Why Is Honey Consumed On The Rosh Hashanah Holiday
Rosh Hashanah represents the start of the Jewish calendar New Year. On Rosh Hashanah eve, a festive meal often includes a variety of symbolic foods. A blessing is recited, and once done, honey-sweetened apples are consumed and blessings are given to every person at the table Le’shanah Tova Ve-metuka (or for a good, sweet year).
Rather than dipping the Challah, which represents the sweetened bread mannah given to the Israelites by God, in salt like it’s done for Shabbat service, the Challah is dipped in honey. Sugary foods like raisins and apples are consumed during the Rosh Hashanah day. The honey is the main staple for the menu since it’s a reflection of what the year is to bring. According to tradition, honey is thought to be a sign for wealth. Thus, honey is seen as a metaphor for the continuous desire for having a prosperous year, and the blessing is to ensure that the year is as sweet as honey.
What’s On The Rosh Hashanah Table: Honey Dish
A special tray of sweet honey is placed onto the festive table, which is called a honey dish. It’s generally a plate attached to a removable bowl that permit users to wash effortlessly so it can be reused. There are often two spots designated for the honey dish; each placement has symbolic significance that relates to the holiday. The foods placed tend to be pomegranate seeds or apples that have been dipped in honey. It’s a custom to consume ripened pomegranate seeds during the Rosh Hashanah festive dinners. Apples and honey are often in one bowl and the pomegranate seeds in another.
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The honey dish tends to includes conventional Rosh Hashanah decorations like the pomegranate. There are quite a few honey dishes that are decorated with drawings or shaped like pomegranates. It may also include some Hebrew inscriptions like:
Shana Tova Vemetuka – happy, sweet year
Shana Tova! – Happy New Year
The honey dish is both practical and ornamental and a very popular gift to give among the Jewish people around the globe. After all, it adds to the festivity and gives the table some color on the day that commemorates the start of a new year.
Israeli Judaica artists create one of a kind honey dishes in a variety of shapes and styles. These artists can combine the traditional and modern influences in a skillful manner, which means you can find them in conventional designs or metallic colors.
