Disregarding One’s Personal Perception — Bad Odor
Question
Answer
Shalom u’vrachah
Something that is universally agreed to be a bad odor is forbidden even for someone who does not smell it or is not bothered by it, to speak words of Torah next to it.
And some of the Acharonim wrote that in the opposite case as well, where a person smells a bad odor that others do not smell, it is forbidden to engage in words of Torah.
Source
Mishnah Berurah, siman 85, se’if katan 7
(7) In a bathroom — And even within the four amot of the bathroom, from the place where the odor ceases, it is also forbidden to think [Torah thoughts]; see above in siman 79, Mishnah Berurah se’if katan 3. The book Tosafot Yerushalayim wrote in the name of the Yerushalmi that in a tannery it is forbidden to pray, and likewise to mention anything sacred, provided that the tanning process has begun, since there is a bad odor; but if it has not yet begun, it is permitted. And it is obvious that when it is forbidden, it is forbidden even for the craftsman himself, who is accustomed to the bad odor and does not sense it, since people are distressed by this bad odor, as above in siman 79, se’if 1.
Keren LeDavid, Orach Chaim, siman 17.
