When I smell something that evokes a memory, I am transported right back to that time. The other day, a truck drove past me on the street;, it smelled like gas, and I immediately thought of my childhood summers chasing after the ice cream truck with a dollar in my hand, hoping I’d catch up. If I smell Starbucks coffee, I’m back in college, studying late at night in the library, hoping for an A on my upcoming exam. If I smell chicken soup, I think it’s a Friday and I’m in my mother-in-law’s kitchen – she makes the best chicken soup. And when I walk into synagogue on Shabbat, I am comforted by the smell of my shul’s delicious cholent.
Scientists say that smell can immediately trigger an intense emotion or vivid memory. And the Kabbalah says that smell connects the spiritual and the physical. It can touch you on the deepest level. It can reach your soul. So the next time you smell a familiar and pleasant scent, one that brings back happy memories, remember to take a moment and breathe it in.
