The Tastiest Fruit

And he came near, and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his clothes, and blessed him, and said: See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which God has blessed.                    Genesis 27:27

          My saintly teacher, Rabbi Mordechai Rogov, commented that the best and tastiest fruit is that which has been freshly picked from the field, while fruit which has been removed from the field for a time requires various artificial means in order to preserve its flavor. Similarly, with human beings, there are those who have the fortitude and courage to withstand the surrounding negative influences and remain faithful to Torah, as it were, continuing to produce the sweetest fruit, while others succumb to outside influences, as it were, absorbing artificial additives and lowering the quality of their fruit.

          Thus, Isaac’s blessing to Jacob is that he should always maintain the fragrance of the field, of the natural state. For Jacob and his descendants, the “field” is the bet midrash (study hall).

          Rabbi Rogov suggested an additional implication of the “smell of the field” as an introduction to the blessing of Jacob: just as the field produces fruit and grain to maintain life, through God’s blessing, and does not in any way boast that it is responsible, so too Jacob and his descendants must be eternally aware of the fact that what they have is due to God’s blessing, and they must refrain from believing that it is their might and power which are responsible for their worldly successes.