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...
Hanukah – The Shamosh; The Meaning of “Ha’nerot Halalu Kodesh Hem”
Hanukah: Lighting on Erev Shabbat
Hanukah – Lighting Candles Without a Menorah?
Hanukah: Using Inedible Olive Oil
Hanukah – Lighting the Candles From Left to Right; Lighting in a Synagogue That Has Several Minyanim
Chanukah- Types of Menorahs and Oils
Is There a Torah Obligation to Celebrate Hanukah?
Halachot Regarding Hallel on Hanukah
Hanukah – Where Does a Groom Light Candles on His Wedding Night?
Hanukah – Learning and Eating Before Candle Lighting; The Time for Lighting
Hanukah – The Preferred Material for the Menorah; The Status of Coagulated Oil
Hanukah- The Status of Inedible Olive Oil for Hanukah Candle Lighting
Hanukah – The Procedure on the Second Night if One’s Wife Lit for Him the First Night
Hanukah – The Berachot Over the Candle Lighting
Chanukah- Lighting in the Morning in the Synagogue
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found