The Minhag of Dipping the Challah Into Honey on Rosh Hashanah

The Minhag of Dipping the Challah Into Honey on Rosh Hashanah

The Rishonim write that on Rosh Hashanah we eat honey and all types of sweet foods. See the Ohr Zorua (Hilchos Rosh Hashanah, siman 257), Mordechai (Beginning of Yoma), Rokeach (siman 201), Ravyah (Rosh Hashanah, siman 547) and Shibolay HaLeket (siman 283, erech Mesikah) who all bring this.

The Levush (siman 583:2) when discussing the laws of the simanim on the night of Rosh Hashanah writes: The Ashkenazic minhag is to dip a piece of the hamotzi into honey, and to say: תהא השנה הבאה עלינו מתוקה וטובה לנו – The upcoming year should be sweet and good for us. The Kaf HaChaim (583, ois 4) writes: “The Ashkenazic minhag is to dip a piece of the hamotzi into honey, and to say: תהא השנה הבאה עלינו מתוקה וטובה לנו, and now even amongst Sephardim this has become the minhag.”

The Likutei Maharich brings support to this from the Perek of Tehillim (Perek 81) which is the Shir Shel Yom for Rosh Hashanah, in which we say: ויאכילהו מחלב חיטה ומצור דבש אשביעך. He explains that, ויאכילהו מחלב חיטה, refers to the piece of hamotzi, and, ומצור דבש אשביעך, refers to the honey, and they are together as we dip the hamotzi into honey. The sefer Imrei Noam adds, that the words דבש אשביעך have the same gematria as חדש השביעי, which is the month of Tishrei.

On the Night of Rosh Hashanah We Dip the Challah Into Honey, To Fix the Sin of Adam HaRishon

The Shu't Mishneh Halachos (13:79) asks on the minhag to eat on the night of Rosh Hashanah an apple dipped in honey, and about the minhag to dip the challah into both honey and salt, and not just salt like all year round. He is bothered that this seems to contradict the Gemara in Horiyas and Kerisus which just mentions about eating gourd, fenugreek, leeks, beets, and dates, and makes no mention of dipping an apple in honey, or about dipping challah into honey?

He answers: There is a bris kerusah [everlasting covenant] with salt that it will never get spoilt. Not only that, but any food salted with salt is preserved and the salt saves the food from becoming bad, this is the nature and power of salt. However, the nature of salt is that it helps save food from becoming bad, however, for something which is bad already, salt doesn't have the strength to fix it and make it good again.

However, when it comes to honey, we find that Chazal say that even if it has mixed into it feet from bees, which is a tomei sheretz [non-kosher creature] it is permissible to eat. Rabbeinu Yonah (cited in the Rosh, Berachos 43) explains: Because the feet of the bee that is mixed into the honey changes and becomes heter [permissible]. Therefore, it is permissible to consume honey even though it has bee's feet mixed inside.

According to this, honey is better than salt, in that it has the ability to change a prohibited item into a permissible item, whereas salt can't change something, but it can preserve something and keep it as it is.

On Rosh Hashanah we do teshuvah and ask Hashem to forgive us for our sins. Moreover, we hope to do teshuvah out of love, which has the ability to turn our aveiros into mitzvos (as is clear from Yoma 86b).

However, where do we ever find this idea that issur [a prohibited item] can be turned into heter [a permissible item] and into a mitzvah? By bitul berov [the concept where a minority is nullified by the majority] the issur is nullified by the majority and since there is a majority of heter, we ignore the issur and allow the mixture to be eaten, however, the issur remains issur, we just ignore it. If more issur is added to the mixture and there is no longer the amount needed for bitul the issur reawakens. We don't find that the issur becomes heter and into a mitzvah, so how come when it comes to teshuvah we find that the aveirah can be turned into a mitzvah?

The answer is, there is one case where we find that the heter has the ability to change the issur into heter, and that is with honey, honey has the ability to turn a forbidden item into a permissible item. Therefore, on Rosh Hashanah when we daven that Hashem should turn our aveiros into mitzvos, and that our wanton sins become merits, we dip the challah into honey, to hint to the fact that just like honey can change issur into heter, so too, Hashem should accept our tefillos and turn our aveiros into mitzvos, and out wanton sins into merits.

The Mishneh Halachos continues and explains the minhag to eat an apple dipped into honey on Rosh Hashanah: According to some opinions the fruit that Chavah ate from the Eitz HaDaas [Tree of Knowledge] was an apple, therefore, it comes out that the apple is what caused Chavah to sin. However, one who merits to do teshuvah out of love, turns his sins into a mitzvah. Therefore, we dip the apple into honey to fix the sin of Chavah, and to show that through teshuvah out of love, even the sin of Chavah can be turned into something special and into a great mitzvah and merit.

Now We Can Understand the Minhag to Dip Challah Into Honey

Based on the above, the HeGyonei HaParsha (Vayikra pg. 49) wants to explain the minhag of dipping challah into honey on the night of Rosh Hashanah. The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah (16a) teaches: Rav Yehudah said: For what reason does the Torah say to bring shtei halechem [two loaves] on Shavuos? Because Shavuos is the time for the fruits of the tree. Therefore, Hakadosh Boruch Hu says: Bring in front of Me two loaves on Shavuos, so that the fruits of the tree will be blessed for you.

The Ritva asks: What does two loaves of bread which is a type of grain have to do with fruit of the tree? And he answers: We can say that we are going like the opinion (Sanhedrin 70b) that learns that wheat is a type of tree, and they learn that the Eitz HaDaas that Adam HaRishon ate from was wheat.

According to this, since the sin of Adam and Chavah was done through the consumption of wheat, we dip challah (which is made of wheat) into honey to act as a tikkun [rectification] for the sin of Adam and Chavah, and to show that through teshuvah out of love, even the greatest of sins can be turned into mitzvos and into merits. And we can even add, that the sin of Adam and Chavah was on Rosh Hashanah, which makes it the perfect day for this.

Dipping the Challah Into Honey and Salt

The Kaf HaChaim (Orach Chaim 583:4) and Ketzeh HaMeteh (s.k. 4) both write: Those who have the minhag to dip their hamotzi into honey on Rosh Hashanah, should make sure not to be mevatel [forgo] on the minhag of the Arizal to dip the hamotzi into salt three times, למתק את הגבורות בידוע. It is not fitting to miss out on this by any meal, and certainly not during these days.

In Shu't Salmas Chaim (siman 232) they bring from R' Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld that one shouldn't dip his hamotzi into honey and salt at the same time, as honey with salt will be נותן טעם לפגם – have a bad taste, and it's not fitting to do this on the night of Rosh Hashanah, as the main reason we dip into honey is a good sign, as honey is sweet. Rather, one should first dip one side of the hamotzi into honey and taste it, and then afterwards dip the other side into salt and taste it.

The Siddur Yeshuas Yisrael in the Pirush of the Divrei Chaim says the opposite, and says, first dip into salt three times, then eat a bit, and then dip the rest of the piece of hamotzi into honey.

Similar to this, it is brought down in the Machzor Divrei Yoel that the Satmar Rebbe was accustomed to dip one side of the piece of hamotzi into salt, and the second side into honey, and then he would cut the two pieces in half and eat them together. See further the sefer Minhag Yisrael Torah (583, pg. 83).

Dipping the Piece of Hamotzi Into Sugar

In addition to the above, there is room to question if it is ok to dip the challah into sugar instead of salt. On the one hand the halachah is to dip challah into salt, on the other hand sugar is sweet and perhaps it's also a good omen, and perhaps it works in place of salt?

The Shu”t Torah Lishmah (siman 500) writes that he saw a big chiddush [novel ruling] in the sefer Shu't Halachos Ketanos (siman 218). The Halachos Ketanos was asked if it permissible to salt a korban with sugar? And he answered: Sugar is 100% salt, as it also helps preserve things for a long time. And don't ask that surely sugar is sweet, whereas salt is the opposite? As very often we find two types of the same item with opposite properties, for example by pomegranates there are bitter ones and sweet ones ... therefore, by salt as well, there is sweet salt and there is bitter salt...

We see from the Halachos Ketanos a big chiddush and that sugar can be used in place of salt to salt a korban. Based on this, the Torah Lishmah writes: על זה סמכו העולם להניח בראש השנה על השלחן סובר במקום המלח להטביל בו פרוסת המוציא שרוצים לעשות זה בראש השנה לסימנא טבא – “This is what the world relies upon to put on their table on Rosh Hashanah, sugar instead of salt to dip the piece of hamotzi into, as they want to do something which is a good omen on Rosh Hashanah.”

However, the Torah Lishmah questions this chiddush and says that he has no clear proof that sugar works the same as salt, therefore, he writes, even though in his house he brings sugar to the table as a good omen, he also brings salt in a different utensil and he dips the challah into both salt and sugar. As the truth is, dipping challah into salt has great soidois [secrets] and deep kavanos behind it, as the word מלח has the same letters as לחם and the לחם הוא סוד ג' חסדים שהם ג' הויו"ת and המלח ה' ספירות ג' גבורות הנמתקות על ידי החסדים ועל ידי הטיבול הזה לחם במלח מתמתקים הגבורות בחסדים בי כל מלח הוא קצת מרירות ודין ובנזבר כל זה בדברי רבינו הגדול האר"י ז"ל. Therefore, according to the kavonah and soidois mentioned it's difficult to say that sugar works in place of salt when it comes to dipping bread into it. Therefore, he concludes that one must bring salt to the table as well.

On Which Days Do We Dip Challah Into Honey?

The minhag to dip challah into honey is only mentioned by Rosh Hashanah, however, the Mateh Ephraim (siman 601, sif 18) writes, that by the meal of erev Yom Kippur, the minhag is to dip challah into honey.

The Sefer Darkei Chaim VeSholam (siman 707) brings that the Minchas Elozor had the minhag to dip his piece of hamotzi into honey by all his meals from Rosh Hashanah until after Shemini Atzeres. It's also brought in Orchos Rabbeinu (Vol. 2, pg. 173) that this was the minhag of the Steipler.

See also the Yalkut Gershuni (605, s.k. 3) who writes in the name of the Sefer Itim LeBinah of R' Ginsburg (Maʼamer 15, Minhagei Chodesh Tishrei pg. 212) that he had the custom to dip his piece of hamotzi into honey by all the meals of Rosh Hashanah, and on erev Yom Kippur, Succos, and Shemini Atzeres. The Hisorarus Teshuvah (Hosafos L’Torah Moshe Al HaTorah, Mahadurah Revii pg. 129) writes that he was accustomed to dipping challah into honey on Rosh Hashanah, erev Yom Kippur and Hoshanah Rabbah.

It is known that the Brisker Rav had the minhag to dip his challah into honey from Rosh Hashanah until Hoshanah Rabbah, however, only in the middle of the meal, as he was worried about the hefsek [interruption] between the berachah and eating, since dipping is not required meikar hadin.