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Honey has long history in
Jewish tradition.

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May the coming year be filled with
health and happiness for all our family and friends.
L'Shanah Tovah!

— Marta Fleischer & her Fleischer family —

May the coming year be filled with
health and happiness for all our family and friends.
L'Shanah Tovah!

Dr. Larry & Alyeen Krugel
Rob, Jen, Chloe & Alexa Krugel
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92

September 21 2006

Joyce Eisenberg
and Ellen Scolnic
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

field exhibit dedicated to the memory
of 23 members who died defending
their homes, fields and, evidently, their
beehives.
New York
But Jews were not always willing
apiculturists. Hieroglyphic paintings
Devash n. Hebrew (deh-VASH) Honey.
on Egyptian tombs as old as 2,400
B.C.E. depict.Hebrew slaves engaged
ne of the most beloved tradi- in the dangerous job of smoking out
tions of Rosh Hashanah is
bees from tall, cylindrical hives to col-
eating apple slices dipped in
lect honey in Lower Egypt, which was
honey to signify the wish for a good
known as "Bee Land." Hives of this
and sweet new year.
type can still be seen in Egypt today.
Honey has been an ingredient in
To make matters worse for the slaves,
Jewish life for almost 5,000 years
stealing or sampling the honey meant
— since the Israelites were slaves in
for pharaohs was considered a crime
Egypt and God promised to rescue
punishable by death.
them "and to bring them to a good and
An important commodity in ancient
spacious land, a land flowing with milk Egypt, honey was used to ferment
and honey" (Exodus 3:8). This prom-
drinks, prevent infection and embalm
ise kept the Israelites wandering in the
mummies. Cosmetics, writing tablets
desert for 40 years to reach the land
and pigments for painting and hiero-
that would become Israel.
glyphics all incorporated beeswax.
The honey referred to in the Torah
The Egyptians also offered honey
is not bees' honey, but a sweet syrup
to their gods. In the 12th century BCE,
made from dates, figs or grapes — all
Ramses III was said to have sacrificed
plentiful fruits grown in Israel. This
15 tons of honey to the Nile god Hapi.
honey, eaten alone or used to sweeten
You don't need that much honey for
baked goods, was one of the first foods dipping apples or a piece of the round
brought to the Temple as an offering.
Rosh Hashanah challah. For your meal,
Later, references to honey came to
the Manischewitz kosher food com-
include bees' honey.
pany suggests setting up a tasting bar
Israel still flows with honey today.
with different varieties of honey, whose
On kibbutzim and farms, apicultur-
color and flavor depend on the flower
ists produce more than 3,500 tons of
that supplies its nectar to the bee.
honey annually from 90,000 beehives,
Manischewitz manufactures Orange
according to Israel's Central Bureau
Blossom, Wild Flower, Golden and
of Statistics. The largest producer of
Clover Honey. You could also include
honey is Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, north
Israeli honey — from Yad Mordechai,
of Gaza, which churns out upward
Lin's Bee Farm or Moshav Beit Yitzchak
of 10,000 bottles of the liquid gold a
— available in retail stores and online.
day and earns some $26 million from
What a sweet way to start the New
honey production each year.
Year. E
Yad Mordechai is revered as the kib-
butz that fought a fierce battle to stop
Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic are co-
the Egyptian army during the 1948
authors of the "JPS Dictionary of Jewish
War of Independence. Today, the kib-
Words" (Jewish Publication Society, 2006).
butz operates a museum and battle-