Last week we introduced the teaching from Sefer Yetzirah that in addition to being created through a different Hebrew letter, each month in the Jewish calendar has an associated Sense of the Soul. The Sense for the month of Cheshvan is the Sense of smell, a Sense that incorporates physical and spiritual dimensions relating to smell.
We posed many questions last week regarding the Sense of smell and its connection to the Letter Nun. We anticipated the Torah portion of this coming week in which the relationship between Isaac (Yitzchak) and his sons comes to a climax. Isaac's blessing is to be given and through a masquarade, Jacob (Ya'acov) "deceives" his father and wrests the blessing intended for his older brother, Esau (Esav).

After using all of his other senses ( sight, hearing, touch, and taste) Yitzchak asks Ya'acov to draw close, so that he can smell him. Perhaps the wording of the Torah is a clue to a difference between the physical sense of smell and its spiritual dimension. Both aspects of smell are discernments- one the actual smell, the other smelling out motivations and purpose. Yitzchak asks Ya'acov to come close and kiss him and he smells him. First the Torah relates, that Yitzchak smells his clothing and he blesses him. The clothing belongs to Esav. The physical sense of smell discens that indeed this is "Esav". Then curiosly, the Torah relates the next words of Yitzchak, "See, the fragrance of my son, is like the fragrance of the field". The Midrash informs us that the smell of "my son" was the smell of Gan Eden ( the Garden of Eden). Now Yitzchak certainly has no memory of the Garden! Rather he is smelling his son and not just his clothing, he is smelling out the motivations and spiritual purpose of Ya'acov's deception. Surface appearances can often be deceptive.The Sense of smell is a guide to "seeing" beyond the initial impression and glimpsing at the "truer" reality, even if it is concealed for the moment. Perhaps Yitzchak was struggling with Ya'acov's deception while a realization about Esav's true character was dawning as well. The Sense of smell was his guide.

With this understanding let us return to the letter Nun and the month of Cheshvan. Over the last few weeks we have looked at the nature of the letter Nun as reflecting a fallen state. The month of Cheshvan is "barren" of holidays and is called Mar-bitter, due to any number of tragedies that occur in this month. It is also that month inbetween the month of Tishrei ( filled with reflective and joyous holidays) and the coming month of Kislev-in which Chanukah, a spiritual reawakening from the "dark" is celebrated.

As we continued to learn, we started to smell a meaning of Nun- that relates to all we have mentioned previously and adds a new dimension of understanding. Is Nun perhaps that energy in the world that reflects a disparity between what we would envision as G-d's purpose of bestowing good and the reality we perceive where that good is concealed. There is no greater place of concealment than when we face tragedies and loss or when we face a moment that seems to contradict everything we would expect to happen in our relationship with G-d.

When Abraham is asked, take Yitzchak and sacrifice him- how could he reconcile this command with all that had been promised? When the Jews left Egypt and stood at Yam Suf, the people themselves cry out, " are there not enough cemetaries in Egypt, that we need to die here in the desert? As a people, we have continuosly faced these seeming disparities in the fallen state of Nun. It is the Sense of smell that keeps our spiritual sensitivity open to discern that the gap between our perception of evil and good will be closed. This is the ultimate purpose of Moshiach who will "rule" by the Sense of smell. Until then, we strive to develop our Sense of smell in order to remain steadfast with our trust in G-d in the face of our Nun experiences. This is reflected in nourishing the soul through the Sense of smell as we bless the spices during the Havdallah prayer to end Shabbat. That fragrance "keeps" our soul connected to the spiritual ascent experienced on Shabbat throughout the week.

Addendum: As we look forward to the month of Kislev and Chanukah, it is worth already a mention that the letter for the month of Kislev is the letter Samech. The letters for these two months then are Nun and Samech which spell the word Nais-meaning miracle. Perhaps the miracle is that element that serves to bridge the gap in our perception, moving the Nun ( the state of disparity) to a state of Samech ( wholeness).