Q: on Rosh Hashana Night, what is the proper order of the brachos (blessings) and the yehi ratzon (‘may it be your will’) that is recited when and after the apple is dipped in honey?
A: Before eating the honey dipped apple, one should say the usual bracha over fruit (ha’etz). Then, to avoid speaking unnecessarily between the bracha and partaking of the food, one should take a bite of the apple before reciting the yehi ratzon (Mishnah Berurah 583:4).
This applies to the yehi ratzon for challah, which is also dipped in honey, as well as any other fruits/vegetables that will be served for the purposes of a yehi ratzon.
It should be noted that if any of those other fruits is a member of the shevaminim (seven species attributed by the Torah to the land of Israel), they should not be brought to the table until after partaking of the apple.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit'a
Important Numbers
