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...
Covering a Pot on Shabbat
Pouring Hot Water Into Hamin (Cholent) on Shabbat
Timers on Shabbat
Taking out Bread from an Oven on Shabbat
Reheating Foods on Shabbat Containing Congealed Fat
The Kiddush of the Day For One Who Is Sick
Laws of the Morning Kiddush
The Wording of the Kiddush - Part 1 of 2
Halachot of the Meal of Se’uda Shelishit
Receiving a Phone Call Made by a Gentile From an Area Where it is Still Shabbat; Making a Phone Call Before or After Shabbat to a Place Where it is Shabbat
When does Shabbat End?
Melava Malka
Laws of Melava Malka
Stretching the Barechu on Mosa’eh Shabbat
Halachot of Oneg Shabbat
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found