Havdalah Besamim

Hi! For Havdalah we have been using cloves but we really don’t love the way it smells. Are we allowed to use Vanilla (the cooking vanilla liquid)? What is allowed to be used as the bezamim? Could an essential oil be used? Thank you!

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

The smelling of spices at Havdalla is an enactment of the sages in in order to comfort ourselves upon the departure of the “neshama yeteira,” the additional soul that every Jew receives on Shabbat (and then leaves once Shabbat had ended). . An additional reason we smell spices at Havdalla is in order to mask the stench of the fires of hell, which are relit once Shabbat ends.

Preferably, for Ashkenazim at least, one should use spices who blessing is always “Borei Minei Besamim.” The most common and easily accessible of such spices are cloves and cinnamon, widely available in every corner store. Indeed, cloves and spices likely became the most popular Havdalla spices as they last a long time and where readily available in Ashkenazi Europe.

In the event that a spice whose true blessing is Borei Minei Besamim is not available, one can use spices of a different blessing. For example, some smell Hadassim, myrtle branches, at Havdalla, either the Hadassim from the Lulav bundle (if they still have smell) or newer Hadassim. Some use pine leaves or mint leaves.

Le'halacha cooking vanilla liquid cannot be used for be'samim for Havdalah.

It must be noted that the Ashkenazi custom is to always recite the blessing Borei Minei Besamim at Havdalla no matter what kind of spices one is using. Sefardim, however, are to recite the specific blessing for the type of spices they are using at Havdalla.

One may not recite a blessing on synthetic, man-made smells, such as most perfumes, or smells used to mask a bad odor (i.e. air fresheners, deodorants, or bathroom spices).

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