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| Praised are you O' Lord God
who is King of the universe, Who creates species of fragrance. |
Barukh ata adonai eloheinu melekh haolam
Borei Minei Bisamim. |
Found in Siddur Sim Shalom on page 299
This bracha can be recited independently, that it
upon smelling a sweat fragrance a person can simply say this bracha.
But more commonly, this bracha is recited with in a series of
brachot known as havdalah. The havdalah prayer is the prayer that
is recited at the end of Shabbat. It is the transitional prayer
that helps us to bridge the gap between the holiness of the Sabbath
and the profanity of the week. It calls upon us to utilize the
various senses we have in order to help us move smoothly from
one experience to another. In the havdalah prayer we incorporate
wine representing the sense of taste, spices, representing the
sense of smell and fire, representing the senses of sight and
warmth through the sense of touch.
Through the varied senses we ready ourselves to
take the positive experiences associated with them and carry them
through the week. We know how powerful the sense of smell is.
Each of us can recall a smell that has stayed with us from childhood.
For some it is the smell of chicken soup that immediately reminds
us of visiting our grandmother's home before a holiday. For some
it is the smell of a new car that reminds them of the first vehicle
they bought. Those smells are powerful in their ability to transport
us backwards in time to both positive and negative experiences.
When I was in first grade I moved to a new school.
It was daunting and I remember the fear I felt going to class
for the first time. On that morning Mrs. Kalt, my first grade
teacher greeted me at the door and immediately took me under her
care. She showered me with love and attention and over the course
of the year, I learned how to read and ad d and subtract. There
is no other teacher over the course of all my education that touched
me so sincerely. I have thought about her often over the course
of schooling and have tried vigorously to emulate her approach
in my teaching. Last month I got on an elevator in New York, and
a woman on that elevator was wearing the same perfume as Mrs.
Kalt. I was immediately transported back to first grade. As I
rode the train home, it was all I could think about. As I went
to bed her face remained in mind. And now I am still talking about
it.
Fragrances can have magical affect on us. They can
move us and they can stir us with emotion. This bracha, thanks
God for wiring us in such a way that we are able to continually
enjoy moments from our past. This bracha forces us to acknowledge
the fact that the human experience is made of a variety of ingredients,
experiences mixed in with their interpretation and then the meaning
we ascribe to them. Memory is a wonderful aspect to our existence.
Often we remember what and how we choose to remember. Smells keep
those memories alive and real.
Placed within the context of havdalah we understand
that Shabbat should be a positive experience. It should be filled
with smells that delight us. Whether it is the food or the flowers
that dress the table. Whether it is the special cologne of perfume
saved for that special day. Or just the smell of the outdoors
that can be better appreciated on a long Shabbat afternoon walk.
The aroma of Shabbat is the way we can take a piece of Shabbat
with us as we make our way on our journey from one Shabbat to
the next.
Copyright © 2001 Rabbi
Yohanan Stein. All rights reserved.
New Jersey Region United Synagogue
of Conservative Judaism
PO Box 390; 1025 St. Georges
Ave
Linden, NJ 07036-0390
Phone: 908-925-USCJ (8725)
/ Fax: 908-486-USCJ (8725)
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Copyright © 2000 -
2003 New Jersey USCJ. All rights reserved.
Last Updated: July 2003
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