September Is a Good Month for Bees, Jews
Here is what is in right now: rooftop beehives and celebrating Rosh HaShana. In Brooklyn, the two practices go hand in hand.
Yes, it's that time of the year again — specifically the start of it for Jews. That means eating honey for the promise of a sweet and prosperous new year, not that anyone should need an excuse to eat honey.
It's been three years since the city Health Department's ban on beekeeping has been lifted, which is awesome, because now we can enjoy Brooklyn rooftop honey and human interest articles about industrious Jews/bees.
"Honey in its pure and unadulterated form should be kosher," said Rabbi Moshe Elefant, an official with the Orthodox Union, an organization certifying kosher food.
"I am from Brooklyn. I haven't heard of hives on rooftops," Elefant quipped.
For the record, pure honey is kosher, but beeswax is not. You can, however, nibble on that shit as long as you spit it out. (Do the same rules apply to bacon and shellfish?) Thank Jewish beekeeper Andrew Cote for the insight.
But it's Park Slope resident Rachel Green — yes, like Jennifer Aniston's character on Friends — who offers the most unifying perspective on bee-Jew relations.
Rosh HaShana is the time to think about your future, your past and what you can do differently. Bees are part of the future.
At this point, not celebrating the holiday with Brooklyn rooftop honey would be a shanda.
