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Today's Halachos are dedicated by a daily reader, M.B. as a merit for a Refua Shelaima for Asher Ben Taji, Sara Bat Taji, Eliezer ben Yehudit and Ezra ben Yehudit. Please learn today's Halachos in their merit, and please keep them in your prayers. May they all have a complete and speedy recovery.
כל הנשמה תהלל י-ה הללויה Now that the Yamim Noraim have passed, we must all strive to hold on to all the spiritual gains we have acquired over Chodesh Elul, Rosh Hashana, Aseres yemei Teshuva,Yom Kippur, Hoshana Rabba and Simchas Torah. The Neshama of each and every Jew, no matter what level they are on, has been cleansed and purified over the past 2 months and now that Chodesh Cheshvon is coming and a long, cold winter may be in store, it is up to us to keep our Neshamos pure and clean and not give in to the temptations of the Yetzer Hara who wants nothing more than for us to forget about our newly purified status.
One way to ensure that we cling to Hashem and hold on to the lofty levels we have achieved over the Yamim Noraim is to remember to thank and praise Hashem for all He continues to do for each and every one of us on a daily basis. We must remember that no matter how dirty and sullied our outside may seem, our souls, our Neshamnos, are always striving for purity
A soul that praises Hashem often, will merit to remain cleansed and purified longer, stronger and easier!
With that in mind, we shall now begin B'Ezras Hashem the short but important topic of Birchas Harayach:
כל הנשמה תהלל י-ה הללויה
1) One who smells something with a pleasant scent must recite a blessing, known as Birchas HaRayach, the "Blessing on Scents".
Chazal (Talmud Brachos 43b) derive this Halacha from the Posuk "Kol Haneshama Tehalel Kah- Every Soul should praise Hashem" (The very last Posuk in Tehillim)
"What is something (i.e. which of the five senses is it) that the Neshama (soul) can derive pleasure from and not the Guf) physical body)? The sense of Smell! (See Ben Ish Chai Parshas V'Eschanan Siman 61 where he expounds upon this concept of the sense of smell being a spiritual sense more than seeing or hearing something holy. See also Shu"t Halachos Ketanos Vol. 2 Siman 160)
2) Another reason that Chazal instituted this Bracha was due to the fact that one may not derive pleasure from this world without thanking Hashem, thus before enjoying a pleasant scent, similar to before enjoying a pleasant food, we must first thank Hashem by reciting a Bracha! (See Shulchan Aruch Siman 216:1 and Mishna Berura S"K 1)
According to some Poskim, if it something whose purpose is for scent, a Bracha will be required even if one didn't have intention to smell it, as long as one in fact enjoyed the scent (See Aruch HaShulchan Siman 216:6. See also Shu"t Teshuvos V'Hanhagos Vol. 2 Siman 134 regarding one who does not enjoy a smell, if he recites the Bracha on Besamim on Motzei Shabbos by Havdalah)
QUESTION & ANSWER CORNER:
Reader Submitted Questions of interest on topics related to Halachos we covered, as well as other interesting topic and Answers. Taken from the Q & A pages on the Halacha For Todaywebsite.
Although the answers I give to questions are taken directly from the Sifrei HaPoskim, and aren't my own, they are still for study purposes only, NOT for Psak Halacha.
When I was in yeshivah I was told that the shaliyach tzibbur must recite at least the last two principles of the Rabbi Yishmael's 13 principles of expounding the Torah, and not just say yihi ratzon followed by the kadish derabonnan.
The reason given was that kadish derabonnan must be said only after the tzibur together learned some divrey Torah. If the shaliyah tzibbur silently says all the korbanos and 13 principles of Rabbi Yishmael, it would appear that we recite kaddish derabonnan by itself without any learning as a tzibbur.
Is this correct, and what is the source for the halacha about kaddish derabonnan?
Answer:
Kaddish D'Rabanan may be said even if only one or two people learned some Agaddah, as long as there are 10 people there to answer to the Kaddish.(See Mishna Berura siman 54:9 and Siman 55:2.)
You are right, that ideally, at least a little of the Torah should be said out loud before saying the Kaddish.However, from the Shulchan Aruch HaRav (end of Siman 54) it seems that it is sufficient to just say the Yehi Ratzon...SheYibaneh Bais HaMikdash out loud.
Our holy sages, the Chazal tell us
תנא דבי אליהו כל השונה הלכות בכל יום מובטח לו שהוא בן עולם הבא, שנאמר הליכות עולם לו, אל תקרי הליכות אלא הלכות - one who studies [at least two] Halachos daily is assured a portion in Olam Haba - the world to come. (:מגילה כ"ח )
Important Numbers
