By COLlive reporter
With the month of Nissan coming to an end, daily Tachanun will soon be said again and a blessing that is restricted to this month will no longer be said.
But for the Jewish residents of Montreal that was scarcely an option until today.
Birchas Hailanos, the blessing on the trees, is traditionally said during Nissan on trees the begin to blossom and the cold Canadian city does not get that often.
Yet this year, R’ Shmuel Zalmanov discovered a fruit-bearing tree that began to blossom in the backyard of his home on Carlton Avenue in the Snowden neighborhood, a hub of the local Lubavitch community.
Zalmanov, a community activist, hung up signs around town and invited men, women and children to recite the rare blessing.
Preschools, elementary-school students, Yeshiva bochurim and seminary girls all came by for the opportunity, right up until Shkiah time on Sunday, the 30th of Nissan.
It’s “tovos”, not “tovim”, and “leihonos” not “lehanos”.
The Alter Rebbe says “biymei nisson”; he says nothing about being allowed to say it in other months, and if he held that it was allowed he would surely have said so. Therefore in places like Australia and Argentina we never say the brocho at all.
Why such a critic?
According to the Collel Chabad calender you can say it Adar Thru Iyar.
According to the Alter Rebbe and the Rambam it should read “Ilonois Toivois” not toivim.
It was a pleasure to be your backyard, although we made a bracha on trees in the Shmucklers front yard. Regards to everyone and be sure to attend the shiur Monday evening
which halachic authority decided you can only say it till shkiya of rosh chodesh? and who said you can say it when there are no flowers to be seen anywhere (as is the case in front of 770 where ppl were making brochos today as if its a holy obligation)