When it seems as though life has turned sour, we must stop to “smell” the “fragrance,” to identify and appreciate the pleasant aspects of life.
We read in Parashat Vayeshev the story of mekhirat Yosef, how Yosef was sold as a slave to a group of Yishmaelite merchants who were traveling from Trans-Jordan to Egypt. The Torah, curiously, specifies the goods that these merchants were transporting, identifying three different kinds of spices (nekhot, tzari and lot). Rashi, citing the Midrash (Bereishit Rabba, 84:17), offers a reason for why the Torah found this information worthy of mention: “This teaches the reward given to the righteous, for it was customary among the Arabians to transport only naphtha and resin, which have a foul odor, but it was arranged in the heavens that this person [Yosef] would not be harmed by a foul odor.” According to the Midrash, the Torah makes a point of noting the fragrant spices that the Yishmaelite merchants transported because God specifically saw to it that Yosef would enjoy a pleasant fragrance during his trip to Egypt, rather than be exposed to a putrid odor.
Chazal here convey the vitally important message of appreciating the seemingly small blessings in life. The pleasant fragrance that accompanied Yosef as he was carried in chains to Egypt did little, if anything, to ease his pain and fears as his life had just fallen apart. Nevertheless, Chazal found it significant that he was carried to Egypt along with fragrant spices. Even amidst the horrible tragedy of being sold as a slave to a foreign country, there was something for which Yosef could feel grateful; there was at least one small blessing in his life which had otherwise became accursed.
Very few people have to endure the kind of hardships and torment to which Yosef was subjected, but all of us go through difficult periods of one kind or another. Chazal here urge us not to overlook the “fragrant spices” that we enjoy even during life’s darker moments. When it seems as though life has turned sour, we must stop to “smell” the “fragrance,” to identify and appreciate the pleasant aspects of life. Just as Yosef was able to enjoy the scent of spices as he was taken into slavery, we, too, must try to enjoy and feel grateful for the small and not-so-small blessings in our lives even when difficulties arise.