10 Best Honey Dishes for Rosh HaShanah

Rosh HaShanah is one of our favorite events in the Jewish Calendar. It perhaps doesn’t have the ritual importance or historical significance of Pesach, and isn’t a week-long festival like Hanukkah, but it’s still a special holiday. 

Rosh HaShanah celebrates the Jewish New Year and is closely connected to nature and the seasonal harvests. It’s the first Jewish Holy High Day, and there are religious traditions like blowing the shofar, but most people choose to celebrate Rosh HaShanah with a family dinner – and tasty holiday foods.

When is Rosh HaShanah 2022?

Rosh HaShanah begins on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. The actual date of the holiday (as calculated according to the modern calendar) varies every year. Rosh HaShanah 2022 begins at sunset on Sunday 25th September and ends at nightfall on Tuesday 27th September. 

If you’re celebrating Rosh HaShanah 2022 in Israel, you’ve hit the jackpot this year. The timing means that many people will be able to take Thursday and Sunday off work and enjoy a proper holiday break. If you’re planning to fly to Israel for Rosh HaShanah, you need to book now. There’s likely to be a big demand for flights. 

Is there a Rosh HaShanah Seder?

There is a traditional Rosh HaShanah Seder, but it is quite a minor ritual compared to Passover. Observant families recite psalms and eat a selection of traditional foods or Sinamin during their Rosh HaShanah dinner. The Seder traditions are believed to go back at least 2,000 years, but most US Jews don’t really follow them. 

A typical Rosh HaShanah dinner is a family gathering, with perhaps a few close friends or special guests. The emphasis is on enjoying good seasonal food and possibly some Israeli wine. There are no hard and fast rules about what dishes to serve at a Rosh HaShanah Seder. Jews lived all over the world for the last two thousand years and adapted their costumes to local conditions. 

Popular Rosh HaShanah foods include seasonal veggies like beets, pumpkin, leeks, and beans, and fruits like dates, pomegranates and apples. Ashkenazi families often serve gefilte fisch and lamb is also a popular choice. If there’s one iconic Rosh HaShanah food, it’s honey. 

Israeli Honey for Rosh HaShanah

In the ancient Middle East, honey was one of the few sweet foods readily available to ordinary people. Any agricultural community could practice bee keeping and there were also wild bee colonies. Honey was prized for its sweet taste, versatility as a cooking ingredient, and a range of other uses. Beeswax was also an important item in the ancient world. 

Israeli honey is one of the stars of the Rosh HaShanah table. People love to dip slices of apple in soft honey and it is also a favorite sweetener for a glass of tea after the Seder. Honey is used to bake Rosh HaShanah cakes and is an optional ingredient in a baked tzimmes dish. Apart from being a tasty addition to the holiday dinner, Israeli honey has an important symbolic place on the Rosh HaShanah dinner table. 

In modern Israel, honey is a symbol of the bounty of nature, the miracle of Israeli agricultural development, and is also a small sign of luxury, prosperity, and well being. One of the best selling Judaica items is handmade honey dishes for Rosh HaShanah. In fact, a handmade honey dish can be used all year round. You don’t need Israeli honey either – you can fill it with any honey from a US supermarket or deli.

10 Best Handmade Honey Dishes for Rosh HaShanah

A handmade Rosh HaShanah honey dish from Jerusalem is a superb small gift to celebrate the Jewish New Year. If you have your own collection of holiday Judaica (Passover plates, Hanukkah menorahs, etrog boxes etc.) a Rosh HaShanah honey pot is a great addition. 

Judaica honey pots come in all kinds of styles and materials. The typical image of a handmade honey dish is of a traditional silver vessel with elaborate Yemenite filigree and perhaps some enamel inlay for extra decoration. These traditional designs are still extremely popular, but are only a part of the 2022 boutique collections that are available online at ICOJ. 

Modern designer honey dishes are handcrafted from brightly colored anodized aluminum and can include teflon coats or glass inserts for easy cleaning. Other modern designs feature enamel, glass, or come as part of a handmade Rosh HaShanah Seder plate. Styles include minimalism, art deco, and items influenced by Scandinavian and Eastern designs. 

The Top Ten Judaica Honey Dishes

1. Silver honey dish with semi-precious stones

Style: Traditional Judaica

Artist: Avi Nadav

Jerusalem’s master silversmith Avi Nadav created this amazing 925 sterling silver honey dish set for Rosh HaShanah. It’s a true work of art that features an apple-shaped honey pot, set on a beautifully crafted stand of wrought silver leaves and branches. The decorations include a tiger stone honey bee with carnelian eyes, and additional semi precious stones. The set also comes with a handmade silver honey spoon. This is a classic example of luxury Judaica and is a collector’s piece in its own right. 

2. Silver honey dish with ornate tiger stone honey bee

Style: Designer Judaica

Artist: Avi Nadav

The mark of an expert jeweler is the ability to create a simple and elegant item with a perfect balance between decoration and functionality. Avi Nadav has shown his self-confidence, technical skill, and creative talent as a jeweler with this superb 925 sterling silver honey pot. The outer dish is a striking silver apple, decorated with a perfect leaf and a honey bee crafted from vivid tiger eye stone. The apple opens to fit a blown glass bowl for the honey.  The honey dish is designed to be convenient, hygienic, and robust, and comes with a handcrafted honey spoon. 

3. Silver and glass honey and sugar dish 

Style: Traditional Judaica

Artist: Nissim Badosa

Veteran Israeli silversmith Nissim Badosa is one of the country’s most respected Judaica designers. He used all his talents to produce a versatile Rosh HaShanah honey dish that can also be used as a sugar bowl for your dinner table or tea set. The elegant set comprises a handmade 925 sterling silver base and lid, a stylish glass bowl, and a silver serving spoon. Nissim decorated the base and lid with rings of silver beading. The overall effect is elegance, simplicity and practicality. 

4. Paint palette shaped Seder plate and honey pot

Style: Modern Designer Judaica

Artist: Avi Nadav

This ultra-modern, eight-piece Rosh HaShanah Seder plate features a beautiful honey pot at the center. Jerusalem designer Avi Nadav shows true creative versatility with this beautiful Seder set. Instead of the traditional Yemenite silver filigree work that he’s renowned for, Avi used colored anodized aluminum to craft the set. The aluminum is teflon coated for practicality and hygiene. The plate is shaped like an artist’s palette and features the honey pot and spoon, as well as six small dishes for traditional Rosh HaShanah foods. 

5. Modern Silver Honey Dish

Style: Modern Silver Judaica

Artist:  Sharon Apelboim

Israeli artist Sharon Apelboim designed this stunning Rosh HaShanah honey pot. It’s a superb item of modern silver Judaica, but the simple and functional style draws on older Middle Eastern traditions. This is a large honey pot that can also be used as a sugar bowl or candy jar and will look great on any dinner table. Although the honey dish is handcrafted from gleaming 925 sterling silver, the style is reminiscent of thrown clayware. If you like original and unusual designs, you’ll love this special two piece honey dish by Sharon Apelboim. 

6. Sterling silver orange & red honeycomb dish

Style: Modern Silver Judaica

Artist: Avi Nadav

Avi Nadav used precise geometric silverwork to create a stunning honeycomb effect across the lid of this amazing Rosh HaShanah honey dish. He then set a skilfully blended orange and yellow enamel inlay as a background, replicating the effect of natural honey. At first glance, the colored enamel looks like real edible honey! The two piece honey pot is handmade from gleaming 925 sterling silver and comes with a silver tray stand and a silver serving spoon. This is simply one of the most beautiful items of modern silver and enamel Judaica that you’ll ever see. 

7. Sterling silver and enamel apple honey dish

Style: Modern Silver Judaica

Artist: Avi Nadav

Modern silver Judaica has almost unlimited design potential. An experienced master silversmith like Avi Nadav can use the available materials to create absolutely amazing items. He handcrafted a simple  apple shaped honey dish, then added the perfect touch in the form of a realistic stalk and vivid green leaf. The stalk and leaf function as the handle for the honey dish lid. The two piece honey dish comes with its own silver saucer and a handcrafted serving spoon. The gleaming silver set, with its lifelike green leaf, will look amazing on any Rosh HaShanah dinner table. 

8. Sterling silver honey dish with carnelian gemstones

Style: Traditional Judaica

Artist: Avi Nadav

Avi Nadav combined fine 925 sterling silver with red carnelian gemstones to create this beautiful, traditional honey dish for Rosh HaShanah. He deliberately chose an old fashioned style and the result is a special antique effect. The apple shaped honey pot is decorated with a stem and leaf, and a silver and gemstone honey bee. The pot (and serving spoon) sits on an ornately crafted silver tripod. The base continues the natural theme with wrought silver leaves and branches. The craftsmanship is outstanding and the finish is superb. It’s not a surprise that traditional Judaica continues to be a modern bestseller. 

9. Designer hammered aluminum honey pot

Style: Modern Designer Judaica

Artist: Avi Nadav

Modern designer Judaica is designed for beauty and functionality. Avi Nadav flawlessly achieves both with this hammered aluminum honey pot. If you think aluminum is an industrial material, think again! This honey pot is a luxury item of designer Judaica tableware. The gleaming, two piece aluminum pot will catch and reflect the light, and looks especially amazing in candlelight. The pot is decorated with the Hebrew words “שנה טובה” Shana Tova, meaning Happy New Year. For convenience and good hygiene, the honey is poured into a stylish glass bowl that sits inside the hammered aluminum pot. 

10. Art deco style aluminum honey pot

Style: Modern Designer Judaica

Artist: Avi Nadav

If you love art deco, or minimalist designer tableware, you’ll be amazed by the boldness and originality of modern designer Judaica. Avi Nadav uses brightly colored anodized aluminum to handcraft these superb Rosh HaShanah honey pots. Rosh HaShanah is a 2,000 year old holiday, but these honey dishes are at the forefront of modern tableware design. The robust anodized aluminum contains a stylish glass inner bowl for the honey and comes with a minimalist aluminum serving spoon. If you’re looking for the latest home decor for your holiday table, anodized aluminum is the way ahead!

Rosh HaShanah is a really enjoyable holiday, but it’s just two days a year. The advantage of Rosh HaShanah honey dishes is that you can use them all year round. They are a must for your Shabat dinner table, and if you like a spoonful of honey on your oatmeal or breakfast cereal, you honey pot will be in constant use.

Buy Rosh HaShanah honey dishes online at ICOJ

All the Rosh HaShanah honey dishes for sale in the ICOJ online Judaica store are designed for robustness. Honey is a wonderful food, but it’s not the easiest treat to clean up. All our honey pots are either discreetly coated with Teflon, or contain a practical and stylish glass inner. You can use them every day, and keep them clean and sparkling with a minimum of hassle. 

If you’re not serving honey, the honey pots make excellent sugar bowls, candy jars, and can be used for homemade jam, condiments and pretty much anything else. Rosh HaShanah honey dishes are beautiful and practical dishes that will last a lifetime – and will attract a lot of attention and admiration!

Be impressed by our entire Collection of honey dishes, which include a wide range of materials and designs, from modern and spectacular honey dishes to traditional and unique honey dishes.

Click here to see for yourself Our one of a kind Collection of Honey Dishes