The Blessing On Blossoming Fruit Trees

When the month of Nissan enters, many of us launch into Pesach mode, planning Seder menus and cleaning our homes, ridding them of all leavened products. Amidst all of the frantic preparations, we take time out to reflect upon the timeless message of Pesach and the meaning of the Exodus from Egypt for each of us on a national as well as an individual and spiritual level. In addition to Pesach, Nissan offers us a unique, once-a-year-opportunity, the opportunity to say Birkat HaIlanot, or the blessing over blossoming fruit trees. Rosh Chodesh Nissan, or the first of the month of Nissan, is the first day on which we are permitted to say this blessing. By saying this blessing upon a fruit tree which has blossomed, we are showing our gratitude to G-d for all of the wonderful trees which give us so much pleasure and enjoyment at this time of year, as well as showing gratitude for the fact that spring has finally arrived after a long, cold winter. Just as the flowers and trees begin to bloom all around us once again, spring brings with it a sense of renewal for us as well. In this sense, it is surely no accident that we say this blessing at this time, as its message of gratitude to G-d for all that He does for us and for all of nature’s wonderful bounty that we derive pleasure from intersects well with Pesach, the holiday during which we celebrate our birth as a nation.

This blessing may only be said once a year, making it an incredibly rich and meaningful experience. We say this blessing upon seeing a tree in full blossom for the first time and do not say it on subsequent times when we see blossoming fruit trees. The blessing is as follows:
Blessed are You, G-d, King of the universe, who has made nothing lacking in His world and created in it goodly creatures and goodly trees to give mankind pleasure.

Ideally, this blessing should be said over two trees, but saying it over a single tree is sufficient. If for some reason you don’t see a blossoming fruit tree in Nissan, you may say the blessing in Iyar, the month immediately following. If you live in the southern hemisphere where trees blossom in Tishrei, the month during which we observe the High Holidays and the festivals of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, this blessing may be said in Tishrei, when it is seasonally appropriate to do so. This blessing may be said at any time during Nissan, including on Shabbat and Pesach.

This blessing contains within it not only a demonstration of our gratitude to G-d for all of the goodness in creation but it is also an opportunity for us to reflect, amidst all of the chaos of preparing for Pesach on the ways that each of us can renew ourselves spiritually, psychologically, emotionally or otherwise during this time of rebirth.