June 24, 2018
Interviews conducted by Elliot Resnick, Jewish Press Chief Editor
You’re supposed to if the flower has a good smell.
Hardly anyone does, though.
They don’t know.
Years ago, a new baalas teshuvah was speaking to me at some length about which beracha to make on various kinds of flowers, and I honestly was a bit lost until I opened a siddur and realized all the berachos she mentioned were in it.
That’s because you were busy learning Bava Kamma while she was busy learning Shulchan Aruch.
Instead of the women clamoring to learn the same curriculum as the men, the men should clamor to learn the same curriculum as the women.
The women’s curriculum in many high schools is much better than the men’s. What do the men gain from learning Kesubos and Yevamos and Bava Kamma? The curriculum should be the girls’ curriculum. The boys are not ready for Gemara; they should clamor to learn Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. That’s more important.
One hardly sees anyone making a beracha before smelling a flower. Is there any limud zechus for the neglect of this din?
No. The Gemara says, “Hai man deba’i l’meihavei chasida…” — “A person who wants to become a chassid should…” — and it gives three versions for what he should be careful about. One version is that he should be careful about berachos. So if you want to become a chassid, you have to be careful about berachos.
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