Birkas HaIlanos

[א] (halacha 240)

Question: Is there a limit to the time during which one may recite Birkas HaIlanos?

Answer: The Gemara in Tractate Brochos¹ states: 'Rav Yehuda said: One who goes out during the days of Nissan and sees trees that are budding says, "Blessed is He who left nothing lacking in His world and created in it good creatures and good trees for people to derive pleasure from."'

And the Ritva² wrote: 'This [one] who goes out during the days of Nissan — meaning, this bracha [is recited] with [Hashem's] Name and [His] sovereignty, except that the Talmud was brief; and "the days of Nissan" is not precise, but rather every place according to when [its trees] bud.'

That is, according to the Ritva's understanding, the Gemara does not intend to say that the time for the bracha is specifically in the month of Nissan, but rather [it refers] to the time when the trees are budding.

And so ruled the Eliyah Rabba³: 'And the same applies to one who sees blossoming trees in the month of Adar; [see the] Sefer Tzeidah LaDerech [Article 1, Klal 3, Chapter 28].'

However, the Chida⁴ wrote: 'And I have heard that this bracha, according to the way of truth, applies specifically to the days of Nissan. And accordingly it seems to me that one may also recite the bracha over almond blossoms in the days of Nissan, and so we have observed the elder sages reciting the bracha over almond blossoms in the days of Nissan. And so is the essential [position].' And so he wrote in his work Moreh BaEtzba, sections 198–199: "One should endeavor to recite Birkas HaIlanos in the days of Nissan, and the meticulous are particular that it be specifically in Nissan .. one should greatly intensify his intention in this bracha, which is for the rectification of the souls that are reincarnated in the trees of the field and the grasses at this time, and one should request mercy upon them."

And the Pesach HaDvir⁵ wrote that the reasoning of the Chida is explained in the Zohar, Parashas Balak (folio 196b), and there it is proven that this matter is specifically in the days of Nissan, and that so it is proven from the words of the Shach on the Torah in Parashas Bo⁶.

And regarding the approach of the Alter Rebbe, in the Luach Birkas HaNehenin⁷ he wrote: 'One who goes out during the days of Nissan and sees trees that put forth blossom must recite, "Blessed are You, Hashem our God, King of the universe, who left nothing lacking in His world and created in it good creatures and good trees for people to derive pleasure from," and he recites the bracha only the first time he sees each year; and if he again sees, after thirty days, trees that put forth blossom, he recites the bracha without Name and sovereignty (as was explained above regarding all good creatures and trees).'

And from his words, where he wrote that if one sees [them] after 30 days he recites the bracha without Name and sovereignty, it is understood that he held that "the days of Nissan" is not precise, but rather one may recite the bracha afterward as well; and therefore it could be that 30 days have passed since the first time he recited the bracha⁸.

But in the Seder Birkas HaNehenin⁹, which was written after the Luach and is the final position, he wrote: 'One who goes out during the days of Nissan and sees trees that put forth blossom must recite, "Blessed are You, Hashem our God, King of the universe, who left nothing lacking in His world and created in it good creatures and good trees for people to derive pleasure from," and he recites the bracha only the first time he sees each year.'

If so, in the Seder Birkas HaNehenin the Alter Rebbe omitted the law of one who sees [them] after thirty days.

And from this precise inference the Rebbe derives that the Alter Rebbe's conclusion is that one may recite the bracha only in the month of Nissan, and these are his holy words¹⁰: 'And behold, according to several Acharonim (OC 226), Nissan is not precise, but some say that it is specific (Sdei Chemed, Asifas Dinim, Maareches Brochos §262, and references there). And behold, the Alter Rebbe in the Luach Birkas HaNehenin (the first) wrote that after 30 [days] one recites the bracha without Name and sovereignty (proving that Nissan is not precise), but in the Seder Birkas HaNehenin (which is in his Siddur, Chapter 13, Section 14) he omitted this. And although one could say, with difficulty, that his reason is that he holds one should not recite the bracha at all except one time (and it would still be difficult [to explain] why he did not explain the words of the Shulchan Aruch "in the days of Nissan" to mean not precise — as he added explanation in several laws in the [Seder] Birkas HaNehenin), one could say — that he omitted [it] because in his final position he holds that "in the days of Nissan" is as it plainly reads — specifically [so], and if so, "after 30 [days]" is impossible. And this is not the place to elaborate.'¹¹.

If so, in practice, according to our minhag, the time for Birkas HaIlanos is specifically in the month of Nissan.

¹ או"ח סי' רכו ↩

² סי' רכו סקי"א ↩

³ בשו"ת שלו באר מים חיים ביאר שכוונתו למסגרת השלחן על הקיצור שו"ע סי' ס בשם רעק"א ↩

⁴ שו"ת רב פעלים ח"ג או"ח סי' ט ↩

⁵ או"ח סי' ט תשובה מחתן המחבר ר' יהודה אלטמאן ↩

⁶ ח"ג סי' ה ↩

⁷ ראה הליכות שלמה תפלה פכ"ג דין ל הערה 120. ולהעיר ממ"ש בבצלו חמדתי ע' מט ↩

⁸ ראה שו"ת חלקת יעקב ח"א סי' נו. קרית חנה דוד ח"א או"ח סי' לד. שו"ת ישכיל עבדי ח"ז או"ח סי' יב. משנת יוסף ח"א סי' ס. חזון עובדיה פסח הל' ברכת האילנות דין ד ↩

⁹ ח"ג סי' ב ↩

¹⁰ וראה בבדי השלחן סי' ס"ב ס"ק י"ח שכן דעת אדמו"ר הזקן ↩

¹¹ שהרי הוא ברכת השבח והרואה צריך לברך, וכנ"ל שפוסקים רבים מתירים לכתחילה לברך על ערלה, ובפרט שי"א שניתן לברך גם על אילנות סרק, ולדבריהם לכאורה ניתן לברך על ערלה. וראה בלקו"ש חכ"ג עמ' 116 שמהשיטה מקובצת (והוא מחידושי הרא"ה והריטב"א) בברכות משמע קצת שהוא גם באילני סרק, ושכ"כ במור וקציעה סי' רכה ד"ה כתוב במג"א. וראה בהערות של הרב גרין ע"ה על סדר ברכת הנהנין שכך למד בדעת אדה"ז. (וראה גם באשל אברהם (בוטאטש) סי' רכו שהסתפק בדין זה), ושבט הלוי ח"ו סי' נג אות ד, שכתב מי שבירך על אילנות סרק לא יחזור ויברך ↩

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