Dr. Rosenberg 6D, meet Dr. Rosenberg 6F Or “A Rosenberg by any other Name”

Rosenberg is not a rare last name, if you're Jewish and live in Israel. Yet, among the hundreds of flights I have taken to and from Israel, I had never sat next to another Rosenberg, unless a member of my immediate family. That is, until this past Thursday. I got on my Lufthansa flight (Tel Aviv-Munich) and looked back to my seat, 6F. Next to my seat, an ultraorthodox Jew reading a religious text with the same Dr. Rosenberg on his boarding pass. The steward was quite confused. It didn't look like an auspicious start to my flight. Hello, hello, and that's it, I think to myself, and best to ignore him the rest of my trip.

How wrong first impressions can be. The man turned out to be Rabbi Dr. Jur. Berysz (Dov) Rosenberg from Zurich. He is not only an ordained rabbi who writes books on halacha (interpretation of Jewish law) but also a doctor of law who handles international legal disputes on insurance issues. I'm not finished. This prodigious fellow has twelve children and more than thirty grand children, kein ein ahora. Also, an owner of a small sticker printing company (etty-ketty). One of the most impressive, colorful and interesting passengers I have ever shared rows and seats with.

I ask the scholar to answer a question that has been plaguing me for many years. Is an observant Jew allowed to smell the odor of bacon? What should he do if his neighbor is barbecuing what Israelis facetiously call 'white meat' (pork to everyone else)? Close the windows? Sell the house? What if the neighbors are Jewish?

The rabbi surprises me. It turns out that there is no law prohibiting a religious Jew from smelling even the traifest of the traif (unkosher, I am thinking here a double cheeseburger granished with shrimp). I ask him whether the enticing odor might lead a religious man into transgression (there are laws, for example, prohibiting the handling of money on Shabbat for similar reasons). "What", he answers, "do you really think a religious Jew is going to eat hazer (pig) just because he smells it?"

Our conversation then takes an interesting turn. There are many blessing that Jews are supposed to invoke during the day. There are blessings for waking up in the morning, for eating various kinds of food. Even smell blessings, as for example when you smell the spice box on Saturday evening, as the Shabbat (Sabbath) ends. Turns out that is also a smell blessing for the 'etrog' (a citrus used during Tabernacles). What about smelling other foods? After all, it is well known that the smell of freshly baked bread spreads happiness and an urgent desire to buy practically anything (after all, that is why supermarkets have bakeries). However, among the sages, there is a disagreement as to whether the smell of bread itself warrants a blessing in its own rite. Because of this dispute, very religious Jews are supposed to refrain from smelling baking bread, lest they risk the dilemma of wondering whether to bless what should not be blessed, or not to bless what should.

So, folks, in case you were wondering: A very observant Jew, encountering his neighbor's barbecue, is not required to take any affirmative action whatsoever, even if the neighbors are Jewish and barbecuing pork chops and they smell really good (the chops, that is). On the other hand, if the same neighbor bakes a loaf of bread, the observant neighbor must close the windows and go for a long walk. As they say, go nose.

Mel with Smell - The New Smelly Book Collection

Mel takes off for Bologna's International Children's Book Fair

In a week and a half, I should know whether the work we've done over the past two years has been worthwhile. By the work, I mean a labor of love: preparing eight (!) children's books, illustrations and all, for the children's book fair in Bologna. Together with our potential partners in the UK (The Smelly Book Company), we are having smells applied to each of the books in different parts of each story. The smells include good ones such as orange, chocolate, and grass, and less pleasant ones such as garlic, tuna fish, etc.

Will we succeed? I have no idea, but I sure hope so. Kids loved my previous children's stories (Bacteria Galore by Sunday at Four, and The Talking Toothbrush). I have been working with another outstanding illustrator (Rotem Omri) and we have edited each story carefully. Three of the stories comprise the Dr. Cluck series, three titles are about tooth fairies, one is about a dragon who falls in love with ice cream, and the final one is a secret (you have to read it).

Our original idea was to create a website that would bring the stories to children around the world (for free, of course). That website, http://www.meltells.com/ is up and running, with pages that flip, books that fly, narration and song, the whole nine yards. The dream of turning these colorful e-books into real books started about a year ago when a new British company, specializing in adding odours to books, suggested that we join forces.

So if you are attending the Bologna Children's Book Fair, please follow your nose to my smellicious books. Come say hello. Put in an order to buy a few (thousand). At least tell me what you think.

Wish me lot's of luck. It's my first children's book fair. Let's hope it's the first of many.

The scent of a baby! Is it a cure-all?

I have been smelling babies' heads for many decades. Doesn’t everyone? I particularly love the smell behind their ears. Today I spent about twenty minutes smelling Amitay, the six month old baby of Rotem Omri, the wonderful illustrator of my current children's books (see http://www.meltells.com/).

I noticed that after smelling him for a few minutes, I became highly relaxed and content. Mothers and babies exchange odors and bond by scent from birth. But keep in mind that I am not Amitay's father, and that he is not looking for any milk from me.
But lets think again. Amitay is looking for my compassion. Or if you will, the milk of human kindness. He wants to be treated with warmth and affection by all adults in his vicinity. What is going on here?

Is it possible that babies have "love me" pheromones? Pheromones, one should keep in mind are not just related to transfer of sexual information, but any kind of sign that changes behavior in another member of the species. Amitay certainly changed my mood this morning. Were his secret odors casting a spell on me as well?