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...
Does One Make the Beracha of ‘SheAsa Li Kol Tzarki’ on Tisha BeAv
Tisha BeAv- The Prohibition of Laundering Clothes The Week of Tisha BeAv
Tisha BeAv- Seudat Hamafseket (The Last Meal Before The Fast)
Tisha BeAv- The Prohibition Taking Hair Cuts, and Cutting Nails During The Week of Tisha BeAv
Tisha BeAv- The Prohibition of Wearing Freshly Laundered Garments In The Week of Tisha BeAv
Tisha BeAv- Prohibitions During The First 9 Days of Av
Weddings and Engagements During the Three Weeks
Music During the Three Weeks
The Shehehiyanu Blessing During the Three Weeks
Reciting Tikun Hasot During the Three Weeks
The Miracle of 11 Tammuz, 5687 (1927)
Should One Avoid Having to Recite “She’hehiyanu” During the Three Weeks?
What Kind of Siyum Permits Eating Meat During the Nine Days?
Is it Permissible to Eat Synthetic Meat During the Nine Days
Torah Reading on a Fast Day in a Minyan of People Who are Not Fasting
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found