This is a R"H twist on my Chanuka vort from the winter:
In Halacha there are seven liquids that are defined as "official liquids" by Halachic standards (with all sorts of ramifications), and can be remembered by the Hebrew acronym Ya"d shacha"t da"m (י"ד שח"ט ד"ם), which stands for: יין, דם, שמן, חלב, טל, דבש, מים - wine, blood, oil, milk, dew, honey and water.
Now, there's an idea that each of these liquids correlates to one of the seven Jewish holidays: Wine - Purim, Blood - Pesach (בדמיך חיי, the plague of blood), Oil - Chanukah, Milk - Shavuot, Dew - Yom Kippur (dew isn't a liquid in a regular sense and Yom Kippur isn't a holiday in a regular sense), Honey - Rosh Hashanah, Water - Sukkot (בחג נידונים על המים, we start asking for rain on Shmini Atzeret, etc).
It's obvious why honey correlates to Rosh Hashanah - wishing for a sweet new year by eating plenty of honey during the chag.
What's interesting is that honey, specifically, bee's honey, is a chemical that is brought about by a non-kosher animal, which brings up the ages-old Halachic question on whether or not bee's honey is kosher.
This idea also correlates surprisingly well with the message of Yamim Noraim, The Days of Awe: Here we are finishing the year of 5780, for better or for worse. Some of may be feeling too much "worse". We may be feeling too impure to stand before Hashem during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. And yet, as we say before the beginning of the Yom Kippur prayers: "With the agreement of God and of the community, in the heavenly council, and in the council of man, we permit praying with transgressors." - as bad as we may feel, as far away as we may feel, Hashem is letting us once again come and stand before Him. We have another chance to purify ourselves and come back to Hashem. Like the honey which comes from an unkosher source but it itself is kosher, despite our coming out of an unkosher year, we ourselves still have our bright kernel of purity inside of us and are entering a brand new, kosher year filled with new hope.
May we all have a sweet, healthy and good new year!
In Halacha there are seven liquids that are defined as "official liquids" by Halachic standards (with all sorts of ramifications), and can be remembered by the Hebrew acronym Ya"d shacha"t da"m (י"ד שח"ט ד"ם), which stands for: יין, דם, שמן, חלב, טל, דבש, מים - wine, blood, oil, milk, dew, honey and water.
Now, there's an idea that each of these liquids correlates to one of the seven Jewish holidays: Wine - Purim, Blood - Pesach (בדמיך חיי, the plague of blood), Oil - Chanukah, Milk - Shavuot, Dew - Yom Kippur (dew isn't a liquid in a regular sense and Yom Kippur isn't a holiday in a regular sense), Honey - Rosh Hashanah, Water - Sukkot (בחג נידונים על המים, we start asking for rain on Shmini Atzeret, etc).
It's obvious why honey correlates to Rosh Hashanah - wishing for a sweet new year by eating plenty of honey during the chag.
What's interesting is that honey, specifically, bee's honey, is a chemical that is brought about by a non-kosher animal, which brings up the ages-old Halachic question on whether or not bee's honey is kosher.
it is
May we all have a sweet, healthy and good new year!
