Smell: Overlooked Sense
In The Aroma Of Righteousness: Scent and Seduction in Rabbinic Life and Literature written by Deborah A. Green, she talks about how important fragrances were to the Jewish culture during the late Roman and early Byzantine periods. "First, odor, whether pleasing or foul, enters almost every aspect of our lives -- its subtle pervasiveness affects our attitudes and judgements toward both the mundane and the sacred." In this quote, Green says that smell is in of every part of our lives and it affects us more than we think. That smell, whether good or bad, is important. These smells can affect our "attitudes and judgements toward both the mundane and the sacred." If we were to smell something unpleasant it could represent impurity or sin. But if we walk past something pleasant it could represent holiness. "Most scholars agree, though, that our senses are "mediated experience"; that is, when we experience an event through our senses, o...