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Brachot on a Nice Smell: Difference between revisions

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==Boreh Minei Besamim==
==Boreh Minei Besamim==
# The general Bracha for nice smells is Boreh Minei [[Besamim]] and is made for non-plant or fruit products, or for items for which there’s an unresolved dispute in the poskim. <ref>Vezot HaBracha (pg 175-7, chapter 19) </ref>
# The general Bracha for nice smells is Boreh Minei [[Besamim]] and is made for non-plant or fruit products, or for items for which there’s an unresolved dispute in the poskim. <ref>Vezot HaBracha (pg 175-7, chapter 19) </ref>
# Examples: cinnamon, cloves (common for [[Havdalah]] ), lemon, hot ground coffee beans (taken to smell), mixture of tree and shrub products. <ref>Vezot HaBracha (pg 397, Luach [[Brachot]]) </ref>
# Examples: cinnamon, cloves (common for [[Havdalah]]), lemon, hot ground coffee beans (taken to smell), mixture of tree and shrub products. <ref>Vezot HaBracha (pg 397, Luach [[Brachot]]).
# For synthetic smells, as is common in cheap perfumes, some say that the Bracha is Boreh Minei [[Besamim]] and some say that there’s no Bracha on such a smell. <Ref> Vezot HaBracha (pg 182, chapter 19) quotes a dispute between Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg who says that synthetic products have a Bracha, and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach who holds that no Bracha is made. [http://www.dailyhalacha.com/Display.asp?PageIndex=&ClipID=2622 Rabbi Eli Mansour] quotes Chacham Benzion Abba Shaul (Sh"t Or Litzion volume 2: pg. 137) as well as Chacham Ovadia Yosef (Chazon Ovadia [[Berachot]] pg. 313) that a beracha should be recited. He adds that even though Chacham David Yosef (son of Chacham Ovadia) says that he convinced his father that a beracha shouldn't be recited, nevertheless, one may recite a beracha or use it for [[havdalah]] </ref>
* Shulchan Aruch 212:2 writes that a fruit that is meant to be eaten the bracha is hanoten reyach tov bpeirot. His examples include cloves and cinnamon. The Shaar Hatziyun 212:12 writes that the Chaye Adam and Derech Chaim question Shulchan Aruch since cloves and cinnamon aren't meant to be eaten. The Shaar Hatziyun only accepts their claim regarding cloves but for cinnamon argues that it should be hanoten reyach tov bpeirot because cinnamon is eaten as a spice in foods. Nonetheless, he adds that it could be better to just make borei mini besamim since that cover it in any case. The Vezot Habracha p. 175 concludes that it is preferable to recite mini besamim for this reason.</ref> However, Sephardim hold that if the cinnamon or cloves were designated for smelling and not eating, such as is common for Havdalah, the bracha would be Boreh Atzi Besamim.<ref>Birkat Hashem 3:12:17. See Shulchan Aruch 216:2.</ref>
# For synthetic smells, as is common in cheap perfumes, some say that the Bracha is Boreh Minei [[Besamim]] and some say that there’s no Bracha on such a smell. <Ref> Vezot HaBracha (pg 182, chapter 19) quotes a dispute between Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg who says that synthetic products have a Bracha, and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach who holds that no Bracha is made. [http://www.dailyhalacha.com/Display.asp?PageIndex=&ClipID=2622 Rabbi Eli Mansour] quotes Chacham Benzion Abba Shaul (Sh"t Or Litzion volume 2: pg. 137) as well as Chacham Ovadia Yosef (Chazon Ovadia [[Berachot]] pg. 313) that a beracha should be recited. He adds that even though Chacham David Yosef (son of Chacham Ovadia) says that he convinced his father that a beracha shouldn't be recited, nevertheless, one may recite a beracha or use it for [[havdalah]]. </ref>


==Bore Shemen Arev==
==Bore Shemen Arev==
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==If one’s in doubt==
==If one’s in doubt==
# If you have a plant which has a nice smell but you personally are in doubt as to whether the Bracha is Atzei or Isbei, if it’s easy to find out the correct Bracha, one should do so, otherwise, one may make Boreh Minei [[Besamim]]. (This is different than foods where there’s an obligation to figure out the appropriate halacha instead of making [[Shehakol]].) <ref>Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 58:7, Vezot HaBracha (pg 176, chapter 19) </ref>
# If you have a plant which has a nice smell but you personally are in doubt as to whether the Bracha is Atzei or Isbei, if it’s easy to find out the correct Bracha, one should do so, otherwise, one may make Boreh Minei [[Besamim]]. (This is different than foods where there’s an obligation to figure out the appropriate halacha instead of making [[Shehakol]].) <ref>Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 58:7, Vezot HaBracha (pg 176, chapter 19) </ref>
# If one is unsure whether a product has a nice or strong smell, one may smell it to check, make the Bracha, and then make the Bracha. <Ref>Vezot HaBracha (pg 180, chapter 19), [https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehalacha.com%2Fattach%2FVolume4%2FIssue11.pdf Halachically Speaking] quoting Ben Ish Chai (VaEtchanan#2). </ref>
# If one is unsure whether a product has a nice or strong smell, one may smell it to check, and if it has a good smell then make the Bracha and smell it again. <Ref>Vezot HaBracha (pg 180, chapter 19), [https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehalacha.com%2Fattach%2FVolume4%2FIssue11.pdf Halachically Speaking] quoting Ben Ish Chai (VaEtchanan#2), Rav Chaim Kanievsky quoted in Sefer Brachos K'Hilchasan pg. 150 </ref>
 
==New Smells==
==New Smells==
# One should NOT make the beracha of shehecheyanu upon smelling new scents. <ref> BI"H, VaEtchanan, 1; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 59:18 </ref>
# One should NOT make the beracha of shehecheyanu upon smelling new scents. <ref> BI"H, VaEtchanan, 1; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 59:18 </ref>