Word Prompt – HONEY – Jordana Greenfield

We ask Hashem for a sweet new year.

But have you ever noticed that the apple doesn’t come covered in honey. We have to dip it.

The apple itself isn’t necessarily sweet. We dip it into the honey. There’s an action being asked of us.

We know that in the year ahead, not everything will feel like honey. There will be disappointments, detours, challenges, and moments we would never have chosen or foreseen.

But perhaps the avodah of Rosh Hashanah is learning how to dip those moments into honey.

To take what life gives us and ask: Where is the sweetness here? What can I learn? How can I grow? What goodness might be hidden inside something that doesn’t feel good right now?

And I think there’s an important nuance: this isn’t about pretending that something painful is sweet. It’s about believing that even within what is bitter, there may be sweetness to uncover.

We don’t get to choose everything that will happen in the coming year.

But we can learn how to dip. How to dip specifically into honey.

How to bring the honey which could be: emunah, perspective, gratitude, meaning, and growth into what comes our way. Then perhaps we discover a sweetness we couldn’t taste at first.