Rosh Hashanah Gifts

Frequently Asked Questions

Apples dipped in honey are eaten on Rosh Hashanah to express the hope for a sweet new year. It's one of the holiday's oldest and most widely practiced customs, which is why a honey dish — often apple- or pomegranate-shaped — is the classic piece of Rosh Hashanah Judaica and the most common gift for the holiday.

A honey dish holds honey at the Rosh Hashanah table for dipping apple slices and challah at the start of the meal. Most come with a small spoon or dipper. Because the honey sits out through dinner, a proper dish with a lid or bowl keeps the table neater than a squeeze bottle — and it becomes part of the family's holiday setup year after year.

The pomegranate is a Rosh Hashanah symbol because of a traditional blessing expressing the hope that one's merits be as plentiful as the pomegranate's seeds. It's also one of the biblical seven species of the land of Israel. That's why pomegranate motifs appear across holiday Judaica — honey dishes, napkin holders, hamsas, and table pieces in this collection included.

A honey dish is the most reliable hostess gift for Rosh Hashanah — it's used at the meal itself, and this collection's honey dishes — including apple-shaped pots by Michael Aram — are made for exactly that. Pomegranate-themed pieces like a napkin holder or a hand-painted hamsa are good alternatives if the host likely owns a honey dish already. For close family, a kiddush cup or fountain is a bigger gift that gets weekly use.

A round challah is customary on Rosh Hashanah, most often explained as symbolizing the cycle of the year and the continuity of creation. It replaces the usual braided loaf on the holiday table. Practically, that changes nothing about the setup — the same challah board, cover, and knife used on Shabbat serve the round loaf too.

A kiddush fountain is a center goblet on a tray that distributes wine into a set of small matching cups — typically eight — so everyone at the table receives wine from the same kiddush. It's popular for holiday meals precisely because tables are fuller than usual. This collection includes crystal, hammered metal, and anodized aluminum fountains.