Halakhah for Berakhot 86:3

And know from what our sages z”l said: “It is forbidden to enjoy something from this world without a blessing, they were speaking about all pleasures in general, whether from something one tastes, from something one smells, or from something one sees and hears – for all four of these senses they fixed a blessing. The sense of taste: from what is written, “set aside [kidesh – lit., “make holy”] for jubilation [hilulim] before the Lord,”³⁵⁸Lev 19:24. it comes to teach you that every edible thing is forbidden to you as if it were hekdesh – “holy” food set aside to the priests and Temple – until one sings praises [yi-hallel], that is, says a blessing to the Holy One Blessed be He before and after over the same food, and this is why hilulim is plural, not the singular form hilul. For the sense of smell one has to say a blessing as well, and there is support for this in the verse, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of the fields that the Lord has blessed.”³⁵⁹Gen 27:27. From here we get that the sense of smell is blessed. And it is also written, “’Let every soul praise [tehallel] the Lord!’³⁶⁰Ps 150:6. Which thing is it that gives joy to the soul but not to the body? You must say that this is smell!”³⁶¹B. Berakhot 43b. For the sense of sight there are many blessings such as one sees the sun at the summer solstice should say this blessing: “Blessed is He who makes Creation,”³⁶²Current practice is to recite this Birkat Ha-Hamah – “the Blessing of the Sun” – every 28 years at tekufat Nisan –the beginning of spring, rather than tekufat Tammuz – the beginning of summer, to which R. Bahya refers here. See b. Berachot 59b: “He who sees the sun at its turning point should say, ‘Blessed is He who makes the works of Creation.’ And when is this? Abaya said: every 28th year.” and similarly the blessing for moon in each month.³⁶³B. Sanhedrin 42a. And they said in the chapter Ha-Ro-eh – “He who sees”: ³⁶⁴B. Berakhot 59b. R. Bahya’s quotation differs slightly from its source in the Talmud. “He who sees the sun at its turning point,the moon in its purity, the planets in their courses, and the signs of the zodiac in their season, should say: ‘Blessed is He who makes the work of creation.’” And this is what you will find in the story of the making of Creation: “They shall serve as signs for the set times – the days and the years,” because the lights, besides giving light, also are signs by which the future is hinted at, what our rabbis z”l meant by saying:³⁶⁵B. Sukkah 29a. “When the lights are in eclipse, it is a bad sign for “the nations of the world.”³⁶⁶“The lights” – the moon and the stars; “the nations of the world” – a euphemism for Israel! And they are also a sign for Israel when to recite the Shma in the morning, because the mitzvah is to recite it at sunrise,³⁶⁷B. Berakhot 9b. and when to recite the Shma in the evening, because the mitzvah is to recite it “when the stars come out.”³⁶⁸B. Berakhot 2a. And this is the meaning of what is written in: “Lift high your eyes and see Who created these,”³⁶⁹Is 40:26. because through looking at this, a person is roused to see that the are creations, and to praise his Creator for them by either a blessing or some other expression of praise. And in the chapter Ha-Ro-eh, it also says, “Whoever goes out in the days of Nisan and sees the trees sprouting, he should say, ‘Blessed is He who has not left His world lacking in anything and has created in it goodly creatures and goodly trees for the enjoyment of humanity.”³⁷⁰B. Berakhot 43b. And likewise whoever sees their friend after not seeing them for twelve months, one says, “Blessed is He Who revives the dead,”³⁷¹Ibid., 58b. and after thirty days he says a Shehekheyanu blessing, ³⁷²Ibid. and likewise whoever sees a rainbow says, “Blessed is He Who remembers the covenant,³⁷³Ibid., 59a. and so with all the rest of the things for which they fixed a blessing for seeing them. And so that’s what the chapter Ha-Ro-eh talks about.³⁷⁴Ibid., 54a. For the sense of hearing they also fixed blessings. For good news, one recites the blessing Ha-Tov ve-Ha-Metiv; for bad news, “Barukh dayan ha-emet”- “Blessed is the true Judge.”³⁷⁵Ibid. However, they did not fix a blessing for when someone hears a sound [kol] of a lyre or pipe so sweet that it make their soul happy and it enjoys it, as it is written, “for your voice [kol] is sweet.”³⁷⁶S.S. 2:14. The reason why is because sound isn’t actually a thing. Now if you would say the same is true of smell, there is actually something in fruits that give off their smell. And if you would say that there is something in the instrument or singer that produces the sound, the smell that comes from fruits is not like the sound that comes from a person’s body or a musical instrument. For the smell of a fruit or a spice is from their body and essence, but the sound of a human being or musical instrument is not from their body and essence, but rather the result of air blowing through it. Nor did they fix a blessing for the sense of touch, because it is included in the sense of taste. And this is the reason why the Torah mentions these four senses explicitly. When it is written, “that cannot see or hear or eat or smell,”³⁷⁷Dt 4:28: “There you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, that cannot see or hear or eat or smell,” is the whole verse. The original context, where this refers to the idolatry that the Israelites will eventually fall into, is certainly thought-provoking in light of R. Bahya’s discussion here of the significance of the senses. it does not mention the sense of touch, because it is included in “that cannot eat,” which is the sense of taste. And you must understand that it is among the wonders of the formation of the human body that these five senses in it are implanted in the five organs that are the tools and gateways of the intellectual soul, which derives its nobility from the Holy Spirit in it, and human being’s high rank and greatness is their result, because they are the basis for his activity in doing mitzvot, and likewise for committing sins, for by means of them he will be rewarded, and by means of them he will be punished, according to how he chooses to use them. Therefore Scripture faults avodah zarah for its lack of these senses in order to instruct us about their importance. Because idols are lacking in their ability to sense and are generally incomplete, they have no power to save. And if so, how could those who worship these other gods in times of distress call out, “Rise up and save us!?”³⁷⁸R. Bahya is referring back to Dt. 4:28 in its original context. See note above.