In the story of Jacob and Esau, as told in (Genesis 27:23), that sense of smell takes on a whole new, almost mystical, significance.
The verse tells us, "He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of his brother Esau, and he blessed him." But Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Genesis, delves deeper. It asks a powerful question: what really happened in that tent when Jacob deceived his father, Isaac?
"He did not recognize him" – Bereshit Rabbah suggests this means that Isaac didn't recognize the wicked people who would descend from Jacob. A chilling thought, isn't it? That even in blessing his son, Isaac foresaw the struggles and moral ambiguities of future generations.
Then comes the kiss. "His father Isaac said to him: Approach and kiss me, my son" (Genesis 27:26). Here, the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) sees a profound promise. Isaac tells Jacob, "You will be adjacent to me in burial, but no other will be adjacent to me in burial." A place of honor, a physical closeness even in death, reserved only for Jacob.
But the most evocative part? "He approached and kissed him, and he smelled the scent of his garments, and blessed him, and said: See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field that the Lord blessed" (Genesis 27:27). How can a goat skin possibly smell like a blessed field?
Rabbi Yoḥanan offers a stunning explanation. He says that when Jacob entered his father's tent, the Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden itself, entered with him! That's the scent Isaac perceived – the fragrance of paradise. But when Esau entered, Gehenna, a representation of hell, came with him. As it says in (Proverbs 11:2), "With the arrival of spite, disgrace arrives." What a powerful contrast.
But the story doesn't end there. Bereshit Rabbah offers another interpretation, linking the "scent of his garments" (begadav) to "his traitors" (bogedav) – a clever play on words. It suggests that even those who betray God can have a "good scent" if they repent. And to illustrate this idea, the text gives us two tragic stories: Yosef Meshita and Yakum of Tzerorot.
Yosef Meshita, faced with the desecration of the Temple Mount, initially agreed to participate in the sacrilege for personal gain. But then, overcome with remorse, he refused to continue, even when offered great riches. He chose instead to endure a horrific death, sawing him apart, proclaiming "Woe is me that I angered my Creator."
Then there's Yakum of Tzerorot, nephew of Rabbi Yosei ben Yoezer of Tzereida. Yakum, riding high in worldly status, mocked his uncle who was suffering terribly. But Rabbi Yosei's words, hinting at the ultimate rewards for those who suffer for God's sake, pierced Yakum's heart "like the venom of a serpent." He went on to inflict upon himself the four forms of capital punishment, a gruesome act of repentance.
After Yakum's death, Yosei ben Yoezer had a vision of Yakum's bier floating towards the Garden of Eden. He realized that even in his misguided path, Yakum's eventual repentance had earned him a place in paradise. He had preceded his uncle there by a small amount of time.
These are difficult stories, aren't they? They force us to confront the complexities of faith, repentance, and the enduring power of choice. They remind us that even in the darkest of times, the possibility of redemption, of finding that "good scent" through repentance, always remains. It makes you wonder, what scent are we carrying with us? And what kind of world are we bringing into being with our choices?
“He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of his brother Esau, and he blessed him” (Genesis 27:23). “He did not recognize him” – when wicked people were produced from him, he [Isaac] did not recognize them. “His father Isaac said to him: Approach and kiss me, my son” (Genesis 27:26). “Approach and kiss me” – he said to him: ‘You will be adjacent to me in burial, but no other will be adjacent to me in burial.’ “He approached and kissed him, and he smelled the scent of his garments, and blessed him, and said: See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field that the Lord blessed” (Genesis 27:27). “He approached and kissed him, and he smelled the scent of his garments” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: There is nothing whose odor is viler than this goat hide, and you say: “He smelled the scent of his garments, and blessed him”? It is, rather, that when our patriarch Jacob entered to his father, the Garden of Eden entered with him. That is what he said to him: “See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field.” But when Esau entered to his father, Gehenna entered with him, just as it says: “With the arrival of spite, disgrace arrives” (Proverbs 11:2). Another matter, “he smelled the scent of his garments [begadav],48This is expounded to mean “his traitors [bogedav]” have a good scent – they repent. and blessed him” – e.g., Yosef Meshita and Yakum of Tzerorot. Yosef Meshita, when the enemies sought to enter the Temple Mount, they said: ‘Let one of them enter, and it49The desecration. will begin with them.’ They said to him:50They wanted a Jew to enter the Temple Mount first, and chose Yosef Meshita, who agreed to enter. ‘Enter, and whatever you take out is yours.’ He entered and took out a golden candelabrum. They said to him: ‘It is not appropriate for a commoner to make use of this.51It should be given to the emperor. Instead, enter again, and what you take out is yours.’ He refused. Rabbi Pinḥas said: They offered him taxes for three years,52He could keep whatever taxes he would collect from the people. but he refused. He said: ‘Is it not enough that I angered my God once, that I would anger Him a second time?’ What did they do to him? They placed him on a carpenter’s sawhorse and were sawing him. He was shouting and saying: ‘Woe is me that I angered my Creator.’ Yakum of Tzerorot was the son of the sister of Rabbi Yosei ben Yoezer of Tzereida. He was riding a horse on Shabbat. In front of him, a cross on which Jews who observed Shabbat would be crucified was being dragged. He [Yakum of Tzerorot] said to him [Yosei ben Yoezer]: ‘Look at the horse on which my master has me riding, and look at the horse on which your Master has you riding.’53When the cross was too heavy to bear, very often they would drag it between their legs, so it looked like a horse. He told him: ‘If so it is for those who anger Him, all the more so for those who perform His will.’ He [also] said to him: ‘If it is so for those who perform his will, all the more so for those who anger him.’54Yosei ben Yoezer made two responses to his nephew. First, that if he had received a reward despite angering God, certainly, those who serve God will ultimately receive a reward. Second, if those who serve God suffer so much, certainly those who anger God will ultimately suffer more. It [his uncle’s words] penetrated him like the venom of a serpent. He went and fulfilled in himself the four court-imposed death penalties – stoning, burning, beheading, and strangulation. What did he do? He brought a beam and stuck it into the ground. He tied a string to it, arranged wood, and surrounded it with a stone fence.55The stone fence was supported by the wood which it surrounded. He kindled a bonfire before it,56The bonfire was kindled near the fence, and when the fire reached the fence it kindled the wood which was within the fence and partially under the fence. stuck a sword in the middle,57The sword was in the middle of the wood which was arranged within the fence near the beam. kindled the fire under the stones, hanged himself from the beam and was strangled. The fire reached him, it severed the string, he fell into the fire, the sword reached him, the fence fell on him, and he was burned. Yosei ben Yoezer of Tzereida dozed and saw his bier floating in the air. He said: ‘That one preceded me by a small amount of time into the Garden of Eden.’
