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 Recite Birkat Ha’gomel While in Transit?
Shemitat Kesafim- Situations Where a Verbal Declaration Suffices in Lieu of a Prozbol (Prozbul)
Shemitat Kesafim- The Procedure for Writing a Prozbul
Shemitat Kesafim: Paying After Shemita for Borrowed Goods
Shemitat Kesafim: Which Debts are Annulled After the Shemita Year?
Shemitat Kesafim: Writing a Prozbol
Shemitat Kesafim: The Reasons Behind the Law Cancelling All Debts at the End of Shemita Year
Blessing One’s Children on Shabbat Eve
Is it Permissible to Listen to a Torah Class in the Bath or Shower?
Swaying While Praying or Studying Torah
Celebrating Rosh Hodesh
Everyone Has His Own Share in Torah
Reciting a Beracha at the Site When One Experienced a Miracle
The Beracha on Seeing the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean
The Miraculous Preservation of Our Torah Tradition
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found