DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 628 KB)
Birkat Ha’re’ah - Honeysuckles, Cinnamon, Shampoo, Deodorant, Soap and Air Freshener

Somebody who smells honeysuckles recites the Beracha of "Baruch Ata Hashem…Boreh Aseh Besamim." Since they grow on a bush, the proper Beracha is "Aseh Besamim" ("fragrant trees").

If one smells cinnamon – as many people do for the Besamim at Habdala – the Beracha depends on which cinnamon is used. Although cinnamon grows on trees, and should thus require the Beracha of "Aseh Besamim," most cinnamon that people have in their homes was ground for seasoning, and not for smelling. Therefore, before smelling such cinnamon one recites "Boreh Mineh Besamim." One recites "Aseh Besamim" over cinnamon only if it was bought specifically for its fragrance.

One does not recite any Beracha at all before smelling a substance that was made for the purpose of cleaning or eliminating odor. This would include shampoo, soap, deodorant and air fresheners. All these products are made for either cleaning or deodorizing, and thus one does not recite any Beracha before smelling them.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Yom Tov- Is It Permissible To Smoke On Yom Tov or To Use A Measuring Cup
Holidays Do Not Fall Out On Particular Days Of The Week
Yom Tov- It Is Forbidden To Light A Match or Extinguish A Flame
Isru Hag Shavuot and Tachanun in the Days Following Shavuot
The Custom to Read Megilat Rut on Shabuot
Shabuot – Reciting Azharot; Learning Tehillim and Other Forms of Study; The Custom to Eat Dairy
Shabuot – Saying the Shema Prayer Out Loud on Shabuot Morning
Shabuot – Standing for the Reading of the Ten Commandments; Decorating the Synagogue
Shabuot – The Obligation to Celebrate and Rejoice
Donating 104 Coins to Charity Before Shabuot
Shabuot – Eating Meat and Dairy
Shabuot – Preparing for the Holiday, Sleeping on Shabbat When Shabuot Begins on Mosa’eh Shabbat
Preparing for Shabuot When it Begins on Mosa’eh Shabbat
Tikkun Lel Shabuot
Ereb Shabuot
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found