What Yitzchak Aveinu Teaches Us About the Importance of Appreciating Aromas

What Yitzchak Aveinu Teaches Us About the Importance of Appreciating Aromas

 

My next review will Be’ezras Hashem be the Fettercairn 22-Year-Old. However, before that, I just had to share with you all, a wonderful Sforno (Rav Ovadia ben Jacob Sforno, Italian Rabbi and physician. Born between 1470 and 1475 and died in 1549), from his commentary on parshas Toldos which teaches us about the importance of appreciating aromas.

The nose on this Fettercairn 22-Year-Old is so complex and beautiful that one really should spend some time to fully appreciate it before even complemplating putting the glass to your lips and taking that first sip.

Pineapple juice with a splash of soda. Polished furniture, Bees waxy Honey, new English Oxford shoes, clean, earthy with a slight sweet muskiness. Then we get to the fruits: Luscious yellow apples, plump sultanas, pineapple jam tarts, apricot jam, stewed peaches and spices. Warm, soft white pepper, bay-leaves and cooked ginger notes.

The Scene: In parshas Toldos, Yaakov enters his father’s Yitzchaks' room, pretending to be Eisav. Yitzchak smells the garments of Eisav which Rachel had put on Ya'akov.

Bereishis 27:27: He (Ya'akov) came close and kissed him, and Yitzchak smelt the fragrance of his garments. He blessed him: He said, “See, my son’s fragrance is already like the fragrance of a field that G-d has blessed.

כז וַיִּגַּשׁ֙ וַיִּשַּׁק־ל֔וֹ וַיָּ֛רַח אֶת־רֵ֥יחַ בְּגָדָ֖יו וַיְבָֽרֲכֵ֑הוּ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר רְאֵה֙ רֵ֣יחַ בְּנִ֔י כְּרֵ֣יחַ שָׂדֶ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר בֵּֽרֲכ֖וֹ ה':

 

https://www.moodysisters.com/blog/2021/1/25/what-are-plant-based-or-natural-fragrances

The Sforno explains the Meaning of Yitzchak's Words To His Son

The neshama (a person’s soul), that is, a person’s spiritual essence, gains great pleasure through the smelling of fragrance, as it says in Brachos 43b:

“What is it which gives enjoyment to the soul but not his body? This refers to the fragrant aroma [of Hashem’s creations]”.

Based on this Gemara, the Sforno explains the significance of the phrase “the fragrance of the field that Hashem has blessed”. Besides the physical benefits of the field (the growing crops, the trees, the fruits, the plants and flowers), which provides food for all living creatures, Hashem in His infinite goodness added to each item a pleasant aroma which gives pleasure and satisfaction to the neshama. In other words, there is a purely spiritual joy that is attained if one takes the time to smell food and drink, and this elevates the soul of man.

By pointing out that his garments smelt like “the fragrance of a field that Hashem has blessed”, Yitzchak is urging Ya'akov to be sensitive to all these aromas and to take the time to appreciate them, because Hashem gave all these things beautiful aromas to satisfy one’s spiritual needs.

This aspect of Hashem’s world is often overlooked and ignored. That is that so many of us just eat food or knock down drinks without first pausing to appreciate their aromas.

However, if one does take the trouble to first appreciate all the complex and varied aromas that Hashem has infused into food and drink, then says the Sforno, Hakodesh Baruch Hu will not only bless you with the physical sustenance from the land, but will also bless you with spiritual “food” from Heaven which will satisfy the soul and give you inner simcha (joy).

Although the Sforno does not explicitly say this, I think it’s no coincidence that in complete contrast, at the beginning of the same parsha, we have the story of when “Eisav came in from the field”, he tells Ya'akov to “Pour into my mouth some of that red stuff, for I am exhausted!” (Bereishis 25:30).

In other words, Eisav has no interest in enjoying the aromas of the food and does not recognise the spiritual aspect of life. He just wants the food poured down his throat for purely physical sustenance.

I think that this is an incredibly important notion when it comes to appreciating Single Malt Whisky. One who takes a glass of whisky and simply knocks it back without first appreciating the aromas from the glass, is missing out on half the pleasure of Hashem’s world.