"And he smelled the scent of his clothing and he said: See, my
son's scent is like that of the field which Hashem has
blessed.
"Chazal say in the Midrash: Do not read begodov
but bogdov, his traitors. Yaakov smelled the scent of
those sinners who rebel against Hashem but who eventually
repent, like Yosef Meshicha and Yokum from Tzroros. Who was
Yosef Meshicha? When our enemies sought to enter Har Habayis,
they said: Let one of them [the Jews] enter [this holy place]
first. They approached him and said: Go in to the Beis
Hamikdosh and seize any precious thing for yourself. He entered
and claimed the golden Menora. They said: But it is not
seemly for a commoner like you to use such a grand object. Go
in again and take something of lesser importance. But he
refused to enter a second time. R' Pinchos said that they
offered him a three year exemption of all taxes, but he still
refused. He said: `Is it not bad enough that I entered [the
sanctuary of my G-d] once? Shall I provoke Him a second time?'
What did they do to him? They laid him upon a carpenter's
worktable and sawed him to pieces. As they were doing this, he
screamed: `Woe unto me for having angered my Maker.'
"Yokum of Tzroros was the nephew of the Tana R' Yosef ben
Yoezer of Tzreida. He was riding on a horse on the Shabbos that
his uncle was being led [by the Romans] to his death. He mocked
him and said: `Look at the fine horse which my master has given
me, and look upon the horse, as it were, upon which your Master
has mounted you,' meaning: Look at my pleasant lot, despite my
sinfulness, as compared to your plight, where you are being led
to your death, in spite of your righteousness. And R' Yosi
replied: `If this is the lot of those who provoke Him, how much
greater will be the reward of those who serve to please Him!'
Yokum asked: `Was there anyone who did more to serve Hashem
than you? Why are you being led to the slaughter?' And the
uncle replied: `If it is so [that Hashem is so exacting] with
those who do His bidding, how much more will the punishment be
to those who defy Him!'
"These words penetrated like a snake's venom and he went and
contrived a combination of the four forms of death executed by
beis din: stoning, burning, death by sword and choking
[hanging]. At this point, R' Yosi ben Yoezer dozed off and saw
a vision of a bier flying aloft. He said: How was he able in
such a short time to precede me to Gan Eden?" (Midrash
Aggodas Bereishis 43; Midrash Rabba Bereishis 65)
*
The power of smell remains active even when the other senses
are not operating. A poisoned fruit, looking delectable, can
nestle among a pile of good fruit, with no way to detect the
difference. A person can take it into his hand and none of his
senses will reveal the danger inherent -- save for his sense of
smell, which will arouse his suspicions that something is
amiss, though he may not be able to isolate the reason why. His
sense of smell will warn him to be wary. The opposite is also
true.
A man may use his eyes as a guide to the external condition,
but his sense of smell will penetrate to the inner condition
and provide the necessary information that is not yet revealed
to the eye.
When Yaakov Ovinu entered the tent of his father, Yitzchok, to
receive those blessings that would stand by his children for
all future generations, he entered together with those future
offspring. Not in actuality, of course, but he did bring along
the reservoir of potential that was planted in him, from which
the future Jewish nation would germinate and spring forth. In
his sanctity, Yitzchok sensed that Yaakov's core was pure,
through and through, to such an extent that even the traitors
and sinners who would emerge in the future will be preserved by
the good smell, the innate quality of goodness.
Jews would never be totally estranged or severed from the wick-
thread that binds them to Yaakov. They might succumb to sin,
even grievously so, but that flickering wick would continue to
burn, if weakly, until the moment they encountered the great
fire. Then, instantly, it would ignite to a strong flame, just
like the wicks of a candle that join to create a torch of
fire.
This was the case with Yosef Meshicha. What speck of Judaism
still remained of this base sinner and renegade who volunteered
to enter the holy Sanctuary and desecrate it, at a time when
even our enemies were loathe and afraid to do so? But the ember
within him still glowed, deep, deep inside. It was not
extinguished. A tiny flicker remained that fought for its life
and begged for reinforcement. And the reinforcement came to the
rescue. Yosef entered one time -- but refused to go in again
and under no circumstances would he provoke his Creator another
time.
What happened? He had entered the Beis Hamikdosh! That was
enough to inject the necessary reinforcement, to stoke the
little flickering flame. Not even the excruciating torture of
being hacked to pieces alive could douse the fire that had been
ignited to full force. He screamed with pain, but what were his
words? "Woe unto me for having angered my Creator!"
To sense the existence of that tiny flame still present in the
heart of Yosef Meshicha is possible only through the sense of
smell! And Yitzchok Ovinu sensed it. He saw the aroma of the
[Jewish people's] renegades.
The same applies to Yokum of Tzroros. What can one think about
a brazen apikores who, upon meeting up with his holy
uncle, a veritable holy man who was being led to a martyr's
death, had the audacity to taunt him with his own Sabbath
desecration, to provoke him and despise him? Were these the
only parting thoughts he could think of saying -- words of
incitement and ridicule? Who can believe that in such a wicked
heart there still flickered an iota of Jewishness?
But this was apparently so! The few words of rebuke that issued
from the holy mouth served as the fuel to stoke that lone spark
still burning weakly and fan it to a great fire. A fire that
spread throughout his being until not a single spot remained
that was not captured by remorse and repentance. A few words
sufficed to catapult Yokum directly into Gan Eden -- and to get
him there even before his uncle.
One cannot distinguish that tiny spark when it is almost
suffocated by mounds of refuse. But one can smell its presence.
He, Yitzchok, sensed the presence of those renegades that would
yet return.
R' Chono bar Bazno said in the name of R' Shimon Chasida: Every
fast day that does not include Jewish sinners is not a
legitimate, effective fast day, for the compound galbanum
(chelbono), which had an offensive smell was,
nevertheless, included among the ingredients of the fragrant
incense of the Ketores. Burnt alone, it is malodorous.
But as soon as it is combined with sweet smelling ingredients,
like balm and cinnamon and other herbs, it is incorporated into
an incredibly sweet smelling incense.
The same is true with Jewish sinners. Alone, they are
malodorous, they exude a repelling smell. But if they join with
the body of Jewry, they become sweet smelling, too. So, too, in
those moments of truth, when Jewry suffers times of trouble and
they proclaim a fast, they draw in their erring brethren. And
something gives. A twinge of regret, and the flicker suddenly
bursts into flame, is revived into a fire, is rejuvenated, and
that flame is drawn to the great fire. And it burns strong and
fierce.
