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...
Must One Wear A Head Covering Even While Stationary
Does A Synagogue Lose Its Sanctity If A Serious Transgression Took Place There
Purchasing or Selling Toy Dolls
Is It Permissible To Follow A Rabbi's Direction After The Rabbi Strayed From The Right Path ?
Halachot that Reflect the Required Balance Between Joy and Fear
Must The Synagogue Chose Someone Who Is Married To Be Chazan
Moving Ovens or Stoves, Sealing Windows or Doors, and Blowing out Candles
Is It Required To Situate The Bimah In The Center of The Synagogue
May The Congregation Return An UnKosher Torah To The Hechal
May One Take a Pebble from the Western Wall as a Souvenir?
Some Laws Regarding A Tzedaka Box In One's House
Is It Permissible To Hang a Bag of Bread on a Hook
Calling a Child to Check a Sefer Torah with a Questionable Letter
Magic and Hypnotism in Halacha
Accepting A Job Even If It Is Beneath One's Dignity
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found