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Stop and Smell the Roses
On Shavuot we read the Ten Commandments. We read about the thunder and lighting. We read about the dense fog and the loud blast of the shofar. We imagine the smoke that rose from Mount Sinai since God had come down in fire.
It is easy to imagine what the scene at Har Sinai during the giving of the Torah might have looked like, but has anyone ever thought about what it smelled like? The rabbis did. Of course.
In Talmud Shabbat 88b, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi describes what scent revelation might have had through the Song of Songs when it says “His cheeks are as a bed of spices” He explains that each and every utterance that emerged from God’s cheeks, the entire world was filled with fragrant spices. He adds that since the world was already filled with the first utterance, God brought forth wind from God’s treasuries and made the spices pass one at a time leaving room for the next utterance, “His lips are lilies (shoshanim) dripping with flowing myrrh” Rabbi Steinsaltz emphasizes that each and every utterance resulted in flowing myrrh. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi teaches us, however, that instead of reading shoshanim, we should read sheshonim, meaning repeat. Each repeat utterance produced its own fragrance. That is, that each time God spoke, there was another beautiful fragrance that emitted and God had to pause between each phrase for the smell to disperse.
In the Hadar Podcast, “Ta Shma”, Rabbi Avi Killip teaches that like the pause between God’s words, we should read the Torah slowly. Take time to read one phrase or even one word at a time. This will allow us to fully breathe in the fragrance of Torah, understand each word.
In other words, pause and smell the roses.
Since Shavuot is not only the holiday of Matan Torah (the giving of the Torah), but also of first fruits, I hope you take time to really, literally, stop and smell the fragrance of the season! Yes, there are plenty of rain showers and thunderstorms to smell, but pick up some fresh flowers to put on your table next to your cheesecake and enjoy the fragrance off all of God’s gifts!
Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Blatt
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