The Yearly/Daily Blessing

          There is a special blessing, said only once per year, which is to be recited specifically in the month of Nissan.

          We read in Shulḥan Aruch, Oraḥ Ḥayyim ]226[:

One  who  goes  out  during  the days of Nissan  and  sees  (fruit) tees in blossom, says: “Blessed are you, Lord  our  God, Ruler of  the universe, Who has  left nothing out of His world  and  made good  creatures and good trees to benefit Man.”

          The wording chosen by our Sages clearly indicates the perspective that God’s creation is for the benefit of Man, the epitome of His creation.

          Meshech Ḥochmah comments that when God said to Adam “Of every tree of the garden you may eat freely,” [Genesis 2:16] it was not only giving him permission, but presenting an imperative. (In accordance with this comment, the more exact translation of the verse would be: “Of every tree of the garden you shall eat.”) In essence, God’s first command to Man was to benefit from His creation. Indeed, the Sages comment that man is destined to give an accounting for having refrained from benefiting from the good things in God’s creation. [Jerusalem Talmud, end of Tractate Kiddushin]

          Rabbi Kook presented the deeper aspect: through reciting a blessing before benefiting from the good things in God’s creation, man in some sense, completes the creation.

          Thus, there is a reciprocal relationship between man and God’s creation. On the one hand, God created things for man’s benefit, while on the other, it is up to man to use things properly. In so doing, Man has the power to sanctify God’s work and to complete it.        

          Though recited only once per year, the Blessing of the Trees applies to every day of the year, “from the beginning of the year until the end of the year.” [Deuteronomy 11:12]