Memorable Moments: time and place

Aroma of Righteousness / Smell  Before reading Deborah Green’s The Aroma of Righteousness, I mostly thought of smell as something simple. Something either smells good or it smells bad. What I found interesting is that Green shows how smell had a much deeper meaning in ancient Jewish culture. Perfume, spices, and incense could be connected to religion, people’s character, love, sacrifice.

One part that stood out to me was the story of Rabbi Eliezer. He was very poor while studying Torah and ended up eating dirt, which caused him to have bad breath. His teacher explained that even though his breath smelled bad, the knowledge he gained from studying Torah would spread like a pleasant fragrance. Green uses this story to show how a bad smell could be transformed into something positive and meaningful. 

Quote: “The fragrance of your learning go from one end of the world to the other.” 

I also found it interesting that Green explains how people in this time period experienced smells in everyday life. Perfumes and spices were used in places like homes, marketplaces, bathhouses, and religious settings. Because smell was such a normal part of everyday life, it could also be used to explain bigger ideas about religion and society. 

Quote: “Bad breath becomes fragrance, and fragrance is Torah.” 

One question I had while reading was: Why does smell have such a strong connection to our emotions and memories? Another question I had was: Would people today understand the religious meaning of perfume and incense in the same way people did during the time Green is discussing?

Overall, this reading made me think about smell differently. I didn’t realize that something as ordinary as a smell could be used to represent ideas like righteousness, knowledge, religion, and sacrifice. Green shows that smell wasn’t just something people experienced physically—it could also have a deeper cultural and religious meaning.