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...
Succot: If the Top of the Etrog Comes Off
Succot-If One Forgot to Recite She’he’hiyanu Before Taking the Lulav
Succot: Owning the Lulav and Etrog on the First Day
Rosh Hashana- Using Material From a Non-Kosher Animal for the Succa Walls
Simhat Torah- Is It Permissible To Hold A Talit Over The Children At The Sefer Torah On Simhat Torah or Is It Considered Boneh
Sukkot – If Somebody Forgot to Recite “She’hehiyanu” Over the Lulab on the First Day
Distributing Charity on Ereb Sukkot
Sukkot – Shaking the Lulab Before Sunrise
Sukkot – Reciting the Beracha of “Lesheb Ba’sukka”
Succot- May One Use a Sukka Made With Impenetrable Sechach?
Is a Snow-Covered Sukka Valid for Use on Sukkot?
Succot- Sleeping/Napping In & Out The Succah
Succot- Supporting the Sechach with Metal; Fixing or Building a Sukka During Sukkot
Sukkot – Basic Halachot for the First Night and When the First Days Fall on Thursday and Friday
Succot- Are the Four Species Considered Muktzeh on Shabbat and the Night of Yom Tov?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found