114 | SEPTEMBER 26 • 2024
J
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Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at thejewishnews.com

To a Sweet New Year!
N

ext week, we will celebrate
Rosh Hashanah at
sundown on Oct. 2. It will
mark the beginning of the Jewish
New Year and, for the occasion,
many sweet foods will
be served. None are
more traditional or
sweeter than honey.
I will admit that,
in our home, we do
not wait for holidays
to open the honey
pot. My wife, Pam,
is a honey aficionado (i.e., my
honey is a honey freak!). We
always have several jars — or
plastic bears — full of honey in the
cupboard. After all, we cannot risk
a beekeeper strike!
BTW — we even made a
pilgrimage to the honey museum
at Honey Acres Farm in Wisconsin.
Pam did some serious work at the
honey bar, which was a row of
dispensers offering free samples of
various honeys.
So, for Rosh Hashanah 5785,
I thought I should write about
honey. It was a bit daunting in
one sense — the word “honey”
appears on over 8,000 pages in
the William Davidson Digital
Archive of Jewish Detroit History.
Even after eliminating references
to “honeymoons” or someone
referring to their sweetie as
“honey” or “honey of a deal,” there
are still a lot of pages with articles
devoted to the product itself.
As you might imagine, there
are hundreds of recipes for which
honey is the essential ingredient.
Honey cake was, of course, the

dominant concoction, with many
recipes claiming to be the “Best
Rosh Hashanah Honey Cake recipe
ever.”
Beyond a bevy of desserts
made with honey, there are
recipes for plenty of main dishes
such as orange honey chicken or
honey lime salmon. These could
be served with a side of honey

carrots. For drinks, there is honey
lemonade, honey strawberry
punch or lemon apple tea with
honey. With coffee after the meal,
sweet honey bon bons would be
tasty.
The Archive also holds hundreds
of grocery store advertisements
for Rosh Hashanah, beginning in
the1920s. The I. Rokeach & Sons

ad in the Oct. 4, 1929, Chronicle,
offered a full summation: “Since
Biblical Days, Oil and Honey
Have Had a Special Significance
in Jewish Home Life.” Of course,
for pure kosher honey, it suggests
you buy Rokeach honey.
Moreover, there are many
in-depth “honey” reports and
articles in the Archive. The
Children’s Corner in the March
3, 1945, JN tells the story of a
woman who hid her gold in jars
of honey. An item in the June
4, 1965, JN, provides further
explanation: “Why do some people
pour honey over Hebrew letters
so that the children would lick the
honey from the letters? … It is a
symbol of hope and prayer that the
words of the Torah will always be
sweet…”
Recent articles continue to
explore honey in all its forms.
“How Sweet It Is” discusses honey
as a Jewish tradition (Sept. 21,
2006, JN), and “Sweet New Year
Starts with Honey” discusses
honey production in Israel (Dec.
20, 1991).
My favorite article? “Apples and
Honey” in the Sept. 27, 1991, JN
(needless to say, apples dipped in
honey is a huge Rosh Hashanah
treat). Why do I like this article?
Because of the photograph of Jill
Bruss, dressed as a bee, and Amy
Wagner, as an apple. Now, this is
commitment to apples and honey!
May your New Year be a sweet
one. L’Shanah Tovah!

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN archives,
available for free at thejewishnews.com.

Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair