bavli was compiled in Babylonia between 200-550 C.E.   , a meal that requires a blessing is defined by eating a piece of bread larger than an olive. There are several traditions that place bread and salt together:

1. It imitates Temple rituals, where offerings were prepared with salt.
2. It recalls Genesis 3:19, which says, "By the sweat of your brow, shall you get bread to eat;" salt represents the sweat.
3. Bread and salt are regarded as a natural pair because the Hebrew words lechem (bread) and malach (salt) are spelled with same letters.

By bringing bread and salt to a new home, we make it possible for the people who have just moved in to sustain themselves.