Many people are unaware of the fact that there is a Beracha which one must recite just before entering a cemetery. This Beracha, "Baruch Ata Hashem…Asher Yasar Etchem Ba’din…" (listen to audio recording for the full text), is recited anytime one visits a cemetery, whether he is visiting the graves of Sadikim or the graves of departed loved ones. There are also a number of Pesukim that are customarily recited after reciting the Beracha.
This Beracha is recited only if one had not visited a cemetery in the previous thirty days. Even if one visited a different cemetery within the last thirty days, he does not recite a Beracha upon the current visit. This rule, however, is subject to a number of different conditions. The Ner Le’siyon writes that the prevalent custom is to recite a Beracha if one had visited a cemetery in a different city within the previous thirty days. And thus even though one had recently visited a cemetery, he recites the Beracha again when he goes to a cemetery in a different city. Additionally, if a new grave was added, Heaven forbid, since one’s previous visit to the cemetery, then he recites the Beracha even if he had been to this cemetery within the last thirty days. For example, if a person visited a loved one’s grave after Shiba, and then returns after Sheloshim and sees that new graves have been added in the interim, then he recites the Beracha even though he had been to the cemetery just three weeks earlier. (The custom in Baghdad, as recorded by the Ben Ish Hai in Parashat Ekeb, was to never recite the Beracha when returning to a cemetery unless a new grave had been added in the interim.)
It is important to ensure to recite this Beracha when it is required. Although there are some Berachot mentioned in the Shulhan Aruch – such as the Berachot over thunder and lightning – which are not customarily recited, as noted on several occasions by the Ben Ish Hai, the Beracha over visiting a cemetery is recited according to all customs. This Beracha fulfills a Misva and also benefits the souls of those buried in the cemetery, and thus one should not deny himself or them the merit of this Beracha. In many cemeteries, this Beracha is written upon the gate or on cards by the entrance, and one should make a point of reciting it.
