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At hashkafah.com, the user named "critic" asks:

If someone has body odor (BO) and they can't smell themselves, would they be able to make a bracha?

Also, may they say words of Torah?

[Edit: I figure that if I smelled strongly of BO while spending time with an earthly king, then that king would probably be offended. So I figure the King of Kings might also be offended. Would He?]

Please cite sources.

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Is BO a bad odor WRT Torah? It's my impression that it's decay, not sweat, that is the issue. Also, for what it's worth everyone smelled strongly in earlier times. – yitznewton Apr 15 '12 at 20:43
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Why would this be a problem? – Yaakov Kuperman Apr 15 '12 at 20:59
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Well if they do not smell themselves then they do not know they have body odor, then they will not be asking this question? – Gershon Gold Apr 16 '12 at 13:47
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Can you please clarify why you think this might (or might not) be an issue? You may not say words of Torah around exposed or olfactorily detectable feces. Otherwise I believe, as others have stated, the only issue would be concentration during prayer. – Seth J Apr 16 '12 at 15:57
@SethJ and YaakovKuperman: Thank you for your comments. In response, I've edited the question. – unforgettableid Apr 30 '12 at 18:58
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2 Answers

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The Sefer "Semeichim Leshomro" asks if one can let a person with BO pray.

He says that one can since the odor probably doesn't come from excrement but from a lack of washing. He says that since he is probably used to his own smell, there wouldn't be a problem based on the Mishna Brura (86:1) .

However, this Mishna Brura seems to imply the opposite, as it says "[to pray,] one must separate himself from a smelly pit as far as excrement. [However], this is true only if it smells so badly that people are bothered by the smell".

This (somewhat) implies that the Mishna Brura's criteria for smell is "what people are bothered by" rather than what the person praying is bothered by"

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Maybe dinonline.org/2010/06/15/davening-in-freshly-painted-place sheds light on the problem that you raise. – unforgettableid May 1 '12 at 2:29
I don't have a good sense of smell. Does BO count as just "unpleasant"? Or does it count as "very foul"? – unforgettableid May 1 '12 at 2:30
Thank you for your answer. I've offered a bigger bounty, which you might get if you improve your answer enough. (Or you might not get it. Maybe someone else will write a better answer than yours.) – unforgettableid Jul 10 '12 at 21:51
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The issue is whether the smell bothers you, and will ruin your concentration.

Eruvin 65a says that R. Samuel did not pray in a house that contained beer, because the smell bothered him. And R. Papa did not pray in a house that contained fish.

So, if your BO isn't gross to you, it shouldn't be a problem.

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