When one sees a monkey or elephant for the first time one should make the Bracha of Meshaneh HaBriyot. However, if one sees another monkey or elephant, one can not make the Bracha again with Shem UMalchut, however, if it has been 30 days one can make the Bracha without Shem UMalchut.
I have seen many Elephants in my travels. Here are some pictures of Elephants in Sri Lanka
One Response to “Bracha When Seeing an Elephant”
“Taken from http://www.HalachaForToday.com . Used with permission”
1) One who sees an elephant or a monkey for the first time, also recites the Bracha of Baruch Ata Hashem Elokeinu Melech HaOlam Meshaneh HaBriyos. (Shulchan Aruch Siman 225:8)
The reason these 2 animals are singled out for this Bracha, when apparently all animals in the animal kingdom have their own unique and often strange appearance, is as follows:
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 109a) tells us that one of the punishments that Hashem meted out to the Dor haflaga ,The people who tried to build the tower to heaven and wage war on Hashem,was to turn them into monkeys. (Unlike the evolutionists who absurdly believe that mankind evolved from monkeys, Chazal tell us that in fact the opposite is true and monkeys actually evolved from man!)
Thus, according to this Gemara, monkeys were not created during the 6 days of creation, and were only “changed” from humans as a punishment. Thus the Bracha of “Meshane HaBriyos- Changes the creatures” is perfectly understandable! (See Maleches Shlomo to Mishna in K’layim Perek 8:6 Dibur Hamaschil Hapil V’HaKof where he alludes to the above and also adds that elephants understand the language of man, and thus are “different” and require this Bracha. See his commentary at length for more on this. See also Meiri to Brachos 58 Dibur Hamaschil HaRoeh.)
2) Today’s days, with the advent of pictures and the abundance of zoos, there is hardly anyone that hasn’t seen a monkey or an elephant from when they were a small child, so on a practical level this Bracha does not ever get said. (Based on Mishna Berura 225:29)