The Berakha over Fragrance

Just as there is a mitzva to recite a berakha over every food a person eats, so too there is a mitzva to recite a berakha over the enjoyment of a pleasant fragrance. Although the enjoyment of fragrance is more spiritual, the Sages instituted a berakha over it, for a person is forbidden to benefit from this world without a berakha (Berakhot 35a; above 1:2). They also derived this from the verse (Tehillim 150:6): “Let every soul (neshama) praise the Lord, Halleluya” – “What is it that the soul enjoys and the body does not enjoy? You must say that this is fragrance” (Berakhot 43b). Thus, one must praise God for the enjoyment of fragrance. But the Sages did not institute a berakha over the enjoyment of hearing a pleasant sound or seeing a beautiful sight, because in these pleasures no substance enters the person’s body, whereas in the enjoyment of fragrance, particles of the fragrance enter the body (MB 216:4).

However, the Sages did not institute a berakha aḥarona over fragrance, since once one stops smelling, the pleasure departs and nothing of it remains (SA OḤ 216:1).

Through this berakha we learn to pay attention to the subtle and delicate things that God created in the world, which also give a person pleasure and enrich his feelings. And since the Sages said that the soul enjoys fragrance, a pleasant fragrance can awaken the faith within the soul, strengthen a person’s spiritual powers, and arouse in him a desire and yearning to rise to a higher level, above and beyond tangible things.

In order for the thanksgiving to be complete and clearly defined, the Sages instituted a special berakha for each type of fragrance, according to the substance from which the fragrance comes. There are five berakhot:

1) Over a fragrance that comes from a species of tree, one recites: “Barukh Ata Hashem Eloheinu Melekh ha-olam borei atzei vesamim” (“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who creates fragrant trees”).

2) Over a fragrance that comes from grasses, one recites: “Barukh Ata Hashem Eloheinu Melekh ha-olam borei isvei vesamim” (“…Who creates fragrant grasses”).

3) Over a pleasant fragrance that comes from fruit, one recites: “Barukh Ata Hashem Eloheinu Melekh ha-olam ha-noten re’aḥ tov ba-peirot” (“…Who gives a pleasant fragrance to fruits”).

4) Over a fragrance that comes from other things or from synthetic substances, one recites: “Barukh Ata Hashem Eloheinu Melekh ha-olam borei minei vesamim” (“…Who creates various kinds of fragrances”).

5) Over a fragrance that comes from balsam oil (shemen afarsemon), one recites: “Barukh Ata Hashem Eloheinu Melekh ha-olam borei shemen arev” (“…Who creates fragrant oil”). This oil is not available today.^¹

The berakha of minei vesamim is unique in that be-di’avad it covers all types of fragrances, for they are all “kinds” of fragrances. Therefore, whenever there is doubt about the type of fragrance, one recites minei vesamim (SA OḤ 216:2; see below, halakha 5, for the definition of grasses and trees).

This is why, according to Ashkenazic custom, the practice at Havdala is to recite minei vesamim over all types of spices, for since many people do not know what is a species of grass and what is a species of tree, there is a concern that they will err in their berakha; but if they always recite minei vesamim, they fulfill their obligation in any case. According to Sephardic custom, when the type of fragrance is known, one recites its proper berakha over it (MB 297:1; Kaf Ha-ḥayim 31).