Interpretations of Scent

By -

    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.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Amidst the Pandemic

By -
Image
I think having the opportunity to take Smells and Bells and then experiencing a worldwide pandemic came with good timing. Oftentimes, we’re so rushed to get from one one place to another that we miss out on what happens around us. We’re so accustomed to the lifestyle of being busy that it has become the norm for many of us. However, the pandemic has forced us to slow down. We’re now appreciating everything that we had previously taken for granted and noticing things in our surroundings that we have never noticed before.  Take this quarantining/social distancing as an opportunity to be more aware of what you experience through the senses. I don’t think my senses have necessarily heightened over the past 5 weeks, but I am actively making the choice to pay more attention to what I see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. I like going on nature/mindfulness walks and basking in the sunshine out in my backyard. This morning, I could hear a faint noise from the wind, hear the birds chirpin...
Read more

Food in the Afterlife

By -
Image
In Religion in the Kitchen: Cooking, Talking, and the Making of Black Atlantic Traditions , Perez talks of Ashabi and her grandchildren providing food offerings to their ancestors. This immediately reminded me of the practice of food sacrifice in early China. I've taken Chinese language classes for about 7 years now and in one of the lessons, we learned about food as well as the history of food in Chinese culture. Ashabi and her grandchildren would give food offerings to their ancestors every day. This included nine beverages (coffee, liquor, and water mixed with sugar and molasses) and nine square pieces of coconut topped with red palm oil and guinea pepper. The offerings would also include whatever food was dropped on the ground. In their house, food dropping on the floor signified more than it would in common American households. It signified that the ancestors wanted that food and had willingly made it fall to the floor. They also used dishware that had been chipped which was...
Read more