Besamim: Blessings on Fragrances

Besamim — Fragrance, the Soul, and the Bracha That Eases the Parting of Shabbos

As the final light of Shabbos slips away and the family draws close around the braided candle, a small silver box is lifted and passed from hand to hand, and the Havdalah spices fill the room with its sweetness. For a single breath the whole household leans in to inhale the besamim, and in that breath the Sages placed a quiet teaching about what truly nourishes a person. We pause over these fragrant spices because Shabbos does not simply end; it must be escorted out with dignity, and the soul that swelled during the holy day must be gently comforted as ordinary time returns.

In the lines below we will learn what the besamim are, the words of their bracha, where the custom comes from, and why Chazal understood scent to be the language of the neshama. Let this be an invitation to linger a moment longer in the holiness of Shabbos before the week begins.

Understanding the Havdalah Spices

The Havdalah spices, known in Hebrew as the besamim (fragrant spices), are the aromatic substances we smell during Havdalah, the ceremony that separates Shabbos from the six days of the week. After the bracha on the wine and before the bracha on the flame, we take the besamim, recite a blessing over them, and breathe in their fragrance. The most familiar besamim are cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, and fragrant myrtle, often kept in a decorated spice container that is itself called a besamim box.

Smelling the Havdalah spices is part of the order of Havdalah for everyone present, men and women alike, since both are obligated in Havdalah. Within the sequence of brachos the spices come second, after Borei pri hagafen on the wine and before Borei me’orei ha’eish on the candle, the regular Motzaei Shabbos order of wine, besamim, candle, and Havdalah (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 296:1).

The blessing over fragrance belongs to the laws of blessings on scent discussed in Berachos 43b. There the Gemara says that fragrance is a unique kind of pleasure: it is something from which the soul benefits, though the body does not. For that reason, scent occupies a distinct place in the laws of brachos.

The History and Origins of the Besamim

The custom of smelling besamim at Havdalah is recorded in the Gemara and codified by the Rishonim, and the reason most poskim give reaches into the spiritual reality of Shabbos itself. The Sages taught that on Shabbos a person is granted a neshama yeseira, an additional soul or expanded measure of spiritual capacity, which departs when Shabbos ends (Beitzah 16a, in the name of Reish Lakish; see also Taanis 27b). With its departure the person is left bereft, and the besamim are brought to settle and comfort the soul that mourns the loss after the holy day. This explanation is brought in the Tur and the Beis Yosef, Orach Chaim 297; accordingly, besamim are used at the close of Shabbos but not after an ordinary Yom Tov, since the Yom Tov itself gladdens the soul and there is no departing Shabbos neshama yeseira to console.

How the practice took its present shape owes much to the codifiers. The Shulchan Aruch rules that one recites a blessing on the besamim during Havdalah, and the Rema and later Acharonim addressed which exact bracha to say and which spices are preferred (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 297:1). Across communities the differences are gentle and well attested: many use cloves and myrtle, the Ashkenazi minhag widely favors the inclusive Borei minei besamim, and various Sephardi communities follow the rulings of the Beis Yosef and the Ben Ish Chai regarding the proper text when the species is known.

The Bracha — Hebrew, Transliteration, Translation

The blessing recited over the Havdalah spices, in the widely held Ashkenazi minhag, is the inclusive form Borei minei besamim, which covers all categories of fragrance and is therefore preferred at Havdalah when a person may not be certain of the species in front of him.

When the fragrance is specifically from the wood or bark of a tree, the precise bracha is Borei atzei besamim; when it comes from a grass or herb, Borei isvei besamim; and on fragrant fruit one says Asher nasan rei’ach tov bapeiros (Berachos 43b; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 216:1–2). At Havdalah the broad Borei minei besamim is used precisely because it is all inclusive and correct for any of them.

This Blessing Isn’t Only for Havdallah

The blessing over pleasant fragrance is not limited to the besamim used at Havdallah. Whenever a person smells fragrant herbs or spices for enjoyment, this blessing may be said then as well. In other words, besamim at Havdallah is one familiar use of the bracha, but the bracha itself applies more broadly to naturally pleasant scents that a person is intentionally smelling and enjoying.

What the Besamim Mean: A Deeper Look

The bracha is a single line, yet within it Chazal compressed an entire understanding of the soul. Walk slowly through its words and the custom around them, and four ideas open up, each touching a different chord.

“Borei minei besamim” — “who creates varieties of fragrant spices.” We do not bless the spice merchant or the craftsmanship of the silver besamim box; we bless the Creator who placed fragrance into the world at all. The Gemara in Berachos 43b grounds this in the principle that scent is the pleasure the soul enjoys while the body gains nothing tangible, which is why the bracha names creation itself rather than any benefit to the body. For the reader, this is a reminder that the most refined pleasures point past themselves to Hashem, who is their source.

“Minei” — “varieties.” The word is plural by design. The inclusive form gathers cloves and cinnamon, myrtle and bay, the whole spectrum of fragrance, under one blessing. The Beis Yosef explains why the catch-all is fitting at Havdalah, when a person reaches for whatever spice is at hand and need not pause to classify it (Orach Chaim 297). The broadness of this bracha welcomes the whole of creation’s sweetness at once.

The neshama yeseira — the soul that must be consoled. The deeper meaning of the besamim lies not in the words but in their timing. Reish Lakish taught that the extra Shabbos soul departs at the close of the day, leaving a person diminished (Beitzah 16a). The besamim are the consolation we offer that soul, the one gift the neshama can still receive once the candle is about to be extinguished. Whoever has felt the emptiness after a Shabbos of light knows exactly the moment this fragrance is meant for.

Of all the senses, only smell is described by the Sages as benefiting the neshama directly (Berachos 43b). This is why fragrance, and not a sight or a sound, was chosen to ease the transition out of Shabbos.

The Halacha: When the Besamim Bracha Is Said

The besamim bracha has a clear place in halacha, and a few practical questions arise often enough to address directly.

The blessing on the Havdalah spices is recited by most as part of every Motzaei Shabbos Havdalah, after the bracha on the wine and before the bracha on the flame, by each person who will smell the spices or, more commonly, by the one leading Havdalah on behalf of all present who intend to be included and who then smell the besamim themselves. Women are included in Havdalah and so smell the besamim as well; in practice, however, the poskim frame this with some nuance, as the Mechaber obligates women in Havdalah like in Kiddush while the Rema cites a dissenting view, and the widespread Ashkenazi practice prefers that a woman hear Havdalah from a man when possible (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 296:8). To fulfill the bracha one must actually inhale the fragrance after reciting it, just as one eats after a bracha on food; a blessing said with no smelling that follows would be a bracha l’vatalah.

Several edge cases are worth knowing. The spices should have a genuine, present fragrance; faded cloves that no longer give scent are not fit for the bracha, and one should refresh or replace them. After an ordinary Yom Tov, and on Motzaei Yom Kippur, the widespread minhag is that besamim are not used, because the consolation is tied specifically to the departure of the Shabbos neshama yeseira (Tur, Orach Chaim 297; for Motzaei Yom Kippur see Orach Chaim 624). One who has a cold and cannot smell at all is generally exempt from the spice blessing, since the bracha should not be said on a benefit one cannot receive.

The Spiritual Power of Tefillah and Tzedakah

The Sages bound prayer and giving together as two halves of a single avodah. Rabbi Elazar taught that greater is one who gives tzedakah than all the offerings (Bava Basra 9a), and the verse teaches tzedakah tatzil mimaves, that charity rescues from death (Mishlei 10:2). Tefillah opens the gates above, and tzedakah creates the zechus that sweetens the judgment passing through them, so that the words we speak are met by the kindness we have done. The besamim teach this in miniature: the soul is nourished not by clutching but by what is freely received and freely given. As Shabbos departs and the week of work and earning begins, the spice box reminds us that the truest sweetness in our days will be the good we do for others.

This is the chain that Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities has carried since 1799, upholding the pledge that those who give to the poor of Eretz Yisroel in the merit of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness find heavenly intercession in their time of need. To begin the new week by setting aside something for a needy family in Eretz Yisroel is to let the fragrance of Shabbos travel into Sunday and beyond, and to continue the very journey this bracha begins. Giving is an act of emunah and chesed, never a transaction, and Hashem alone determines what each gift accomplishes.

Give Tzedakah in the Merit of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness

Just as the besamim carry the sweetness of Shabbos into the ordinary week, your gift carries holiness into the home of a needy family in Eretz Yisroel. Let the close of this Shabbos become the beginning of someone else’s relief.

About Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities

Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities, founded in 1799, is one of the oldest and most trusted tzedakah organizations serving the poor of Eretz Yisroel, upholding Rabbi Meir Baal Haness’s legacy that those who give to the needy in his memory find heavenly intercession in their time of need.

Today it distributes funds to Torah scholars, widows, orphans, and needy families throughout Eretz Yisroel, an unbroken chain of compassion and a zechus for the giver and their family.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Havdalah Spices

When the spice box returns to the shelf and the week begins, something of Shabbos travels with us in the lingering scent of the besamim. The soul has been comforted, and we are reminded that what truly sustains a person is the holiness received and the kindness given. Carry that sweetness into the week by remembering the poor of Eretz Yisroel, and may you always merit to recognize Hashem’s goodness in the smallest breath of fragrance.