Interpretations of Scent

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    In The Aroma of Righteousness, Deborah Green writes in depth about the associations of smells in rabbinic interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. One aspect I found particularly interesting was the concept that fragrance was and is used as an interpretive tool to communicate with God and show the love and sanctity between Israel and God. The interpretation part seemed key to me, especially since the experience and opinions of smells can be so polarizing. One person might love a particular smell and another might despise that same smell. I also really liked how Green mentions that part of the reason smell has been ignored in religious scholarship is because perfume and similar things are associated with women and femininity, and so, in our patriarchal society, “women’s issues” are often not talked about enough.

    Another idea that we discussed in class was the possibility of multiple rabbinic interpretations being true at the same time. This seems very possible to me, because I think many of the interpretations were only slightly different from one another or attributed something (like a scent) to a different person or thing. In Song of Songs 1:12, for example, Green notes that rabbis disagree about where a scent is coming from. Rabbi Eliezer thinks that God is being drawn down to Mount Sinai by the people’s aroma (or willingness), Rabbi Akiba thinks that God is causing the scent to attract people to him, and Rabbi Berekhiah thinks that Moses is being drawn to the fragrance, which is actually God’s words, “The scent is the breath of the Divine” (Green 162). Although these contradict in some ways, why can’t they all have some truth in them? Especially considering the reciprocal, mutual relationship between the Israelites and God. The multiplicity of interpretations also adds to the overload that can be imagined in terms of the possible intensity of the fragrance.


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