HOLY SMOKE! Parsha Vayikra (Leviticus 1:1-5:26) Day after day, I've been banging my head against this week's Torah portion, Vayikra. I'm trying to find my way in. Here, the people are instructed about the procedures for preparing burnt animal offerings to G*d, to atone for sin or guilt, and even to pray for well-being. In excruciating detail, Vayikra describes animal sacrifice. Simply reading this is disturbing; the animal being slaughtered suffers beyond the limits of pain and terror. My modern, quasi-civilized, not-very-humble, mostly- vegetarian Northern California sensibilities can find almost no redeeming message in these first five chapters of Leviticus. I don't mean to be mean or irreverent or incendiary, but -- with all due respect to Torah -- I find this mind-numbing animal torture and incineration extremely disgusting. My nausea is blocking my intelligence. So, how to find my way in? I could take a more cerebral, less visceral approach: I could explore the concepts of sin, guilt, confession, expiation, punishment, restitution and forgiveness. I could look for scapegoating metaphors: is the animal in G*d's abattoir a stand-in for ourselves? I could google countless rabbinic sermons on Vayikra, and see how Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed might help baffled students like me. Losch: Vayikra 1 I could riff on how two letters in the word sacred can so easily be transposed to form scared. That would be clever and fun. ••• But finally, I have found my way in -- through my body! My only viable approach to this week's Torah portion Vayikra is from an olfactory angle. I must write this from my nose. In Vayikra, smells of burning members of herds, flocks and birds are "of pleasing odor to the Lord," a phrase repeated at least ten times. But, thankfully, we also have more pleasant scents here. On "the altar of aromatic incense which is in the Tent of Meeting" (Lev. 4:7), we experience precious though few delicious fragrances, such as that from offerings of meal "of choice flour" baked in the oven or on a griddle, resulting in unleavened cakes or wafers. (2:1-7) Especially lovely and exotic are aromas rising when oil and frankincense are poured on the flour. (2:-1-2) Frankincense is mentioned at least four times in this parsha. (2:1, 2:15-16, 4:7, 5:11). The vocabulary of our noses contains descriptors like earthy, woody, spicy, smoky, musky, like pine, balsam and sandalwood. Smell, a direct channel to emotional memories, can be the most intimate of the five senses. In the sensorium of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and especially smell, let us breathe in our inspiring Torah. © Rita S. Losch, MA, MFA, Writing Coach 2021 Losch: Vayikra 2.